New Projects!
The USMSI has several new projects in the works.
We will soon be building a new multi-use dock with many new reef balls and domes on the West side of the dock here at our sub-station in Bradenton. These reefs will provide extensive habitats where filter feeders attach, filtering up to 30,000 gallons of seawater per day per reef, while their waste products contribute food sources for very small animals that are in return a food source for young shrimp, fish, and crabs. We are excited to be able to monitor the results of these reefs right here at this location.
Another project is the setting of several memorial reefs in our area as well . We will post more details and photos as they become available!
We understand the need for enhancing and preserving the gulf marine habitat by simulating the natural environment using man made materials. Artificial reefs serve many purposes, a few being: increasing of marine population, study area for scientists, diver/tourist attractions, and erosion protection.
Marine life will begin living in and around your Mini Reef Plus as soon as they are placed in the water. Each Mini Reef can support over 1,000 fish, crabs and shrimp living in and around it each year. Fish we have found utilizing these habitats are Groupers, Snook, Red and Black Drum, several types of Snapper, Grunts, Mullet, Barracuda, Whiting and many more. Our Mini Reef Plus units are also home to Stone Crabs, Blue Crabs, Shrimp and Spiny Lobsters. Just imagine your children, family and friends seeing a thriving community of marine life swimming in the waters around your dock.
Each Mini Reef will filter over 70,000 gallons of water on average per day once fully developed and will help improve the marine environment substantially. Water quality will improve as the animals on the Mini Reefs begin to remove the over abundance of plankton in the water.
In addition to the increase in marine life around your Mini Reef Plus you may see larger fish, birds and marine mammals like dolphins visiting your property after the Mini reef System is installed. A small local food chain will develop and your property can become an oasis to the life in the area.
Artificial Reef Technologies
In over 13 years of artificial reef work, the USMSI has a host of experts who can handle all phases of artificial reefs from design, engineering, permitting, construction, deployment, and post-deployment monitoring tasks.
To date, we have established the Fish Hotel in Playa Hermosa Beach in December 2005, the Condo Fish Project in Playa Grande, Guanacaste completed August 2006, and the Reef Ball Fish Maze in Playa Ostional, completed April 2007.
United States Marine Safety Institute
Improving our marine environment through action & education