Friends of RGV Reef

05/28/2026

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.

05/26/2026

Memorial Day weekend, the RGV Reef Team was back offshore doing maintenance on several of our South Texas FADs—and what we witnessed was nothing short of incredible.

These FADs were only deployed just three weeks ago, and they are already holding thousands of baitfish that were desperately in need of structure and cover in these vast open Gulf waters. These bait schools create a critical feeding source for pelagic species like blue marlin, sailfish, tuna, wahoo, mahi, and many more—helping enhance the offshore ecosystem while boosting sport fishing opportunities in the waters off South Padre Island.

Our team dove these FADs sitting in 1,200 feet of water, and the life already building around them was amazing—schools of bonita, mahi, and massive amounts of bait on the surface. This is exactly why projects like this matter.

🎥 Short dive video coming soon!

A huge THANK YOU to the City of South Padre Island, the SPI EDC, TIFT (Texas International Fishing Tournament), and all of our incredible supporters and partners who continue helping make this visionary project possible. Your commitment to marine conservation, habitat enhancement, and the future of sport fishing in South Texas is making a real impact.

For those of you who fish offshore and care about the future of our fishery, we need your help. Projects like this take significant funding, maintenance, and dedication to keep going. If you believe in enhancing sport fishing in our waters for decades to come, please consider making a donation.

There is a QR code on the Friends of RGV Reef page where you can donate.

Together, we’re building something truly special for the Gulf of Mexico, our anglers, and future generations.

05/24/2026

The City of South Padre Island has once again partnered with the Friends of RGV Reef Team to help enhance tourism, marine conservation, and the sport fishing industry in our local waters.

This partnership will directly support the RGV Reef FAD Program, an exciting initiative that is helping transform offshore fishing in South Padre Island waters by creating habitat and resting areas for baitfish and pelagic species such as mahi, tuna, sailfish, and blue marlin. By enhancing offshore fish aggregation, this program is helping boost catch opportunities for anglers while creating long-term economic benefits for our coastal community through tourism and sport fishing.

We are incredibly grateful for the City of South Padre Island’s continued support and commitment to innovative marine conservation projects that make a real impact. Partnerships like this help ensure South Padre Island remains a premier destination for offshore anglers while protecting and enhancing our Gulf ecosystem for generations to come.

Together, we’re building something truly special in South Texas waters.

05/22/2026

05/15/2026

The House of Representatives passed legislation aimed at protecting the domestic sh*****ng industry from foreign competition funded by U.S. tax dollars.

The bill would prohibit federal funds from going to international financial institutions like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to fund foreign shrimp farms. >>> https://www.wlox.com/2026/05/14/house-passes-save-our-shrimpers-act-with-bipartisan-support/

05/09/2026

https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/donation-form/fueling-the-future-of-sport-fishing-in-the-gulf

The South Texas FADs Program has had an incredible first year, and because of the amazing support from our community, we are now working to raise funds to deploy an additional 10–15 FADs throughout the Gulf waters off South Padre Island. This will only be possible with help from the local fishing community.

These Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs) provide critical offshore structure and a resting place for baitfish and pelagic species traveling through the Gulf of Mexico. In the open Gulf, structure is extremely limited, making these FADs an important gathering point for marine life. They attract baitfish, which in turn attract tuna, mahi, sailfish, marlin, wahoo, and many other offshore species — helping strengthen and grow the sport fishing industry in our waters for decades to come.

This project is not cheap. Practically anything done offshore in the Gulf of Mexico takes a tremendous amount of money, equipment, fuel, manpower, and networking to make it happen. We are currently working hard to raise $100,000 to continue expanding this project and deploy additional FADs that will benefit our marine ecosystem, local economy, and future generations of anglers.

Every donation makes a difference. If you fish these waters, support marine conservation, or simply want to help build a stronger future for South Padre Island offshore fishing, please consider donating and sharing this post.

Together, we can continue making South Padre Island one of the premier offshore fishing destinations in the Gulf of Mexico.

🌟 Join us in Creating Change! 🌟At Friends Of The Rio Grande Valley Reef, we know that change starts with people like you. Every act of kindness, every dollar, and every moment of your time brings us closer to achieving our mission. Together, we can create a brighter, more compassionate world f...

05/06/2026

A huge thank you to the South Padre Island Economic Development Corporation for taking the time to visit the Friends of the Rio Grande Valley Reef deployment yard and for your years of continued support.

Your partnership has played a major role in helping us expand marine habitat, support marine life, and strengthen the sport fishing and tourism economy along the Texas Gulf Coast. We’re grateful to work alongside organizations that believe in protecting and enhancing our oceans for future generations.

We would also like to thank the Port of Brownsville for donating their shorefront loading site for over the past 10 years. Without this enormous contribution from the Port, we’ve been able to keep this project alive.

Lastly, and most importantly, a big thank you to Daniel Bryant with BIS industries without his expertise and knowledge moving heavy machinery on land as well as on the water. This wouldn’t all be possible… so if you ever see Daniel around the island thank him for all his hard work.

04/29/2026

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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.

04/16/2026

🎣🌊 Huge Thank You to TIFT! 🌊🎣

The Texas International Fishing Tournament (TIFT) has once again stepped up in a big way—donating $50,000 to Friends of the RGV Reef!

This generous contribution will go directly toward expanding marine habitat in the Gulf of Mexico and helping fund our growing FAD (Fish Aggregating Device) Project, which has already delivered incredible results over the past year.

We’re especially excited about the future of the FAD program. These devices create a reliable, centralized target in deep waters—giving anglers a major advantage and significantly increasing their chances of success while promoting healthier, more sustainable fisheries.

Because of organizations like TIFT, we’re able to continue building, improving, and expanding opportunities for both marine life and the fishing community here in the Gulf.

🙏 Thank you again, TIFT, for your continued support and commitment to our mission.

Together, we’re making a lasting impact. 🌎🐟