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Underwater treasure largely hidden
By JENNIFER FARRELL
© St. Petersburg Times, HERNANDO BEACH -- Buddy Palmer swears the fish exists. He has seen it under the waves, the ultimate catch, lurking around Bendickson Tank Reef about 18 miles off the coast of Hernando Beach. A 350-pound Goliath grouper. "I've seen it," said Palmer, who monitors conditions at Hernando County's four artificial reefs as part of his job with the county's waterways maintenance division. "He swam right up and looked at me." Rumor has it, the giant fish is one of three keeping house these days in the waters around 10 Vietnam-era Army tanks dropped into the Gulf of Mexico in 1995. Where once there was nothing but sand, now algae, soft coral and sponges have attached themselves and taken hold. A variety of fish, including snapper, mackerel, grouper, barracuda and shark, have moved in to feed off the aquatic life and multiply. All of which has Hernando County Port Authority Chairman Bill Sloan judging the county's 12-year-old artificial reef program an unqualified success. "It's just terrific. . . . We even have tropical fish out there," he said. "From starting from nothing, we definitely have a real nice thing here." But experts agree the reefs, which were last expanded in 1997, could use some attention. Sloan and other county officials are hoping to step up marketing efforts, trumpeting the reefs as a tourist attraction to cash in on a bigger share of outdoor recreation money headed to neighboring Pasco and Citrus counties. By working with the Tourist Development Council to lure anglers and divers, Sloan hopes to boost "clean" business in the area. "It's an untapped industry here, and it can bring in a lot of revenue for the county," he said. "We can encourage the proper kind of growth." Sloan, a diver who produced an underwater video to help market the reefs, has proposed installing a mooring system on the Bendickson reef to make fishing and diving access easier. But the floating mooring lines, he said, would serve another purpose: "The primary reason to do it is to protect the phenomenal growth. You're just destroying five to six years' growth if you throw an anchor out there." Largely regarded by locals as a well-kept secret in the region, the reefs are primarily used for fishing, rather than diving. Built between 1989 and 1997 with the help of eight state grants totaling $235,000, they lie in a 5-square-mile area in depths ranging from 20 to 30 feet. They consist of 185 concrete balls, designed to mimic coral reefs, 10 tanks, concrete culverts and rubble from the old Sunshine Skyway bridge south of St. Petersburg. The original plan was to augment the reefs periodically. But after political battles led the County Commission to strip the Port Authority of its budget and power two years ago, the reef program has languished. Permits allowing expansion expired in 1999, and this year, for the third year in a row, Hernando County did not apply for a share of the $600,000 doled out annually statewide for artificial reef programs. "Hernando's been pretty inactive for a while," said Bill Horn, an environmental specialist with the state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which administers the grants. "We'd like to see them get more active." Horn, who monitors artificial reef programs throughout state, said expansion isn't mandatory -- the idea is to create the reef, then let nature take over -- but it couldn't hurt. "What happens is they do degrade over time. Even concrete will settle in," he said. "It's a good idea to continue to put material out there." Talk of expanding the reefs was revived recently with news that the Army Corps of Engineers is considering using rocks taken from the Hernando Beach channel during a proposed dredge project. If the corps obtains the permits, which are good for five years, the county could follow up with more expansion on its own, Sloan said. "Somehow or another the ball got dropped or the interest got lost and the permits expired," Sloan said. "It's a resource that we have that we don't really know that we have, and it can be expanded upon. . . . The potential is almost unlimited." But some say the reefs have one major drawback that prevents them from being a major fishing or diving attraction: Their distance from shore. Because the waters off Hernando County are famously shallow, dropping about a foot per mile, the reefs were placed almost 20 miles out, meaning anyone who wants to visit them has to have a decent-size boat and the time to get there. "In Clearwater, you can put a reef in 30 feet deep, 8 miles from shore," said Bill Gibbard, president of the Hernando Area Boat Club, based in Aripeka. "We can't do that here. The depth of water definitely hampers us." Gibbard, who snorkels the reefs but rarely fishes there, said distance is a major deterrent for some. "Just play with the gas prices and you can tell that it hurts," he said. "I don't want to buy a $25,000 boat and spend $40 on gas just to get grouper all the time. Wal-Mart sells it much cheaper than that." But Jim McFarlane, who owns a scuba and kayaking shop in Spring Hill and was heavily involved in developing and launching the reef balls put down in 1995, said the reefs are a viable draw, attracting divers from across the nation. Some visitors have learned about the reefs through divers clubs that post information on the Internet, and local captains have begun to offer charter trips for diving, according to McFarlane. "It's kind of a secret if you talk to people in St. Pete and Tampa," he said. "Basically, people do not realize what they have here. . . . It's something that the county needs to get back into." -- Staff writer Jennifer Farrell covers Spring Hill and can be reached at 848-1432. Send e-mail to farrell@sptimes.com.
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