ppbon
Registered
.... SEFCRI stands for Southeast Florida Coral Reef Initiative. They had a Public Stakeholder Meeting where they explained very clearly what SEFCRI was doing for year one as well as the plans and projects for years two and three.
They are basically still trying to assess the Reefs in the tri-county (Dade, Broward and Palm Beach) area to determine what steps are to be implemented.
Their initial approach is assessment and then education.
It didn't seem to me that there are any agendas against divers (such as fees, etc.) as was suspected earlier. On the contrary, they have broken up their structure in four groups or Focus Teams which are: 1) Appreciation and Awareness; 2) Fishing, Diving and Other Uses; 3) Land Based Sources of Pollution & Water Quality; and 4) Marine Industry & Coastal Construction Impacts.
After the initial presentations by each of the Focus Groups, they encouraged the general public to visit each one of the individual Groups and offer suggestions, ask questions and offer comments.
I was not able to stay for the conclussion of the meeting, but I did get a chance to meet with two of the Focus Groups (Diving and Awareness) where I was able to offer a few suggestions. They both asked me to put them in writing, as they would take the suggestions back to their workgroups (today).
All in all it was very informative and refreshing to see that they understand that the value of the Reefs depens on the use of the Reefs by diving, fishing, etc.
Happy Diving,
Pedro
They are basically still trying to assess the Reefs in the tri-county (Dade, Broward and Palm Beach) area to determine what steps are to be implemented.
Their initial approach is assessment and then education.
It didn't seem to me that there are any agendas against divers (such as fees, etc.) as was suspected earlier. On the contrary, they have broken up their structure in four groups or Focus Teams which are: 1) Appreciation and Awareness; 2) Fishing, Diving and Other Uses; 3) Land Based Sources of Pollution & Water Quality; and 4) Marine Industry & Coastal Construction Impacts.
After the initial presentations by each of the Focus Groups, they encouraged the general public to visit each one of the individual Groups and offer suggestions, ask questions and offer comments.
I was not able to stay for the conclussion of the meeting, but I did get a chance to meet with two of the Focus Groups (Diving and Awareness) where I was able to offer a few suggestions. They both asked me to put them in writing, as they would take the suggestions back to their workgroups (today).
All in all it was very informative and refreshing to see that they understand that the value of the Reefs depens on the use of the Reefs by diving, fishing, etc.
Happy Diving,
Pedro
