Escambia County Deploys 43 New Artificial Reefs

June 3, 2026

Escambia County recently deployed 43 new artificial reefs, providing excellent habitats for marine life and adding even more local reef sites for anglers and divers to explore.

The reefs were deployed by the Escambia County Marine Resources Division and Walter Marine, with 217 concrete modules distributed across the 43 artificial reef locations.

Funding sources for the new artificial reefs included:

  • $500,000 from Deepwater Horizon Natural Resource Damage Assessment for 39 sites
  • $60,000 from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Artificial Reef Program, funded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Sport Fish Restoration Program for three sites

One of the new artificial reefs was privately funded by friends and family of the late Capt. Robert Edward “Eddie” Lively, a local charter boat captain and lifelong deep sea fisherman who passed away in 2025.

These artificial reefs are constructed as part of an experimental design process, which provides opportunities for scientific research and insight into optimal designs for future artificial reef projects. The artificial reef experimental design process was a collaborative effort by the Escambia County Marine Resources Division, Escambia County Marine Advisory Committee, Santa Rosa County Environmental Department, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Florida Sea Grant, University of West Florida, and Escambia High School science staff, teachers and students.

The location of the new artificial reefs is 4.5 nautical miles at 110 degrees from Pensacola Pass, with water depths of 45-55 feet.

Coordinates for the new artificial reefs are in the Escambia County Public Artificial Reefs List at myescambia.com/artificialreefs.

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Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under FRONT FEATURE