FLORIDA STAKEHOLDER SEAFLOOR MAPPING PRIORITIZATION FOR 20-200m WATER DEPTHS

The undertaking of seafloor mapping stakeholder prioritizations at the statewide level are not a trivial effort but were recognized by the FCMaP Science and Technical Advisory Council as critical to informing any mapping efforts (Hapke et al., 2022), and the 2017 gap analysis (Hapke et al., 2019) quickly led to some larger data collection efforts by NOAA. Eventually, the messaging regarding the paucity of data and how important seafloor data is for the Blue Economy of Florida persuaded the Florida Legislature, in 2022, to budget $100 million for seafloor mapping. This was realized by the creation of the FSMI administered by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. As of early 2025, topobathymetric lidar has been collected for the entire state in the 0-20 m water depth (unless lidar could not resolve to seafloor due to lack of water clarity). The decision to focus on the 0-20m depth zone in the initial FSMI phases was influenced by the FCMaP original prioritization. In addition, the later phases of the FSMI mapping that require sonar technologies and are largely focused in the 20-40 m water depth, were also informed by the FCMaP deeper water prioritization (discussed in this report). This demonstrates the inherent value of conducting regional prioritizations and the true success FCMaP and FSMI were able to achieve.