CCA Alabama Information

For years, CCA Alabama has been at the forefront of every marine resource issue in Alabama. We are the only organization in Alabama that is solely devoted to the preservation and restoration of our marine resources. In the past, just to name a few, we have achieved game fish status for blue and white marlin, sailfish, speckled trout and redfish to prevent the commercial harvest of these species, won approval of a saltwater fishing license to provide funds for our resource, banned shrimping in sensitive sea grass areas in Mobile Bay, built inshore and offshore reef habitat, won bag and size limits on numerous species to preserve healthy fish stocks, and won passage of legislation to end the use of gill nets. Today, CCA Alabama announces that it has partnered with several other organizations to restore and rebuild habitat lost in our coastal waters, including those affected by the recent BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The program is entitled 100-1000 Restore Coastal Alabama Partnership. You can find out more about it here - www.100-1000.org. The principal goal of the partnership is to build 100 miles of oyster reefs and 1000 acres of sea grass and marsh in our coastal waters. As you know, oyster reefs, marsh, and sea grasses are critical habitat for juvenile finfish, shrimp, and crabs, which provide the foundation for our marine ecosystem. Healthy oyster reefs, sea grasses, and marsh promote healthy fish populations. A program of this scale, like our opposition to potentially harmful LNG projects near our coast, lends itself to a broad coalition of partners. The estimated cost of the project may be as high $60 million. CCA Alabama has, in the past, attempted to find common ground with other local organizations for the betterment of the resource. We believe that this program provides another example of what a good partnership can do to achieve our overall goal of protecting and restoring our marine resources, including our coastal habitat. Presently, we have proposed the inclusion of two previously permitted, but unfunded CCA projects in the program - the construction of a reef in Bon Secour Bay and the Rockpile Reef in Perdido Bay.