Navarre Press  – Published 9/9/18

A project to deploy deep water “nearshore” artificial reefs has been tentatively scheduled to begin the week of Aug. 13.

Orange Beach, Alabama contractor Walter Marine will install the reef modules. The contractor has also installed several artificial reef projects for the county in the past including the snorkel reef in the Navarre Beach Marine Sanctuary.

The reefs will be installed in permitted artificial reef area SR-27, located approximately one mile off Navarre Beach. More than 500 modules will be deployed to create 27 individual reef sites, or patch reefs. Reef types will include 15-foot-tall large tetrahedrons (also known as “super reefs”), 8-foot-tall tetrahedron pyramids and 6-foot-tall ledge and disk modules (also known as “grouper boxes”).

Once in place, the reefs will provide enhanced long-term recreational fishing and diving opportunities.

The entire project will take place over several deployments, currently estimated at 12, through December 2018.

The project progress and schedule is dependent on weather and water conditions. The $1.2 million project is the second and final phase of a major project funded with Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) Early Restoration funds from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill.