Grace McAlister Reef Doing Its Job
When 2021 comes to a close, CCA SC will celebrate its most successful year of habitat enhancement ever, and monitoring those efforts is a vital part of the process. The Chapter has embarked on an effort to document the rewards both artificial reefs and scientific research are providing to the marine resources and the recreational anglers of South Carolina.
Images obtained from underwater monitoring at the Sea Hunt/CCA Offshore Reef indicate that the Grace McAlister tug is working as projected and is home to a large variety of marine species. In addition to habitat monitoring, scientific research projects at the Waddell Mariculture Center in Bluffton have now become fully operational with updated spawning and maturation tanks, greatly expanding the capabilities of the biologists and fisheries managers of the SC Department of Natural Resources. Research regarding popular recreational species such as cobia, spotted sea trout, and even tripletail is being conducted in these new systems.
“It was awesome to see just how the efforts of CCA SC and our conservation partners on this project are helping provide the tools for science that are vital for both management of the resource and for improving saltwater angling,” said Scott Whitaker, CCA SC executive director.
