Peace Reef Project Under Construction in Florida, Keys. Founders Roger Gillman & Peter Wolfson

MIAMI - Nov. 28, 2013 - PRLog -- www.PeaceReef.com

The Florida Keys' reef system is the only living coral barrier reef in the continental United States and it needs help to recover after decades of abuse. The Peace Reef Project is working toward this goal by helping to rebuild environmentally friendly foundations on which colonies of coral and other species can develop and thrive on. The Peace Reef Project is promoting this endeavor with a large-scale living art project which will live for hundreds of years.  The Peace Reef will also be submitted to The Guinness Book of World Records as the world's largest underwater living reef in the form of a Peace Sign to garner additional publicity for the project.

Managing Partners:

Roger Gillman received a J.D. degree from the University of Miami School of Law located in Coral Gables, Florida in 1998. Roger received a B.A. in criminal justice from American University located in Washington, D.C. in 1990.

Peter Wolfson received a B.A. in business administration from American University located in Washington, D.C. in 1990.

OUR STORY
In 2007 Roger Gillman began aquaculturing "Live Rock" in the Florida Keys for distribution to the aquarium industry out of his concern as a scuba diver of the health of the reef systems around the world.  Roger's former college roommate at American University, Peter Wolfson, joined him in this endeavor in 2009 and U.S. Live Rock was born. Live rock acts as a natural filter system in saltwater aquariums to remove waste produced by fish and other creatures as well as adding decorative value and beauty to the tank.  The addition of live rock and coral recreates a natural ecological system in an aquarium.

There is a growing demand for coral, live rock and other species for the domestic saltwater aquarium trade.  Every month, approximately 500,000 pounds of live rock is being torn from the wild coral reefs around the world just for the aquarium trade in the U.S. alone.  Pick axes and explosives are among the means used to extract live rock and coral from natural reefs which may never recover.  Aquacultured live rock and coral from manmade reefs solves the problem. When live rock is harvested from an aquacultured reef every rock is replaced at that same time to seamlessly continue the life of the reef.

Some of the rock already deployed on the Peace Reef site (pic taken in November, 2013).

Every pound of live rock harvested from an aquacultured reef is also one less pound removed from the wild natural reefs around the world. As we do now, every rock harvested from the completed Peace Reef will be replaced with a new rock at the same time, keeping the peace sign symbol and reef always intact. Promoting our model for the aquaculture of live rock and coral for the aquarium trade is one of the missions of the Peace Reef Project.

Our long-term lease with the State of Florida for this project site has been used as an aquaculture site to produce "live rock" for the marine aquarium trade since 2007. This government lease is for one full circular acre of submerged seabed in protected seas.  The site was carefully selected and is located on a clear sand bed only several inches deep over hard bedrock.  There is a steep drop-off going down into the deep abyss of the ocean only yards from this location, creating strong currents and an ideal location for a reef.  We already possess all of the necessary licenses and permits for this project with the State of Florida.

The work is hard and dangerous but rewarding.  We transport tons of limestone rock to the site and then deploy and cultivate it underwater. Our operations center around our marina which is located only three miles from the project site.  We own a 28-foot Seacraft boat with dependable Chevrolet engine, heavy-duty Ford cargo van and all necessary dive equipment.

We have provided live rock to numerous universities and research facilities across the country, including Harvard and SeaWorld, even supplying NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas with live rock in 2011 for two saltwater tanks they were using to research more effective methods of removing waste material from closed marine ecosystems.

Google Earth periodically updates their photos of the project site so all can see the development of the Peace Reef.  Google Earth last updated the photos of the site in early March, 2013.  The picture below is from Google Earth.  The dark spots that can be seen in the water are approximately 80,000 pounds of limestone rock that we have already deposited on the site and which will be placed into the peace sign formation.

We estimate an additional 750 tons of limestone boulders will be required to complete the Peace Reef Project.