Mr. Mostkoff provides Florida Marina Development with the benefit of twenty-seven (27) years of marine habitat and environmental expertise acquired while serving in the public sector for Miami-Dade County Florida. As Coordinator of the Dade County Artificial Reef Program, Mr. Mostkoff directed the permitting of the County's inshore and offshore artificial reef sites, oversaw the construction of hundreds of artificial reefs, petitioned for the protection of the artificial reef fishery resources through legislation provided by the National Marine Fishery Service, and developed distinctive artificial reef designs which were awarded patents by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Artificial Reef Experience
- Miami-Dade County Department of Environmental Resources Management Founder and Coordinator of the Dade County Artificial Reef Program.
- President, Stability Reefs, LLC Marine Habitat consulting services.
- Initiated, developed and coordinated all phases of the Dade County Artificial Reef Program
- Developed alternative funding sources, including Miami-Dade surcharge to Florida's annual vessel registration fee, (generated $800k to $1.2M annually)
- Developed regulatory permits for 15 artificial reef sites from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Florida Department of Environmental Regulation, Florida Department of Natural Resources Division of State Lands, U.S. Coast Guard, Dade County D.E.R.M.
- Designed cost effective prefabricated concrete modular artificial reef units, each weighing 20,000 lbs., and over 1,000 built and deployed for habitat mitigation.
- Represented Department at over 100 public speaking engagements.
- Served as lobbyist to South Atlantic Fishery Management Council and National Marine Fisheries Service from 1985 1990 resulting in Special Management Zone designation for Key Biscayne artificial reef site.
- Departmental liaison and spokesperson to local and national media on artificial reef and fishery management issues including personal appearances on ABC's "20/20," CNN's "Science & Technology Week," NBC's "Today" show, and PBS's "3 2 1 Contact".
- Acquired/designed and deployed: 36 ships, barges or tugs; 5 Gulf of Mexico oil platform structures, (Tenneco Reef); prefabricated steel and concrete structures; thousands of tons of hand-picked demolition concrete structures; "Spirit of Miami" Boeing 727 aircraft; U.S. Army tanks "Project Reef-Ex"; for the creation of enhanced marine habitats and as a means of bolstering Miami's sportfishing/sportdiving opportunities.
Notable Achievements
- June 1, 1999, awarded United States Patent 5,908,265 "Artificial Reef Module and Method," for the production mold and manufacturing methodology of tetrahedron shaped artificial reef modules.
- October 1994, the 11th recipient of the Metropolitan South Florida Fishing Tournament (MET) Henry H. Hyman Trophy for contributions to the marine environment and sportsfishing.
- November 9, 1993, awarded United States Patent 5,259,695 "Artificial Reef Module and Method," for the production of concrete / concrete and tire aggregate mixture, tetrahedron shaped artificial reef modules.
Publications
- Blair, Stephen M., Timothy L. McIntosh, and Benjamin J. Mostkoff. 1994. Impacts of Hurricane Andrew on the offshore reef systems of central and northern Dade County, Florida. Bull. of Marine Science 54, no. 3: 961-73.
- Mostkoff, Benjamin J., 1993. The development and application of modular artificial reefs for use in habitat mitigation as part of the Dade County Artificial Reef Program. Proceeding of the Florida Artificial Reef Summit '93: 119-130.
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