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www.sea-technology.com October 2015 / st 37 benthic invertebrates to plankton and predatory fshes will be examined to aid our understanding of key functions and processes. As part of that effort, University of Florida, Navy and NASA researchers have been collecting data on the move- ment, behavior and habitat preferences of fsh associated with shoals to compare with data from control sites where dredging has not taken place. From late 2013 through Sep- tember 2015, more than 400 fsh were tagged with acous- tic transmitters. Acoustic receivers are able to detect signals from 300 to 1,000 m, depending on ocean conditions. The transmitters can last from seven months to 10 years depend- ing on their size (ranging from 1 to 3 in. long). Researchers periodically download the data from the acoustic receivers, which rest on the ocean foor. The tagged fshes' movements are tracked via the Flor- ida Atlantic Coast Telemetry (FACT) Array, a collaboration that now has nearly two dozen partner agencies, including BOEM, and maintains more than 400 stationary acoustic receivers from Georgia to the Florida Keys and Bahamas. BOEM is sponsoring 29 of the 57 acoustic receivers current- ly deployed on or directly adjacent to the Canaveral Shoal complex. Several dozen additional receivers are moored in the adjacent Indian River Lagoon and nearby coastal inlets. Signals from some of the Canaveral Shoals tagged species have been recorded in other arrays as far north as the Chesa- peake Bay and New Jersey. The project will continue to track movements of tagged fsh through at least 2017, providing important insights regarding habitat preferences across species, seasons and years. Additional animals and species will be tagged, in- cluding bluefsh and king mackerel, which are common within the Canaveral Shoals complex and support substan- tial recreational and commercial fsheries in the region. GOM Coastal Restoration 10 Years Post-Katrina, Rita Since 2005, Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Gustav and Ike caused a net loss of 328 sq. mi. of the Gulf States' coast- line. In 2007, BOEM's predecessor recognized a need for action and funded cooperative agreements with Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas to delineate sand resources in offshore waters for potential use in Gulf Coast restora- tion efforts. Sand Management Working Groups composed of OCS resource stakeholders determined that an estimat- ed 250 to 300 million cu. yd. (or more) of sand resources would be needed to restore the coastlines and barrier is- lands of the affected Gulf States, which were further affected by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010. BOEM has supported Gulf of Mexico restoration projects with OCS sand since 2002, with research to identify sand resources back to the 1990s. Several BOEM-funded stud- ies have found Ship Shoal offshore Louisiana to be an ideal source of sand to restore eroding barrier islands. The Louisi- ana State University Coastal Studies Institute, the Louisiana Geological Survey and Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority of Louisiana conduct feld surveys and shoal mon- itoring to better describe Ship Shoal's physical and biologi- cal conditions and understand the impacts of sand mining. In 2012, BOEM granted Louisiana approval to use sand from Ship Shoal to restore 280 ac. of beaches and dunes at the Caminada Headland in Lafourche and Jefferson Parish-