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Grant seeking - 2009/01/28 11:08
PROPOSAL FOR RIVER AND INLET CLEAN-UP AND CARE TAKING PROGRAM
Submitted by
Captain Donald A.Voss
October 18, 2005
MISSION STATEMENT
We at CIRE, or Clean the Inlets, the River and the Ecosystem, are dedicated to the clean-up and maintenance of the Indian River, the inlets, the aquatic life and the Ocean Reefs along the Treasure Coast to include Brevard, St Lucie, and Indian River Counties
THE PROCESS.
We will fulfill this Mission by organizing volunteer divers and boat owners, a staffed office working with a well-equipped professional team and trained captains to over-see and guide the projects. Professional and Manufacturing Organizations, Grants, civic minded groups, benefactors and other sponsors will provide the funding for these scheduled clean-up and maintenance projects of these areas and the program as outlined below.
ORIGIN
I am a volunteer diver currently operating with Keep Indian River Beautiful, the Monofilament fishing line clean-up project and Reef Savers Project and the Earth Day Foundation and M.A.S.T, an underwater archeology organization. It is our intention to further group these different county organizations and projects into a larger more cohesive group to better utilize resources and volunteers. By scheduling as a multi-county effort, we can better address the issues through the big picture and spread out our sponsors and funding to lessen the impact on these funding sources. Although the inlets represent a county or city issue, the Indian River flows through many counties and needs to be address by those counties as a cohesive project.
SCOPE OF PROJECT
INLET PROJECT
Since 2003, Keep Indian River Beautiful, Earth Day Journal, Reef Savers and volunteer scuba divers and boat owners have worked together to clean up the inlets of St Lucie, Ft Pierce, and Sebastian, as well as the wreck off of Ft Pierce and Reefs near St Lucie. This has also been coordinated with beach and Indian River projects. Since the Hurricanes of 2004, these areas have accumulated substantial debris and hazardous materials left by these storms and ignored by over-taxed or overwhelmed local governments.
In the Sebastian inlet, for instance, we dived in July 2004 and collected massive amounts of monofilament fishing line, sinkers, and associated fishing material. We also dove the Halsey Wreck off of Ft Pierce finding the same need to clean up fishing debris. Since the September 2004 storms, we have dived the Sebastian inlet twice and the reefs and inlet of St Lucie once each. The materials collected after the storm is more Hurricane-related debris as well as a huge increase in original materials collected.
We collected approximately 500 pounds of debris from the Halsey and the Sebastian Inlet prior to September 2004. On July 23, 2005, we collected nearly 1200 pounds of debris from Sebastian Inlet and equally as much in St Lucie, reef and inlet. We also identified numerous large items and boat pieces. On October 1, 2005 we collect an additional 1800 pounds of materials from the Sebastian inlet and had made arrangements with the Fire Rescue Team to use their Lift bags to collect these larger items as well as any additional items. Our intention was to have a second dive a low slack tide, but weather conditions relating to a Tropical Depression forced us to cancel the second dive.
OCEAN REEF PROJECT:
We have addressed the reefs of St Lucie with clean-up projects in association with the commercial fishing fleet and local activist groups. Unfortunately, the reefs of the Fort Pierce area have been covered with thousands of tons of sand from three Beach Erosion Recovery Projects that were taken washed away and cover the reefs with that sand. Currently, Fort Pierce is constructing new artificial reefs by depositing stones to attract the reef life back. Until Nature uncovers the reefs or a project to pump that sand from the reefs in initiated, reef clean up in this area is rather limited. And the Sebastian area is addressed as part of the inlet clean-up and care taking project.
INDIAN RIVER CLEAN-UP:
There are 200 missing vessels in the Ft Pierce area, the hundreds of submerged objects identified by marine patrol units along the Indian River and the Causeways south of Ft Pierce. Our local Coast Guard and marine patrol officers have neither the time nor resources to address these objects. The EPA is too busy dealing with shoreline construction and submerged leases for docks and protecting what wildlife survived to give attention to these vessels and their leaking fluids. Insurance companies, such as BoatUS Marine Insurance Division have paid the insured owners for their vessels and taken title (or received their documentation papers), but they have not located, removed or offered to pay anyone to salvage them. And uninsured boat owners who’s vessel were lost or destroyed and now lay wasting in the Indian River have no resources to remove them either.
Our groups and volunteers have grown to 35 volunteer divers using 10 to 20 local volunteer boat owners all under the supervision of marine patrol, the Fire Rescue Team and local Sheriff’s officers. Our problem is we need more support and funding to give the attention and time necessary to clean up this massive debris and ecological problem.
An outline of equipment and staff to both oversee and guide the Inlet and Reef program are covered in later sections, as is the budget. Cleaning the river will be handled in a different fashion where water quality or toxic fluids exist and present special situations unsafe for a team of just volunteer divers.
There are Approximately 120 Square Miles of river to inspect for debris, sunken vessels, derelict vessels, and then mark them, recover them, move them to shore and transfer them to designated hauling organizations or refuse yards. This will take time and require additional input from Infra Red Arial Photos, boaters (through some small reward policy and hot line number and/or website), Insurance Company information and any other source we can identify. Also we will implement the use of underwater closed circuit cameras to locate debris.
Volunteer boaters and Fire Rescue boat line up for third Sebastian Inlet Dive (Oct 2005)
PROJECT NEEDS
INLET AND REEF PROJECTS:
To successfully address our inlet clean-up/care taking project we need to be able to dispatch our divers rapidly and be prepared to retrieve them even more rapidly. The Sebastian, for instance, is well documented as the most treacherous man-made inlet in Florida. Many a surfer or fisherman has drown around this inlet due to the current and short slack tide time. We have noted that during our three dives there we have averaged just 23 minutes of bottom time, where usually the slack tide should be around 60 minutes. Yet, we have collected nearly half a ton of debris in each of those short dives.
By the time a diver feels the change on the current outward, it is nearly too late to get to the surface, locate a boat and get on-board, therefore, we have a desperate need for tow Personal Water Craft with Rescue sleds as pictured here:
This will allow us to rapidly assist the surfacing divers and get then to nearly boats without risk of them drifting under the bridges and out the inlet. On our most recent dive, one diver had retrieved an illegal gill net that had wrapped around a discarded anchor and while she surfaced and was wrapping it all into a bundle, the net wrapped around her and she was unable to swim. After several attempts by the Fire Rescue boat, which was taking on too much water from the racing current and had to abort the rescue, I swam over and cut her free and we got aboard a Sheriff’s boat.
As our volunteer vessels anchor during the diving portion, they are not free to circle around and assist divers, switch out filled collection bags, or do anything other than watch out for the divers and be prepared to assist them on-board when the tide resumes. Therefore, we also so need an additional vessel free to collect the filled collection bags, circle around and assist divers in coordination with the PWS’s and act as a drop off vessel for diver’s needing to be recovered when surfacing. Such a “scow” vessel is pictured
As you can see, instead of boarding from the rear, this vessel has side entrances, allowing for divers to board while the engines can still operate and keep it free to move. Also note the ropes along the side of the vessel allowing for the divers to “roll” off of the rescue sleds behind the PWS’s and grab the ropes on the “scow” vessels and board swiftly while the PWC and sled race off to look for other divers in need.
As there are many items too large to place in collection bags, such as anchors, we will also need wire baskets approximately 4x4x3 feet with large rope and mooring balls/floats on them that we can spot along our purposed collection site prior to our diving. To best spot these baskets and then retrieve them, we will need a vessel similar as the one pictured here.
With our expanding group of volunteers including divers, Rotarians, local restaurateur’, newspapers and boaters, we will also be in need of waterproof and handheld VHS radios to assist in coordination of the dive and recovery and sounding horns to indicate to the submerged divers it is time to surface and board the boats.
