In September 2017, Hurricane Irma cut a swath through the Florida Keys, causing widespread damage to properties and natural resources. The storm moved an estimated 150,000 lobster traps from their known locations at the peak of the lobster season. Two days after the hurricane, a conference call was held with the Florida Keys Commercial Fishermen’s Association (FKCFA), Monroe County, and Florida Sea Grant to determine what could be done to help fishermen. This resulted in using funds from a small emergency grant from the National Sea Grant Office to buy two GPS-enabled cameras and hire two spotter pilots and crew to locate lost traps. The data were put into GIS and made available to the industry.

To date the industry has recovered over 60,000 traps. Of those, 65% were intact and immediately re-used for fishing. The FKCFA estimated that Sea Grant saved the industry nearly $4 million, based on the cost of saved fuel and crew that would have been required to do searching by boat and the lost fishing days that would have happened without Sea Grant assistance.

Florida Sea Grant augments the state’s artificial reef efforts, worth $3.1 billion annually, by developing and disseminating science-based information about improvements to artificial reef technology for the state’s coastal communities and a worldwide audience. Reef development in Florida began in the late 1970s in response to fisheries depletion and habitat degradation. Today, approximately 70-100 public artificial reefs are deployed annually off Florida with federal, state and local government and private funds.

The State's artificial reef coordinator recently communicated that "Sea Grant's contribution to Florida's Artificial Reef Program continues to be significant state-wide." The state’s recent economic analysis shows that fishing and diving activity on artificial reefs annually provides 39,118 jobs for Floridians, generates $3.1 billion of economic activity, accrues $1.3 billion in income to Floridians, and produces $250 million in state revenues.

FEMA requires local governments who wish to participate in the federal flood insurance program to enact a floodplain ordinance that keeps structures off the floodplain. In the working waterfront community of Cedar Key the base flood elevation is 15 feet, requiring all structures to be elevated above that height. This is impossible for the local clam industry, however, because the equipment they use, and the structures that contain it, must be accessible at the waterfront.

The Florida Sea Grant legal specialist drafted a new floodplain ordinance based on the state model, but tailored to the concerns of Cedar Key. The ordinance creates a variance procedure for aquaculture activities that by that nature must be at grade along the waterfront, allowing Cedar Key to be considered for the federal flood insurance program and maintain its economically important clam aquaculture industry.