County commissioners on Tuesday unanimously approved a $60,000 grant from the
The deployment date has not been set, but the grant deadline is Aug. 31.
“It’ll be beneficial to offshore fishing, divers and boaters,” Commission Chairman Guy Tunnell said Tuesday, following the commission meeting. “If we continue to build those reefs, it’ll allow for more sport fishing and hopefully draw more and more folks to this area.”
The concrete and limestone reefs will have a life of about 50 to 100 years. Allen Golden, artificial reef coordinator, pointed to 13 Army tanks that became artificial reefs about 20 years ago and are “still out there and still attracting marine life.”
“When you put an artificial reef out there, it augments the hard bottom areas,” Golden said. “The marine organisms have something to attach to for long term. … And then the fishes and marine life will come and occupy those artificial reefs.
“It’s a great diving experience and it attracts fish, too,” he added.