The Buddy Ward Memorial Reef, located offshore of Florida’s St. George Island, expanded recently with the deployment of 13 additional “fish balls.” On September 19, the Apalachicola Artificial Reef Association (AARA), in cooperation with Franklin County, dropped 13 concrete pyramids on the one-square mile reef located in approximately 40 feet of water eight miles south of Bob Sikes Cut.
The new structures join 35 existing concrete pyramids which were deployed on the reef in 2019. The reef expansion will attract a wide variety of fish such as grouper and snapper along with migratory fish like King mackerel and cobia.
According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, there are now more than 50 artificial reefs located offshore from the Franklin County shoreline. These fish hotels stretch from Alligator Point to Apalachicola and are responsible for providing valuable habitat for hundreds of fish species that migrate through the region. Florida has one of the most active artificial reef programs among the 15 Gulf and Atlantic coastal states involved in artificial reef development. You can click here to find maps and reef coordinates through the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission.
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