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Page 3
Thursday, April 5,2018
PgrlOTOS." (Craig Newton~ David Raincr) Artificial reefs, like this pyramid, attract a variety of reeffish other than red snappy, including gray triggerfish and spadefisk Marine Resources has been using the large pyramids to buiM a variety of reefs,
which produce nice catches of red snapper.
By DAVID RAINER Sport Fish Restoration and Liberty ships, known as the zones," Newton said. "We
::.": other sources" Blankenship Ghost Fleet in the Mobile- have 1"282 reefs deployed by
Alabama Depamnent ofsaid. "Over the last few years, Tensaw Delta, were hauled the state that are publishedin
Conservation and Natural we've gotten money from the offshore and sunk in 1974. our reef pr.ogram. What
.Resources National Fish and Wildlife The Marine Resomces makes our reef zones unique
:: Foundation from the Division (MRD) slrategy then is we have the permitted
Those who wonder why Deepwater Horizon criminal changed to creating artificial authorization to authorize the
anglers off Alabama catch fines, and we've built several reef zones instead of individ- public to build theh" own reefs
:.~re than 30 percent 0f the hundred reefs with that ual reef sites. The Corps per- and the locatiofis remain
snapper in the Gulf of money. We've created seven mitted the first reef zone of unpublished.
~xico despite having only new reef zones within our 9- 364 square miles in 1978. "We estimate there are
153 miles of coastline should mile state waters boundary. This is the first area where more than 10,000 reefs off the
~e attended the Red We've built more than 30 individuals could deploy shore of Alabama, About 12
S iLapper Conference in inshore reefs. So, reef-building MRD-appmved reef material. percent of those structures are
Mobile last week. has been, and continues to be, "What's unique about this is " public reefs."
vThe key to Alabama's phe- extremely important to our these privately deployed reefs Newton said about 42 per-
r~o, rnenal red snhpper fishing is state. Because of that, we have remain unpublished" Newton cent of the reef structures are
ffib more than 1D00 square such a great red s~per fish- said. in the zones that have depths
-~iles just off the coast that are ery." The Hugh Swingle reef from 60 to 120 feet. About 28
d~ignated artificial reef Blankenship pointed out the zone of 86 square miles fol- percent of the reefs are in
zones, extensive research being done lowed before another expan-, depths of 120 to 180 feet.
During the day-long con- in the Alabama reef zones by sion occuned in 1989 with Only 4 percent are deeper
ference, numerous scientists the University of South another 245-square-mile reef than 180 feet.
',rod fisheries biologists dis- Alabama (USA), Dauphin. zone. In a pmgr4m, called "What's really important, you
cussed reef fish management, ' Island Sea Lab and Auburn Reef-Ex, 100 M60 decom- look at relative contribution of
habitat requirements, red snap- University. missioned battle tanks were these mfificial structures in
: per and triggerfish recruitment "Dr. (Bob) Shipp is here thoroughly cleaned and deeper water" he said. "We
and growth. All those compo- today" Blankenship said of deployed in the Gulf for reefs have very little natural bottom,
"nents are tied to Alabama's the professor emeritus at in 1993. The Corps granted natural rock, offshore of
reef zones. USA's Marine Sciences another expansion in 1997 Alabama. The natural reefs
Department. "He was doing with a permit for 336 square we do have occur in these
Craig Newton, Alabama red snapper science before miles for reef zones. MRD deeper waters. This aligns
: Mmine Resources Divast0r~ s ~'~ef:fish research was in teamed.with the.Orange,
Artif~." .".~. 1 Reefs Program ,~. v '
- ogu~ ,:We: re blessed to have -Beach Fishing Association on
!! Coordinator, provided those in the Red Snapper World
' attendance a comprehensive
look at the state's artificial
i reefs program, from its unofli-
ci.al start to today's highly leg-
: ulated deployment protocols.
~abama Depamnent of
Conservation and Natural
Resources Commissioner
Chris Blankenship, formerly
the Marine Resources
. Director, said Alabama has the
: largest artificial reef system in
the counlry and has created
noticeable improvements in
the fishery.
"I went to work on a char-
te~ boat when I was 14 years
old" Blankenship said. "If we
c~ght a red snapper that
weighed 5 pounds, that was a
i big red snapper. If you c, lght
one that Weighed 10 pounds,
i you took a picture with it. If
you caught one that weighed
: 20 pounds, your picture ended
: up in the paper and in the red
. snapper fishing "hall of fame.