INDIAN RIVER CLEAN-UP PROJECT:
These same vessels can and will be used to identify, mark and retrieve submerged vessels lost and not recovered by the insurance companies or owners who no longer want them. And once collected and full of debris, the crane vessel can unload the debris easily onto vehicles provided by local authorities and weights documented, vessels and owners identified and notified of salvage fees, and disposed of.
Additional equipment such as underwater close circuit cameras will be needed to locate debris and mark it using PWC and or Scow boat, while Crane vessel collects this material.
A SEPARATE WATER-BASED CLEAN-UP PROJECT
FROM LAND-BASED CLEAN-UP PROGRAMS
The organizations that currently sponsor and organize the inlet and reef clean-up projects are very dedicated and over-worked and under staffed environmental individuals.
The Land Based clean-up projects such as Keep Indian River Beautiful do a vital and important job that is huge in scope and magnitude. Of equal importance, is the clean-up and maintenance of the Inlets, Indian River and the Reefs. It is of such importance, it needs to be separately funded and have a staff and office independent of but coordinating with the land-based clean-up efforts. By operating as a separate entity, we will develop additional participation in ecological projects from an even more diverse group of individuals and organizations. Therefore, growing the entire concept of Keeping it All beautiful.
As we learned the need for the clean-up of monofilament fishing line, first hand, at the Halsey Wreck and the first Sebastian Inlet dive, it became obvious more was needed. But then the Hurricanes of 2004 came through and leveled many homes, carried away many vessels, over 200 of which have not been accounted for. We not only need to continue to address the Inlet care taking project, but we need to concentrate on the Indian River clean-up at once.
At this critical time before the salt water has rusted away or deteriorated the hoses on the sunken vessels, we need to provide additional energies and paid persons to over-see and coordinate the River, Inlet and Reef clean-ups and allow K.I.R.B. and related land-based groups to continue with their important and necessary projects in the Counties they are funded to work within.
Our project will cooperate with, coordinate with a well as over-see the three inlets and 120 square miles of the Indian River most affected by Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne of 2004 while there is still time to identify the submerged vessels and contain the hazardous waste and fuel while it is still somewhat contained.
The contacts made and developed by the land-based clean-up efforts are vital to the River, inlet and reef care-taking and clean-up projects and cooperation between all of
These groups are a must. We may be from neighboring counties, but we share the same coast and river and we are all after the same results.
EMPLOYEES
OPERATIONS MANAGER: This person will direct the education and advertising campaigns, seeks sponsors, coordinate with land based partners and network messages and events, oversee operations of clean-up and care taking project, and write grants.
ASSISTANT: This person will assist the Operations Manager as well as oversee the operation of the Hot Line and the Website for located vessels and submerged objects.
LICENSED CAPTAINS TO OPERATE CRANE AND SKOW VESSELS: These people will have current Captains License with a minimum of 50ton limit and be knowledgeable of the local waters. Mechanical ability of diesel engines would be a plus.
PWC OPERATORS: These people will be trained or have sufficient time logged
Proficient in their operation and use with rescue sleds and inlet turbulence, rapid recovery as well as pulling divers behind to locate debris.
SCHEDULE AND DURATION OF PROJECT
INLET PROJECT:
Currently, we have three Inlet dives planned for March 18, May 12, and July 10, 2006 for the Sebastian inlet. We will have two additional dives at the Fort Pierce inlet and one for the St Lucie Inlet. These will all be on Saturdays to allow for the largest number of volunteer divers and boats. These care taking projects will be an on-going process until laws are changed to demand use of biodegradable fishing line, moorings are placed in the inlet for fishing boats, and nets are no longer found during maintenance dives.
INDIAN RIVER PROJECT:
On additional weekends our divers will travel the width of the Indian River and mark with floats submerged debris and object previously identified by marine patrol personal. Smaller object can be collected at those times, but we are more interested in the locating and marking of the larger debris.
