OUR MISSION STATEMENT

To increase the safety, health and well-being of snorklers and scuba divers through education and multi-agency outreach.

During last year's two-day Spiny Lobster Sport Season, one of the most popular summer boating and diving events in the Florida Keys, five people died and numerous others were injured in what should have been preventable situations.

Public Agencies came together to address this growing crisis. The result was creation of the Florida Keys Safe Diving Initiative (FKSDI) sponsored by US Coast Guard Sector Key West, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, the Monroe County Sheriff's Office, Florida Keys Community College (FKCC), the Key West Police Department (KWPD), and the Lower Keys Medical Center (LKMC).

The mission is straightforward: prevent unnecessary SCUBA diving and snorkeling deaths in the Florida Keys through aggressive coordinated multi-agency public outreach and education.

A keystone of the FKSDI is the lobster diving rodeo to be conducted on FKCC's Key West campus and supported by public safety and diving organizations throughout the keys.