Purse seine on the shallow tenneco reef..

[testerman28]

If you fish or dive around the shallow tenneco reef be careful and do not get tangled up in the huge purse seine that is covering it.. this is very unfortunate that we will have to deal with this thing somehow. the cost to us having a 'fish trap' so to speak that only entangles and rots our fish underwater is unacceptable as was the boat that decided to kick it overboard or fish it.. how do you go about cleaning up a huge net on a tower is going to be tricky and it will cost money.. the fish it will cost us beings it is a natural 'chum bag' with dead fish ..and fish eating dead fish attracted by a net holding dead fish.. this will be a revolving door until it is taken care of.. any divers going down to see this better take this to heart because it can tangle them also.. any ideas out there to get the $ to get this thing cleared up would be great.. it will take a huge boat and some really good safety divers to do this job and it will not be cheap..

[Bluebird]

Advise the coasties and fwc and hope they take care of it.

[jjimenez1]

Contact the Southeast Florida Action Network (SEAFAN). I know they are already in the process of procuring the funds for it, but providing your support as a stakeholder adds backing to their proposal and why this needs to be done ASAP.

www.seafan.net

[copout@castaways]

Advise the coasties and fwc and hope they take care of it.

This^^^
Sad that this happened. Did you see it first hand or take any pics?

This wreck was already sticky enough.

[testerman28]

yes, I agree the Tenneco has always been a real sketchy dive due to current and being a tower that sticks up.. this 'wreck / station' holds lots of fish for divers and fishermen.. I don't know who it was that came in the dania cutoff canal and cleaned up some of the old abandoned boats but I am sure thankful!
this 'Ghost Net' as they are listed though is not good .. when this weather calms down I will take some people I know to go get some pics.. if you plan on diving or fishing it though you can loose gear to getting physically tangled up so go with caution by far.
it is hard for people to keep up with fish traps all over the Caribbean also and just because they loose a buoy or someone cuts the floats off do not mean they quit catching fish.. lobsters or crabs..
and no I am not a net specialist but it is large.. the other question is is how did it get there..?

[testerman28]

so I have been told that it will take around 15-20 grand to get this thing off the tower... we will be going out as soon as we can to go get some pics and video of it. someone had stated that even the coast guard wouldn't do anything about it unless it was a navigational hazard.. my question now is what happens if it were to come off the tower and get into a shipping channel such as Port everglades with our cruise ships and container ships with 5' of clearance from the bottom to the props...? that would be a navigational hazard I think..

[alacrity]

so I have been told that it will take around 15-20 grand to get this thing off the tower... we will be going out as soon as we can to go get some pics and video of it. someone had stated that even the coast guard wouldn't do anything about it unless it was a navigational hazard.. my question now is what happens if it were to come off the tower and get into a shipping channel such as Port everglades with our cruise ships and container ships with 5' of clearance from the bottom to the props...? that would be a navigational hazard I think..

this net is also a latent hazard that can cause serious damage if it comes off of the tower. i would think that someone at FWC and the Governor's office needs to be made aware of it and find the funds to remove it. frankly, i would not touch any part of that net without governmental authority.

[Ron@.38 Special]

$20K sounds pretty high to me, especially if it can be done by SCUBA and doesn't need a full blown dive operation. Boat and crew of Hard Hat divers could probably be had for less that $2500 a day. A qualified, experienced commercial diver can do a lot of cutting in a few hours. Seems like an operation with a few lift bags holding it up int he current and a team of good divers could do it in a day or two.

Of course video may provide more info for pricing. I know of two firms in the area, and one is my former business partner when we had our commercial diving division.

[Brett Boston]

I have good news on this matter...

Many entities have been working together to acquire resources to remove this net: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (lead), Florida Department of Environmental Protection, NOAA, US Coast Guard, Broward County, Broward County Sheriff’s Office, Miami-Dade County, National Save the Sea Turtle.org<http://Turtle.org>, and the Wildlife Foundation of Florida.

Situation: A large illegal commercial drift net weighing approximately 1,000 lbs, approximately 30’ high, and 200’ long is entangled on an artificial reef knows as Tenneco Towers about two mile offshore on the Broward County/Miami-Dade County line. The net is entangled from the top platform of the structure at 65’ and extends to the sand in 104’. The net is a safety hazard to divers and marine life. There is documentation of one dead sea turtle in the net.

Budget: Contractor services for disentangling and retrieving the net, transporting it to shore, and disposal is $11,683.

FWC has coordinated with all parties and has been able to raise the following funds:
FWC - $1,000
FDEP - $3,000
NOAA Marine Debris - $2,000
Nat’l Save the Sea Turtle.org <http://Turtle.org> - $3,000
Covanta Energy - Donated the costs of environmentally sound disposal
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation - $2,700

The removal operation should get underway soon.

Feel free to contact me if you need any additional info or details.

BrettBoston@wildlifeflorida.org

[copout@castaways]

I have good news on this matter...

Many entities have been working together to acquire resources to remove this net: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (lead), Florida Department of Environmental Protection, NOAA, US Coast Guard, Broward County, Broward County Sheriff’s Office, Miami-Dade County, National Save the Sea Turtle.org<http://Turtle.org>, and the Wildlife Foundation of Florida.

Situation: A large illegal commercial drift net weighing approximately 1,000 lbs, approximately 30’ high, and 200’ long is entangled on an artificial reef knows as Tenneco Towers about two mile offshore on the Broward County/Miami-Dade County line. The net is entangled from the top platform of the structure at 65’ and extends to the sand in 104’. The net is a safety hazard to divers and marine life. There is documentation of one dead sea turtle in the net.

Budget: Contractor services for disentangling and retrieving the net, transporting it to shore, and disposal is $11,683.

FWC has coordinated with all parties and has been able to raise the following funds:
FWC - $1,000
FDEP - $3,000
NOAA Marine Debris - $2,000
Nat’l Save the Sea Turtle.org <http://Turtle.org> - $3,000
Covanta Energy - Donated the costs of environmentally sound disposal
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation - $2,700

The removal operation should get underway soon.

Feel free to contact me if you need any additional info or details.

BrettBoston@wildlifeflorida.org

good news & thanks for the update!