During regular weekdays, a paid staff will use the crane boat, the PWC’s, and a few divers to secure these larger objects and hoist them onto the crane vessel and/or a small barge depending on size and amounts.
Since the river we how to effect clean-up covers approximately 120 square miles of the Indian River, our first phase will to be identifying vessels with fluids that are or will be leaking into the environment and recover them first.
We know this is a huge project, but it is a vital one and needs to be addressed and addressed as soon as possible. It is our estimate that without further storms to add to the present problem, this river debris clean-up will take three years.
REEF CARE TAKING PROJECT:
Like the Inlet Project, the Reef care-taking part of the project, based on collection data is needs to be an on-going operation.
First dive (2004)
Third dive (Oct 2005)
PROJECT GROWTH AND IMPACT
At this time, we have involved Sea Scouts, a youth group from the Fort Pierce involved in boating safety. We have involved The Crew of Brevard County, also a youth group but involved in scuba diving. We have gotten the assistance of the professional fishing fleet of Stuart. The Orchid Island Rotary Club has donated time and members as well as a few boats. Two different dive shops have donated air and tanks for our dives. Dozens of scuba divers of differing ages and boats of differing interests have donated their time, equipment and bodies for this project. The Fire Rescue Team of Sebastian, the Marine Patrol and the Sheriffs Department teams have all assisted in watching over our project while we are diving and setting up.
This has all expanded from 6 divers using one boat just two years ago. The combining of diverse organizations with similar objectives and the involvement of mentors, be they scuba divers, boaters, or environmentalist, can only help to grow the knowledge as well as the interest in diving, boating, and the environment.
We see this as being a total winning situation. First, the River is cleared and will not continue to look like Dinner Key in Miami, Florida. After Hurricane Andrew, they left the sunken boats on the spoil islands and now they are the shelters for the homeless and the City cannot get them out. We want our River back to its’ natural condition.
Boats wrecked or grounded off spoil islands just outside Dinner Key Marine, Oct ‘05
Boats still grounded off Dinner Key in Miami as of October 2005
These are not boat just grounded from Hurricane Katrina, these boats have been here since Hurricane Andrew!
Second, fishing and water sports are an important part of our local economy. The amounts of debris left by fisher people constitutes a huge impact on wildlife and humans…especially nets. We need to gain the assistance of the fishing community to aid us with the monofilament line program and education fish supply stores and fisher persons of the need to collect their line and discard it properly. We need to educate and
encourage legislation to return to biodegradable fishing line and nets. We need to encourage the reporting of lost nets and the use of illegal nets.
And in doing so we will bring a new generation of divers, boaters, fishers persons, and water enthusiasts into our group, community and economic growth cycle, as well as expand the knowledge of those existing enthusiasts so they may better assist our overall plan for our local environment and help us to build the kind of base that will impact legislation and community and civic action.
EDUCATION
A comprehensive educational program will be a vital part of the overall goal of this project. Materials collected, videos taken during care taking and clean-up projects will be incorporated into a display presentation booth for set up at local events, shopping malls, schools, churches, civic organizational meetings and local fairs and gatherings.
Fishing organizations, Marine outlets, tackle shops, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute diving organizations and other interested parties will be will be approached to see if there is not some additional involvement they might offer to assist with this part of the project.
Instructing fishermen to either switch to a biodegradable fishing line or better identify locations to deposit monofilament line, report missing nets, or reporting GPS coordinates of snags for clean-up must be stressed.
Boaters and water enthusiasts need to be better informed about packing out their trash and protecting our environment as well as reporting sunken objects and GPS coordinates of materials needing attention.
Young people need to be introduced and involved in these types of important public issues as they have been about wearing their seatbelts and not doing drugs. When we bring our youth up accepting a way of protecting our planet, it becomes second nature and the concept grows and becomes habit.
