HISTORY AND FUTURE OF THE TGBRP
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BACKGROUND AND FUTURE OF THE TEXAS GREAT BARRIER REEF PROJECT The Texas Great Barrier Reef is a concept that is based upon re-creating the already-working model of successful artificial reef programs from the eastern Gulf and transplanting it here in the western Gulf offshore of Texas as a science driven project. The deployment of 10's of thousands of reefs offshore of Alabama and the Florida panhandle has created one of the world's largest artificial reefing systems. The results of this effort have proven to be astounding for the fish, the fishermen, and the local coastal communities alike! A local cartographer, Thomas J. Hilton, has been cataloging and mapping the positions of all of the publicly-known structures that man has placed in the Gulf since 2000. He was in a unique position to notice the incredible number of artificial reefs in the eastern Gulf relative to what is available in the western Gulf and wondered why there wasn't more being done offshore of Texas. He also noticed the way the reefs were being marketed over in Alabama; local individuals, companies, and communities were paying for the construction and deployment of these reefs at little or no cost to the local/state governments! This has resulted in a HUGE economic impact to their coastal communities - to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars annually! In January of 2006, Hilton conceived the potential of duplicating (or surpassing) Alabama's success story by bringing the concept inshore along the entire 350 miles of Texas State Waters... The concept of the Texas Great Barrier Reef was born! Jim Smarr, Chairman of the Texas arm of the Recreational Fishing Alliance saw the potential as well and immediately began setting up meetings with TPWD Coastal Fisheries, Texas General Land Office, and other political entities to push the merits of this idea. Smarr formed the Texas Gulf Coast Stewards in the Fall of 2006 which is a non-profit 501-c3 corporation designed to hold the required USACE permit and assume liabilities associated with such a large project. Dick Stone is the Project Manager of the Texas Great Barrier Reef Project and has extensive experience dealing with artificial reefs. He headed up the National Marine Fishery Service's Artificial Reef Program for many years, and was responsible for the Artificial Reef Plan (1985). Mr. Stone has assembled a Project Science Team consisting of Texas A&M personnel, and will oversee overall planning of projects and direction of full-time employees and of any contractors or consultants. |
