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#318
 Possible New Ship Reef Off Galveston TX Coast?
loydavill - 2/11/2014 1:38 AM
Category: General
Replies: 4
Houston divers are rallying support of a new artificial reef. The first choice is to sink a ship, but with no ship candidate in sight a concrete reef may have to do. Although this may be years away, it looks like there is an opportunity for the dive community’s support. The article (at the bottom) gives a Feb 19th deadline for public comment, however it does not give the specifics on how to go about vocalizing that support. I have reached out to the reef program manager in hopes that he may tell us how to provide our support. Once I hear back from him, I will publish whatever information he shares.

In the mean time, I thought to share this information with you. The related article link is included in this posting. This is very exciting news for divers! Click Here To View Article
#318
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loydavill - 2/11/2014 12:42 PM
I received the following update from the reef program manager:

The link for making formal comments on the project is at: gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov/restoration/early-r...storation/phase-iii/

Scroll down to Texas projects, then artificial reef creation, you’ll see our project listed. The Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) trustees are compiling public comment on this proposal along with all 44 proposed projects across the Gulf, and will announce final funding decisions later this year. This is still a proposal, not final, but I think it’s chances are good.

Please have anyone you talk with make a comment at this link.

Regards and thank you for your support!
#1200
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Dutch - 2/11/2014 3:53 PM
I posted this info in the forum a few days ago here... divebuddy.com/forum/34040/texas-artificial-reefs-...sal-comments-period/
#318
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loydavill - 2/12/2014 6:51 AM
Hey Thanks Dutch! I had not seen that and I even looked to see if something had already been posted. I guess I didn’t look hard enough. :-( Thanks for the info, I will make sure to keep our shop supporting this effort… Again.. THANK YOU!
#1200
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Dutch - 2/16/2014 3:12 PM
Da nada. It is in all of our interests that these reefs are not given to the fishing community for open fishing as the previous ones have been. The wording of the statements and program give me the indications that this will be off limits for fishing, giving us a richer marine life ecosystem after a few years. We need as many signatures and comments as we can get.