Tag: START
Mini reefs installed at Mar Vista
LONGBOAT KEY – Ten mini reefs installed Friday under the docks at Mar Vista Dockside Restaurant will help fight red tide, START Director Sandy Gilbert said.
The structures improve water clarity and increase oxygen levels in the water, he said, adding, “They will show people they can make a difference.”
START – Solutions To Avoid Red Tide – and Lucky’s Market in Sarasota funded the 10 mini reefs, which can clean more than 30,000 gallons of water daily and grow more than 300 fish and 200 crabs annually, said David Wolff, president of Ocean Habitats, who installed the mini reefs.
The lightweight structures float underneath docks, where they are tethered out of the way of boats, he said, adding that the mini reefs do not require state permits to install.
Besides attracting fish, the reefs also attract oysters, which themselves filter water, and a bonus for dock owners – dolphins that feed on the fish, Gilbert said.
“We’re very excited to be a test market,” said Chuck Wolfe, CEO of The Chiles Group, owner of Mar Vista. “The docks are a big part of our business.”
Most of the more than 2,000 mini reefs in Florida are under residential docks, but START is working to expand their use by businesses, and lobbying local officials to encourage their use.
The mini reefs, which sell for $250 apiece, can last decades, Wolff said. A 10% discount is available at Ocean Habitats with the code START10.
County funding shellfish to fight red tide
BRADENTON – As red tide hit high levels last week in Anna Maria Island waters, Manatee County announced it is expanding a program that creates shellfish beds in local waters.
“Oysters and clams eat red tide for lunch and come back for a midnight snack,” said Charlie Hunsicker, director of the Manatee County Parks and Recreation Department.
Red tide is an abnormally high concentration of algae, called a bloom, that emits a neurotoxin that kills fish, marine mammals and birds and causes respiratory problems in people, especially those with asthma and COPD. Red tide is thought to be made worse by fertilizer runoff from land.
It arrived in the Gulf of Mexico off Anna Maria Island on Friday, Aug. 3, the northern edge of a bloom that has lasted 10 months in southwest Florida, and has closed restaurants and caused fish kills and cancellations at local accommodations.
Shellfish like clams and oysters filter the water they live in, Gulf Coast Oyster Recycling and Renewal Program Executive Manager and START CEO Sandy Gilbert said.
“One oyster can filter nine to 50 gallons of water every single day,” Gilbert said, adding that local clams “do eat red tide.”
START (Solutions To Avoid Red Tide) is working with Sarasota Bay Watch on its clam seeding program in both the Manatee and Sarasota County portions of Sarasota Bay, and with the Chiles Group of restaurants, whose employees collect oyster shells in bins and take them to Perico Preserve, where they are cured, then made into oyster habitat at Robinson Preserve.
“In one year, we have accumulated 26 tons of oyster shells that are not in the landfill,” Gilbert said.
START was formed after a massive red tide bloom in 1995 devastated the local economy, and is a partnership among the Chiles Group, University of Florida IFAS Program, Gulf Coast Shellfish Institute, Manatee County Parks and Recreation Department and Waste Pro, the newest partner that will enable more restaurants to participate in the program, Gilbert said.
The program is supported by funding from the RESTORE Act, created to mitigate the devastation from the 2010 BP oil spill.
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Culinary Celebration to help build oyster reefs
ANNA MARIA – Tickets are now on sale for the START (Solutions to Avoid Red Tide) Culinary Celebration at The Studio at Gulf and Pine in Anna Maria on Sunday, April 22.
The public is invited to attend the culinary celebration taking place from 5-7 p.m. at 10101 Gulf Dr.
Attendees can mix and mingle while sampling culinary creations and tropical libations created by chefs and staff from The Sandbar, BeachHouse and Mar Vista restaurants. Local art will serve as the backdrop, and there will be plenty of free parking.
Tickets are $30 each and can be purchased online or by phone at 941-713-3105. There will be a special door prize and the opportunity to bid on silent auction items that include Anna Maria Island products, gourmet meals and vacation opportunities.
The Earth Day event will help support the local Gulf Coast Oyster Recycling and Renewal (GCORR) program taking place in Manatee County’s coastal waters. Oyster shells from local area restaurants are recycled and turned into new oyster reefs.
“Since more than 90 percent of the oyster beds in our area have been destroyed, START and its partners are working on this important project to build new reefs to restore our coastal waters,” according to the Chiles Group press release.
“The idea is to keep used oyster shells out of landfills and use them instead as the hard bottom base needed to grow new oyster reefs. This reduces the shells going to landfills and the need to dig up fossil shells as a base for new oyster reefs.
“In the first year of the program, we recycled 20 tons of used oyster shells. Because GCORR began as a one-year pilot program, START is now raising additional funding to support the program through 2018 and beyond.”
Restaurant employees remove used oyster shells from the tables, store them in bins and transport them to Perico Preserve. The Manatee County Parks and Natural Resources Department stores the shells and enlists local volunteers to bag and affix the shells to mats for planting in the designated reef area.
The Sun is the media sponsor of the event. For more information on START, contact Colleen at 941-951-3400 or colleen@start1.org.