PANAMA CITY — The county’s new Sea Grant agent has plenty on tap for 2014, including lionfish control, artificial reef creation, oyster reef restoration and classes on how to be a master naturalist.
In late August, when agent Fara Ilami came on board as the Florida Sea Grant agent at the Bay County UF agriculture extension office, she immediately began working with the state fish and wildlife agency to submit a grant for oyster reef restoration, which was approved for $75,000.
The money will be spent starting this year, improving a .7-acre zone in West Bay, to enhance water quality and increase the amount of sea grass, Ilami said. This year, Ilami will train volunteers for the work and hopes to start it in the spring on the three-year project.
Multiple artificial reef projects also will start in 2014. Most prominently, the two jets from Panama City Marina and Gulf Coast State College will be dropped several miles offshore. The jets will stay intact and will be anchored to old bridge pieces, so they won’t drift, Ilami said. The reef will be used by divers and will attract fish to the site.
“That provides multiple benefits to different types of users,” she said.
Closer to shore, concrete pyramid artificial reefs will go into the water. And Ilami will monitor reef stability, checking to make sure the important fishing and diving spots haven’t moved from where maps show them to be.
Ilami also will push lionfish awareness and removal efforts. She plans to teach classes on how to catch the venom-spined sea creature, which likes to hang out at artificial reefs. The invasive species are voracious eaters, devouring up to 20 fish an hour, and are “extremely destructive,” Ilami said.
“They’re appetites are way beyond their nutritional needs,” she said.
Though lionfish have been a problem in South Florida, only in the last year have they drifted into the Panhandle and began to upset the aquatic ecosystem. It’s thought that the striped fish were pets that were dumped into the water and multiplied rapidly, similar to the pet pythons that now dominate the Everglades.
“Their numbers have grown significantly, by leaps and bounds, (locally),” Ilami said.
Spearfishing is the best way to remove the pests, and divers must wear proper protective gloves and clothing for the work, so they don’t get stung, Ilami said. She will be teaching classes this year on the best methods for catching the fish, and on awareness.
Ilami also will restart the master naturalist program, which has been dormant. No firm dates have been set for any of the classes. Most of the outdoor programs could start by late March, and indoor classes as soon as late February.
“I’m working up the schedule right now,” Ilami said. “This is my month to sort of get everything on the books (for) what to do. Most of this stuff you really need to have spring-type weather … for people to want to come.”