MBARA Builds New Reefs

The Mexico Beach Artificial Reef Association deployed nine new reefs on Wednesday, June 4, 2008, out in the Gulf of Mexico off of Mexico Beach and Port St. Joe.

The new reefs are being made using the Florida Special Reef Maker modules which are built in Alabama and brought over on a barge.

The Reef Maker modules are l0 feet tall and weigh approximately 6,000 pounds each. They incorporate the use of Florida limestone which hastens the development of reef habitat.

The new reefs were built in the five new permits obtained by the City of Mexico Beach which are all one square mile each and are out in the 16 to 20 mile range off of Mexico Beach.

The first big reef built on Wednesday was in conjunction with the Organization for Artificial Reefs (OAR) out of Tallahassee.

The MBARA and OAR have worked on several projects together in the past. The newest reef will be built with 20 modules put all together in one spot.

It is a surprise honor for someone special to be announced at the Big Bend Salt Water Classic on Father's Day.

The other reefs will be five modules each, then a series of one module reefs following that.

Ron Childs, President of MBARA, said "We are so happy to be able to continue our mission and build some really good reefs out in our new permit areas." Childs added, "The 2006 Census Bureau found that Florida is number one in fishing in the US with over 4.4 billion dollars spent by recreational fishermen in the waters of Florida, and we hope that our reefs will contribute to our local economy here in north Florida."

Childs went on to say "We are now focusing on research using our research dive team that goes down and measures growth of materials on the actual reef structures like algae or coral, then counts the different types of fish on the reef." "Then we use that data to plan our next deployment."

The numbers for the new reefs will be posted on the MBARA website at as soon as the reef coordinates are verified by the research dive team.