Okaloosa County BOCC — June 2, 2015 — Okaloosa Co ABF Feasibility Study C2014-042

ANCHORING BUOY SYSTEM FOR FISHING IN THE DEEP GULF OFFSHORE OKALOOSA COUNTY Feasibility Report 1.0 INTRODUCTION Okaloosa County has requested that Taylor Engineering investigate the feasibility of placing anchoring (mooring) buoys in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) approximately 50 – 100+ nautical miles south of the Florida Panhandle (Figure 1). The area of interest includes the West Florida Shelf in the areas of the De Soto Canyon and the intersection of the Canyon and the West Florida Escarpment. Depths in the area of interest range between 500 and 5,000 feet (ft) (150 – 1,500 meters [m]). The Loop Current, while variable, often extends to the south edge of the area of interest, creating favorable conditions for many highly migratory species (Roffs, 2014). The area also includes the northern portions of the Essential Fish Habitat areas for a wide range of highly migratory fishes, including most of the billfish and many of the tuna species that reside in the gulf (Figure 2 and Figure 3). Okaloosa County proposes to deploy the mooring buoys to attract pelagic game fish and expand recreational and sport fishing opportunities for County visitors. Whether the County contemplates a single buoy or a network of buoys over many miles, the general principles of the buoy design and the expected biological responses remain the same. Human fishing behavior has included construction and use of devices to attract fish in the open ocean near land for millennia (Dempster and Taquet, 2004). At the outset, it is important to recognize that the open ocean water column in general consists of a featureless desert of water with little or no structure. Any sort of floating material (e.g., logs, rafts of flotsam, drifting boats) will typically attract fish, and the longer that material remains, the more colonists (and prey items) will inhabit the floating material and the water column immediately adjacent to the structure. Through time, a diverse fish assemblage will visit the structure. This sequence of events lies at the heart of all attempts to attract fishes with structures. This report will cover the following subjects: effectiveness of buoys in attracting fish; offshore buoy design, maintenance, and longevity; billfish habitat in the Gulf of Mexico; and regulatory steps necessary to permit buoy placement. We selected billfish as a focus because they comprise a primary interest of recreational and sport fishermen in the deep waters of the GOM. Tuna species, also of interest, have characteristics similar to billfish; thus, the discussion on billfish also generally applies to many of the tuna and other pelagic species. 1 2.0 OCEAN BUOYS AS FISH AGGREGATORS As indicated in the introduction, structures, natural or artificial, attract many species of fish in freshwater, estuarine, and marine environments. This occurs in the nearshore and deep ocean marine environments. While the cause of this behavior remains unclear, the consistency of the effect (thigmotropism, the attraction to a solid object) yields sufficient confidence that artisanal fishermen, the commercial fishing industry, and recreational fishermen use such floating devices — either anchored or drifting, at the surface, midwater depths, or both, nearshore and offshore areas, and at a wide variety of water depths. Fish assemblages associated with floating objects are a common component of marine fisheries literature (e.g., Deudero et al., 1999) and there is considerable data that seasonal variation occurs in these assemblages. There is some evidence that different species are more and less attracted to FADS (Fish Aggregating Devices) [e.g., Deudero et al., 1999 (Mediterranean Sea); Nelson, 2003 (Pacific Ocean off Panama); and Dagorn