The proposed project is designed to continue long term research focused on sustainable management of the alabama artificial reef permit zone

The Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources received $242,690.67 in federal funding from the U.S. Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service (DOI-FWS) under the Sport Fish Restoration program (CFDA 15.605) for the period January 1, 2026 through December 31, 2027. This formula grant supports continued long-term research on sustainable management of Alabama's artificial reef resources. The project delivers multiple research products including at least ten annual research cruises in the Alabama Artificial Reef Permit Zone, remotely operated vehicle (ROV) video documentation from approximately 25 percent of surveyed sites, and analytical work on archived ROV footage to identify environmental variables for catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE) modeling.

The grant incorporates a sub-award to the University of South Alabama (dated March 11, 2026) for monitoring abundance and movement of red snapper populations, expanding the research scope to include species-specific fisheries data collection. The Sport Fish Restoration program, funded through excise taxes on fishing equipment and motorboat fuel, provides annual formula-based allocations to eligible state fish and wildlife agencies for restoration, conservation, and management of sport fish populations and public fishing access. This award aligns with the program's established mission of supporting state-led fisheries research and adaptive management initiatives.

Specifically we plan to perform at least ten research cruises per year in the alabama artificial reef permit zone following site selection procedures utilized in past years to continue the cpue index collect ROV video footage from a subset 25 percent of sites fished and analyze ROV footage from previous years that has been archived to identify environmental covariates that may be useful in modeling cpue.