A hot line needs to be instituted for all parties to report submerged or leaking vessels or GPS coordinates of materials that need attention and a scheduled recovery or removal.
ADVERTISING
An integral part of any project is sufficient and repeated messages in newspapers, on radios, posters in shops and related industry businesses and through Public Service Announcements. A concise message and logo will be developed and used to keep the public aware of our message, collection dates and locations, requests for divers and additional boat volunteers will be stressed and the Hot Line phone number and website location will be repeated to increase public awareness and usage.
HOT LINE AND WEB SITE
As a part of the entire campaign, a telephone Hot Line and Web Site will need to be established and staffed so boaters, divers and other water enthusiasts can inform our project of any submerged objects, areas of leaking fluids, snags encounters while out, and any GPS coordinates to further help locate these. Our staff will be small and our goals are very large, so it will take thousands of eyes, informed and motivated citizens for this to work. We hope to have some form of “reward” or Certificate to honor the good citizens that assist with this clean-up and we are looking to the Insurance Companies and Sponsors to assist in this part of the project.
IDENTIFICATION PROGRAM AND INCENTIVES
As part of the Education and Advertising Champagnes, we will have available special coded floats boater and water enthusiasts can use to mark and identify debris, submerged materials or signs of an oil or fluid leak. This along with the GPS data called into the Hot Line or entered onto our Web Site will increase our area of coverage with a volunteer fleet cooperating.
Our efforts will be to coordinate Area school visits, displays, Presentations, to co-inside
With the portions of the Indian River we are currently clearing. It is through this saturation campaign we intend to reach the kids encouraging their boating relatives to come out and help using the flats we provide. Fishermen in those areas can be brought into this type of search through bait stores, inserts in licensing mailings, local fishing stores as well as normal forms of Advertising and our Web Site.
CERTIFICATION PROGRAM
Dive Certification Agencies such as PADI, TDI, and SSI offer any number of certifications ranging from underwater navigation to cave diving. Nitrox diving and Re-breather certifications are examples of some additional skill levels that have been added to the training programs offered. I recently was in the Tuamatos diving and took a TDI certified course in Pass Flying or diving into an atoll inlet with the incoming tide to view the giant sharks.
We will develop a training program and seek a Certification Agency to establish a clean-up/care taking diver’s certificate.
ORDER OF PRIORITY AND QUANTIFICATION OF PROJECT
FIRST: We must locate by all means available the list of lost vessels. There are a number of ways to do this. Arial Photographs might be a way. Side scanners are very expensive and the River isn’t that deep to risk such an expensive piece of equipment, but it is an option. There are closed circuit underwater video camera systems that are moderately priced but offer a limited width of view. There are government Infra-Red photos that might assist. There are underwater metal detectors. There is also the old fashion method of pulling divers slowly behind boats and PWC. Or just locations called in to our hot line or web site.
We must locate these vessels and remove them before the fluids pollute our river any further.
SECOND: We must continue to maintain our Inlet care taking project.
THREE: We have approximately 120 square miles of river to search, locate, mark and remove debris not acceptable for aquatic habitat. This is a three year project as currently planned. We will not cover as much river area in this area until we have accomplished Goal One, but we will still mark debris we locate while searching for those lost vessels.
The best way to quantify the success of each of these areas is fairly simple.
GOAL ONE: How many vessels did you locate? How many hours did that take? What resources were utilized? What outside assistance or agencies assisted your results? How many vessels were established as being lost?
GOAL TWO: We have weighed and photographed the results of three Inlet dives in differing visibilities. We can establish an average weight each diver has collected to date and break it down further into groups of materials/items. We can then determine after each additional inlet dive how we faired. WE can show how our Education and Advertising programs might be affecting a difference of certain materials collected. We will be requesting more monofilament line disposal bins at the fishing pier and Jetty and keep track of amounts collected there.
GOAL THREE: We have a determined amount of square miles to cover and initially a time to cover it all. We can track our progress by square miles covered by the amount and types of materials recovered.
