Memorial reef being deployed off St. George Island will honor longtime resident Buddy Ward

Plans to drop a new artificial reef section off the coast of St. George Island will soon come to fruition, marking the first addition in state waters in nearly two decades.

The Buddy Ward Memorial Reef is set to be deployed soon roughly 8 miles into the Gulf south of the Bob Sikes Cut on the western end of the island.

Its permitting and deployment is the work of the Apalachicola Artificial Reef Association, the Franklin County Commission and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. 

It commemorates Buddy Ward, a longtime commercial fisherman in the coastal county who died in 2006. He and his family have operated Buddy Ward and Sons 13 Mile Seafood and Trucking Company since 1957. 

His son Tommy Ward still operates 13 Mile Seafood and said it was an honor to have a reef named for a man who was such a part of the fabric of Apalachicola.

“He was a big advocate for the seafood industry as a whole and I think it’s great that they’re doing that in his honor,” said Ward, 59. “We appreciate the people that put forth the effort to get that named after my father and get it put out there. He worked real hard and he tried to help the fisherman and the community.”

Deployment was set for Thursday, but was delayed because of stormy weather. A new date has not been set.

The last time artificial reef materials were sunk in state waters near the island was 17 years ago when parts of the old St. George Island bridge were dropped just to the east of where the new reef will go. A new bridge was built and opened in 2004. 

Only two artificial reef sites are located inside the 9-mile state waters boundary off St. George, the last dropped in 1983.  

Earlier this year, FWC awarded a $60,000 grant to the Franklin County Commission for the Buddy Ward reef. The modules were built and will be deployed by Walter Marine in Orange Beach, Alabama. Another $10,000 in private donations was collected for the project.

Permitted to be one nautical square mile in size, the reef will feature 35 limestone modules — 8-foot tall, 10-foot wide tetrahedrons weighing 3 tons each — in roughly 40 feet of water. The total weight is estimated at 105 tons. 

The reef’s location makes it accessible to many, said Capt. Grayson Shepherd, a fishing guide and board members with the nonprofit AARA, and should promote strong habitat for recreation and conservation.

“It’s safe; it’s easy; it’s close. On a good day, smaller boats are going to be able to run out there,” Shepherd said. “It’s going to be a good thing. For state licensed charter captains that can only stay in state waters, it’s going to give those guys another opportunity.”

The Buddy Ward reef is the organization’s first deployment that came after 5 years of work. The hope is that it proves AARA can get similar projects done and open the door to more artificial reefs in the area through fundraising and promoting memorials.

“It goes on the chart that this is 'John Doe’s' memorial reef and people can go out there and go fishing with granddad,” Shepherd said. “We’re hoping it does stimulate interest.”

Contact Karl Etters at ketters@tallahassee.com or @KarlEtters on Twitter.

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