🎯 Closer catches: New FADs reduce the need for 100-mile fishing trips by bringing pelagic species within 25 miles of Destin.
💸 Budget smart: The $513,000 project is fully funded using savings from a canceled artificial reef deployment.
🔁 Proven success: The project uses the same contractor and durable buoy design from the original award-winning FAD network.
CRESTVIEW — The Okaloosa County Board of County Commissioners has approved a $513,000 contract with Walter Marine LLC to install eight new shallow-water fish aggregating devices (FADs) off the coast of Destin-Fort Walton Beach. The move expands the county’s successful offshore fishing network and brings prized fishing opportunities significantly closer to local anglers.
Commissioners included the item on their consent agenda and unanimously approved it during their meeting on July 1.
County staff proposed the expansion to build on the success of the original FAD network, which launched in 2020 and 2021, roughly 60 to 80 miles offshore. The new buoys will sit about 25 miles from Destin Pass in water depths ranging from 206 to 297 feet.
“The success of this project cannot be understated,” staff wrote in the action item.
Staff further explained that, before the initial deployment, anglers had to travel more than 100 miles to oil platforms off the coasts of Alabama and Louisiana to fish for species such as wahoo, tuna, mahi, and marlin.
The FAD network changed that, drawing both local and visiting anglers closer to home.
Staff said the new buoys will “continue to build Destin-Fort Walton Beach as the premier fishing and diving destination in the world.”
Former County Commissioner Charles “Kelly” Windes led the original initiative and helped launch the project. In 2021, the county named the network after him.
Two years later, Windes returned to the board and asked commissioners to consider a second round of deployments. The board agreed and instructed staff to begin planning.
Because the original project helped establish a new nationwide permitting process, county staff were able to avoid the delays that had slowed the first phase. In March 2025, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued a nationwide permit authorizing deployments in waters shallower than 330 feet to protect the endangered Rice’s whales.
That permit remains valid through April 2026.
Staff identified eight new sites and conducted bottom surveys to confirm that the proposed locations would not impact natural resources.
To ensure reliability, county staff recommended using the same contractor and equipment from the first phase. They selected Walter Marine LLC, which deployed the original Okabe-design buoys.
According to staff, these buoys have not failed — unlike those used in neighboring counties.
“It is in the best interest of the County to contract with Walter Marine to deploy a buoy and mooring system that has a track record for success,” staff wrote.
The new phase costs less than the first because the shallower water requires shorter mooring systems. County officials will fund the entire $513,000 project using budget savings.
Those savings came after the military assumed responsibility for the SPIRIT OF NORFOLK artificial reef deployment, which freed up $580,000 earmarked initially for that effort.
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