Another way to follow impact of this project will be through number of calls to the Hot Line and number of hits on the Web Site and will allow us to better direct our attentions.
INITIAL BUDGET
2 - PWC’s with trailer $ 16,000.00
2 – Rescue sleds (2 person style) $ 3,000.00
1 – dive rescue/collection vessel $ 20,000.00
1 – crane vessel $ 50,000.00
20- wire recovery baskets $ 3,000.00
20- mooring balls/floats and line $ 1,000.00
10 – sounding devices $ 500.00
2 – paid captains to operate vessels $ 30,000.00
2 – paid PWC operators for PWC’s $ 10,000.00
1 – full time staff organizer and facilitator $ 25,000.00
1 – office, storage area, and utilities/phone $ 14,000.00
2- closed circuit U/W camera and monitor $ 1,100.00
Advertising - $ 2,000.00
Fuel - $ 10,000.00
Insurance - $ 12,000.00
Education - $ 3,000.00
Maintenance - $ 3,000.00
2- waterproof VHS Radios $ 375.00
8- handheld water resistant VHS Radios $ 1,200.00
TOTAL PROJECT BUDGET $205,175.00
YEAR TWO BUDGET
2 – paid captains to operate vessels $ 30,000.00
2 – paid PWC operators for PWC’s $ 10,000.00
1 – full time staff organizer and facilitator $ 25,000.00
1 – office, storage area, and utilities/phone $ 14,000.00
Advertising - $ 4,000.00
Fuel - $ 10,000.00
Insurance - $ 12,000.00
Education - $ 4,000.00
Maintenance - $ 4,000.00
TOTAL YEAR TWO BUDGET $110,300.00
YEAR THREE BUDGET
2 – paid captains to operate vessels $ 30,000.00
2 – paid PWC operators for PWC’s $ 10,000.00
1 – full time staff organizer and facilitator $ 25,000.00
1 – office, storage area, and utilities/phone $ 14,000.00
Advertising - $ 4,000.00
Fuel - $ 10,000.00
Insurance - $ 12,000.00
Education - $ 4,000.00
Maintenance - $ 4,000.00
TOTAL YEAR THREE BUDGET $113,00.00
IDENTIFICATION OF SPONSORS, FUNDS AND DONATIONS
We believe that since our base of volunteers comes in the form of scuba divers, that we need to identify large diving groups that could and do benefit from the recreational divers. I hope to persuade groups like The Aggressor Fleet to provide the “scow” vessel. I hope to persuade water craft dealers and or manufacturer’s to provide their brand of PWC’s for the advertising. I hope to receive funding from any number of sources for funds to operate, advertise, educate, and pay a small staff of operators and director. I hope to receive sponsors and government support to haul away the debris, as well as organizations such as BoatUS and/or other boating insurance companies to assist in this removal of vessels and collection of fees for this part of the clean-up. I hope to receive support from the EPA and environmental organization, civic minded organizations to supplement funding. I hope to have groups like West Marine, PADI, and SSI to provide radios, mooring balls or floats, diver down flags and collection bags. And I hope to receive a grant or SBA loan to purchase the crane vessel and baskets needed to complete this project.
These photos are materials found and collected during first dive in 2004
These next four photos are materials collected after our third dive in Oct 2005
A ball of monofilament fishing line in the Inlet just 90 days after the July 2005 clean-up.
Since most of our Inlet debris collected comes from fishermen, we will look to the Fishing Industry to support our efforts through donation of equipment such as hand-held VHS radios and underwater closed circuit cameras. Their involvement is paramount to the success of our projects and the education of fishermen to responsibly report lost nets and discard scrap monofilament fishing line in receptacles provide along fishing piers, bridges and jetties.
ADDITIONAL BENEFITS FROM THE PROJECT
Besides the obvious care-taking and clean-up of our area of the Indian River and the Treasure Coast and the involvement of young people in our mentoring project, we will also develop data and skills for such types of projects and learn, develop and report our results in materials collected, and locations of recovered objects.
