Friends of RGV Reef

This Memorial Day weekend, the RGV Reef Team made a trip offshore to check on one the FADs located 40-60 miles out in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico. What we witnessed was incredible — thousands of bait fish congregating around the structure, finally finding much-needed habitat and protection in these open waters.

These bait schools provide a critical food source for many pelagic species including blue marlin, wahoo, mahi, tuna, whales, and countless other marine life. Seeing this much life around the FAD in such a short time shows just how important these projects are for marine conservation and enhancing sport fishing in the Gulf.

We also want to give a huge thank you to Dr. Richard Kline, marine biologist at UTRGV, and his student for their continued help and support with this project. During this trip, we attached an acoustic receiver that will help provide valuable data on tagged species migrating through these Gulf waters, helping us better understand marine movement and behavior offshore.

This is exactly why we continue pushing forward with the FAD Program.

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Building the Future of Our Gulf—One Reef at a Time 🌊🐟

The Friends of RGV Reef isn’t just building reef systems off South Padre Island—we’re proud to support and work alongside incredible organizations across the entire Texas Gulf Coast like CCA Texas and Texas Parks & Wildlife to restore and expand critical marine habitat.

Right now, 500 tons of recycled concrete railroad ties—generously donated by BNSF Railway—are being loaded at the Port of Brownsville. Each one of these ties weighs 800–900 pounds, and together they will soon be deployed into the Port O’Connor Reef and Sabine Reef.

In this video, you’ll see Daniel Bryant and Scott Vanderpool putting in the work—loading this material piece by piece to help create something much bigger than all of us.

A huge thank you to the Port of Brownsville for their continued support. Providing staging and loading space has been a true blessing and makes projects like this possible.

This material will create lasting marine habitat for over 100 years, giving fish, sea turtles, and countless other species a place to grow and thrive. It also creates opportunities for local fishermen to get out on the water, catch fish, and most importantly—make memories that last a lifetime.

2025 is going to be an amazing year for artificial roofing. Stay tuned for as we will be announcing other reasons that will be built in SPI Waters for everybody to enjoy.
MOST IMPORTANTLY, THE MARINE HABITAT

This is what it’s all about.

Stronger reefs. Healthier oceans. Better fishing.