FORT PIERCE - Even as the peak of hurricane season closes in, St. Lucie County was able to sneak past the storms and deploy two new artificial reefs on two permitted sites last week.

Funded by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and through a generous donation by Bob Herbst, these new reefs range in depths from 54 to 90 feet.

"Due to the cooperation of our contractor, McCulley Marine Services, and our consultant, Lee Harris, we were able to get out four deployments out in four days," said St. Lucie County Marine Resource Coordinator Jim Oppenborn.

In all more than 2,000 tons of materials, including concrete piling cutoffs, light poles, culverts and large chunks of reinforced slab, were used to create these new artificial reefs.

Over the past few years, St. Lucie County has found that these reefs attract more than 90 species of fish including aggregates of Goliath Grouper, permit, red snapper, snook, and Warsaw grouper plus juvenile fishes in the snapper-grouper complex. County staff is making plans to study and monitor how the various marine life utilizes these reefs.

St. Lucie County has an additional 1,000 tons of artificial reef material, primarily concrete culverts, which it hopes to deploy soon. However, the cost to deploy an artificial reef is roughly $20,000 per barge. Any resident or business interested in pursuing the naming rights for future artificial reefs should contact Jim Oppenborn at (772) 462-1713.

For additional information about the St. Lucie County's Artificial Reef Program, including GPS locations of all the sites, visit: www.stlucieco.gov/public_works/reefs.htm.

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