This knowledge will assist other areas currently affected by similar storm damage, reef and Inlet clean-up and lost vessel recovery. Our data base and web site will provide valuable information for these areas and we will have experienced personal available to assist along with the proper equipment.
Hurricanes and disasters are not a once in a lifetime situation, as we in St Lucie County learned during 22 days of last September. We need to have in place a trained team of volunteers and paid operators to respond to keep our environment as clean as we can while our governmental agencies care for our citizens and the role of governing.
It is important people feel as if they can make a difference in these frustrating times and this is an area where they can not only feel this way, but they actually can make a difference. Every water enthusiast, be they swimmers, fishermen, boaters, bird watchers, kayakers, scuba diver or beach walker can report situations, submerged objects, or locations of snags or seeping fluids so our team can respond and deal with it. This is truly Growing the Solution. Our primary goal.
BENEFITS TO SPONSORS AND THE BENEFACTORS
Although our needs are many to get this project off of the ground, there are many benefits and potential growth and therefore rewards for the Sponsoring groups, Organizations, and Benefactors.
The Diving, Boating, and Fishing Industries will continually be listed through decals on our vessels and T-shirts passed out and worn by our volunteers. They will be listed in our Grant applications as significant participants in our clean-up and care taking efforts for the entire three years of this project. We are continually growing in number of volunteers. And many of the new divers joining us are in high schools and have years and years of diving in front of them.
The addition of these young people will grow our base as well as the base of water enthusiasts to include diving, fishing and boating, so the benefits to our Sponsors is easy to see. There will be Name and Organization recognition spread through our ranks. It will serve as advertising and make all participants aware of who cares and who helps keep our water beautiful.
These two photos are from July 2005
This photo comes from the July 2005 dive prior to clean-up
A happy Grouper after the clean-up of July 2004
The Boats, Motors, Personal Water Crafts, and Trailers donated by will carry their brand names and the reorganization will also be cover through our advertising, T-shirts and on our web site for the entire time of our project to reinforce the civic minded nature of all who care about and help with this vital project.
These last two photos are of the Sebastian Inlet bottom after the divers finished the clean-up in July 2005. Yet, 90 days later, we collected all of the materials shown previous photos on shore after the October 2005 dive.
JUSTIFICATION OF PROJECT AND NEED FOR
INDUSTRY TO STEP UP AND ASSIST
One does not have to be a member of Mensa to see that the materials collected are all fishing and boating related items. Therefore, these large Industries need to step forward and assist through funding and incentive programs the clean-up and maintenance of our inlets and reefs. Pro Bass Outdoor Stores and West Marine are in the process of determining how best to address our project.
The Industry needs to fund our efforts and work to change over to a biodegradable fishing line or face restrictions and regulations on fishing gear through legislation and environmental group pressures. It is our intention to gain their assistance and help to make this a win-win situation. Our needs are not as great as the mandatory change over would be, let alone the impact on their industries.
Likewise, the debris and submerged vessels are solely a result of the boating industry and the marine insurance company’s failure to remove and the Municipalities and EPA’s failure to enforce the removal of them. We are speaking to organizations such as BoatUS Marine Insurance and other such companies to gain assistance for this part of our project.
Civic minded organizations such as SunTrust Bank, Raymond James Investments, and related industry organizations such as Yamaha, Honda, Diver’s Direct, The Aggressor Fleet and Peter Hughes Diving are being consulted to act as sponsors for the good will and positive advertisement and impact such benefactors can gain.
Our Indian River, Inlets, Ocean Reefs, shoreline and beaches belong to all of us. The water belongs to the creatures that live there first and is there for our enjoyment, not the destruction and pollution of their home. We will seek grants from State and Special funding groups to fill the voids not covered by the Sponsors we identify and for our modest staff and office. |
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