Earlier this year Florida's Governor Ron DeSantis allocated nearly $10 million to Florida’s Coral Reef Restoration and Recovery Initiative. DeSantis has now invested a historic $57 million in coral reef restoration and coastal protection, which brings the total investment during his second term to $114 million.
Restoration Initiatives include, but aren't limited to:
Everglades Agricultural Area Reservoir
Red Tide
HAB (Harmful Algae Blooms)
Protecting Florida's Springs
Water Quality and Conservation
Recently, DeSantis went a few steps further.
“Florida has the best fishing and boating in the world because we have the greatest natural resources,” said Governor Ron DeSantis. “That’s why our state is making record investments in protecting our natural treasures, like our coral reefs."
June 19, 2024: In a news release by the governor's staff this week, DeSantis added additional funding and support to preserve, protect, and restore Florida's natural resources. This latest announcement highlighted Florida's $57 million investments in coral reef restoration and coastal protection for the fiscal year 2024-2025.
Funding of $5 million was also allocated to create artificial reef habitats through the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). Monies will support the installation of the reefs followed by overseeing and preserving the reef habitats in the Florida Keys.
This year’s investments in coral reefs through the Florida state budget exceed the total investment requested by the Biden administration for coral reef restoration across the entire United States. - DeSantis
DeSantis went on to add enhancements to the 2024 Lobster Mini-Season and 2024 Lionfish Challenge.
2024 Spiny Lobster Season
Spiny Lobster Regular Season is from August 6th through March 31st. Spiny Lobster Sport Season is July 24 and 25, 2024 (the last consecutive Wednesday and Thursday of July each year).
This year, DeSantis announced that an additional day will be added to the Spiny Lobster Sport Season on Sunday, July 14, exclusively for Florida residents. Tier 1 participants can keep up to two additional lobsters per day in 2024 - an increase from the traditional one extra per day.
Along with the extra harvesting day for spiny lobster, DeSantis was pleased to offer additional prizes for the annual Lionfish Challenge. A snapshot of the prizes that will be awarded in tiers:
Tier 1 – Harvest 25 lionfish (recreational) or 50 pounds of lionfish (commercial)
Tier 2 – Harvest 75 lionfish (recreational) or 100 pounds of lionfish (commercial)
Tier 3 – Harvest 150 lionfish (recreational) or 200 pounds of lionfish (commercial)
2024 Lionfish Challenge
Yet another invasive species plagues Florida. The lionfish is native to the Indo-Pacific and the Red Sea ranges. In 1985 they were reported off the coast near Dania Beach, Florida.
Exactly how the lionfish were introduced into our waters remains unclear.
The danger is daunting. As predatory reef fish, they eat native fish, reducing native populations and negatively affecting the overall reef habitat.
In the mid-2000s, reports of lionfish skyrocketed and in 2010 they were spotted in new locations - along the northern Gulf of Mexico off Pensacola and Apalachicola. Over a million lionfish have been removed from Florida’s oceans through the Lionfish Challenge since 2014.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) encourages people to remove lionfish from Florida waters. The fish threaten our native marine life and ecosystems.
The 2024 Lionfish Challenge runs through September 2, 2024. The public is challenged to hunt lionfish, and win prizes, all while contributing to protecting Florida's natural resources.
Get additional information about the challenge - and register at: FWCReefRangers.com for either the recreational or commercial category. Need information on both challenges? Click here.
Volunteer
If the challenges aren't in your scope or desire, you can volunteer in other ways to help preserve our natural resources. There are organizations to fit your availability and comfort levels, whether hands-on or through donations.
The Nature Conservancy: "Serving as Nature Allies, volunteers are helping to restore the earth with a shared vision to build healthy, more resilient and equitable lands, waters, and communities. Everyone has a role to play, join us and give back to nature."
National Wildlife Federation: "Our goal is to protect and restore the natural function and quality of the nation’s waters, wetlands, floodplains, and riparian areas to sustain healthy fish and wildlife populations."
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