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Reef Ball's Listbot Archive

Date: Jun 30 1999 11:23:03 EDT
From: "Reef Ball's Interested List" <reefball@america.net>
Subject: Reef Ball Update

Message #99

1) The Reef Ball Foundation proved a grant to the Catalina Island Marine Institue which included Reef Ball mold systems and travel and training fees for Reef Innovations, Inc. to teach the staff to build and deploy Reef Balls. The project will place 30-50 Reef and Bay Balls in Toyon Bay, 2 miles west of Avalon, California. Training and the first castings are occuring this week. The project will continue for 3 months.

2) Molds arrived in Indonesia and training is tentatively sceduled for two weeks starting July 13th.

3) The Universtiy of Maryland is working to develop habitats and a diving venue in a fresh water lake and anticipates the use of Reef Balls.

4) The New York Department of Environmental Protection and the state artificial reef coordinator will build about 200 Reef Balls this year, "We'd like to put about 50 units around a fishing pier that is also an extremely popular dive site, and the rest on a new reef in Little Peconic Bay."

5) The Reef Ball Coalition is conducting a trip to the Turks and Caicos from July 2-July 7th to intially set up the location as an ecotourist destination for the constructions and building of Reef Balls.

6) The first of 600 Reef Balls were deployed in New Jersey this week. Several articles about the project were published. Read the full story at the address below:
http://www.phillynews.com/inquirer/99/Jun/27/city/FISH27.htm

7) Press Release
INTERESTING PHOTO/VIDEO ALERT

WHAT: Reef Balls – very large (350 – 750 pounds each), round artificial reefs are being built by 4-H youth that will be sunk in Sarasota Bay at the end of July. Bradenton-based Reefball Development Group is instructing and assisting the 4-H youth with this project.

WHEN: Friday, July 2

WHERE: South Down Inc. 1100 Central Ave, Sarasota, IN THE BACK LOT

9 – 10:15 a.m., – 4-H youth & Reefball Development officials will put together the large reef ball molds
10:15 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. – concrete truck arrives; concrete is mixed
10:30 – 11 a.m. – concrete truck dumps concrete into 24 large reef ball
molds
5 – 6:30 p.m. – reef balls will be taken out of the molds

WHY: The 4-H team hopes to defray destruction to Sarasota area reefs, and encourage better fishing opportunities in Sarasota Bay. The reef balls are made of specially treated concrete that has a lowered pH balance of 7, the same as seawater. Altering the pH balance will help the fish and underwater plants to accept the reef as a part of their natural habitat.

FUNDING: Five personal watercraft manufacturers – Bombardier Recreational Products, Kawasaki Motors Corp., Yamaha Motor Corp., U.S.A., Arctic Cat, Inc. and Polaris Industries, Inc. – donated funds to pay for materials and equipment related to the project. Personal watercraft will also be used to deploy the reef at the end of July. Because of their design and capabilities, personal watercraft are better suited to release the reef balls than traditional motorboats. There is less chance that the reef balls will be damaged, and they provide more maneuverability for the 4-H youth.




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Phone: 941-752-0169
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