: That was a big fish,"
~ A massive reef-building pro-
i gram occurred after that, and
anglers continue to enjoy the
! results of the widespread habi-
i tat enhancements.
"We build reefs with
! money from CIAP (Coastal
Impact Assistance Program),
such great academics.in the -
state to do this work.
"We've spent a lot of
money and emphasis on red
snapper research. We want not
only to show we have the
largest artificial reef system in
the counlly. We also want to
show how those reefs produce
such a great fishery here in
our state. Like I said, I
remember what it was like to
go out and catch small fish, a
few fish. Now you can't wet a
hook without catching red
snapper, big red snapper. The
average weight of snapper in
the charter fleet now is about
10 pounds. Having a robust
reef fishery is extremely
important to the economy of
the state."
Ne~vton said the artificial reef
story off Alabama started in
1953 when 200 car bodies
were cabled together and
deployed in two segments by
the Orange Beach and
Dauphin Island fishing com-
munities. In 1961, the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers
designated the "Snapper
Banks" as the first artificial
reef zones off Alabama.
The first deployment by the
Conservation Department
occurred when five 415-foot
Championship from 2004
through 2007 to deploy about
1,000 artificialreefs.
Since then, the focus has
moved to nearshore with a
1.6-square-mile zone permit-
ted just inside the 3-mile state
boundary.
The latest artificial reef zones
were permitted last year. A
total of 30 square miles inside
the 9-mile boundary for reef
fish management was
approved after an arduous per-
mitting process.
Newton said acquiring a per-
mitfor reef zones from the
US. Army Corps of
Engineers has grown increas-
ingly more complex t,hrough
the years. .
Historically, it wa relative-
ly easy to get a permit," he
said. "You outlined the size
and goals of the reefs. Several
months later you got a permit.
Quite a few things have
changed since then."
Now a reef zone permit appli-
cation must go to the Corps of
Engineers and ADEM
(Alabama Department of
Environmental Management)
for consideration. The applica-
tion must include detailed
conslruction techniques and
methods as well as defined
boundaries. A 30-day public
comment period required by
the Corps is followed by an
additional 15-day comment
period for ADEM.
Becat~ these are fedemUy
authorized permits, they also
fall under the National
Historical Preservation Act,
which is the costliest factor in
the pemliuing process.
"We're required to have a
marine archeologist in all
aspects of performing a Phase
1 archeological survey"
Newton said. '`we have to use
multiple remote sensing tech-
niques. We have to use side-
scan sonar, a magnetometer
and a sub-bottom profiler to
identify not only archeological
resources exposed on the sea
bed; but those below the sea
bed as well.
'`we also have to prove the
project doesn't harm threat-
ened or endangered species or
compromise the critical habi-
tat. The entire pemlitting
process now takes from 20 to
42 months"
The material allowed for reef
deployment has cbanged sig-
nificantly over the years as
well. White appliances, like
washing machines and refrig-
erators, are no longer used
because they do not provide
long-telm stable structures.
Vehicles and anything fiber-
glass are also banned. Now,
material made of concrete,
steel and natural rock are
allowed. Chicken transport
devices are used as well as
concrete pyramids and other
structures constructed specifi-
caUy to provide the best habi-
tat for reeffish.
The Rigs to Reefs program
takes advantage of the federal
"Idle Iron" regulations, which
require oil and gas structures
to be removed within five
years of the last date of pro-
duction. The reef program
takes obsolete petroleum plat-
forms and uses the structures
for reefs.
We have a diverse assem-
blage of reef types in our reef
"From the mid 90s to the mid
200(0, we pemlitted about
1,0(30 reefs per year" he said.
"Now we're pemlitting a frac-
tion of that."
When Marine Resources
developed a model to look at
the future of the reef system
offAlabama, it provided a
stark reality.
"What we see is the exist-
ing reefs are not going to last
forever," Newton said. "The
usable lit~ is about 10 years
for regular structure about 30
for the concrete pyramids. The
model shows a steady decline
of available habitat into the
furore. That is why it is imper-
alive that we continue to build
reefs on an ongoing basis."
However, significant progress
has been made recently in
ending the extremely short
federal red snapper seasons. If
NOAA Fisheries approves an
Exempted Fishing Permit
(EFP) for the 2018 ~.ason,
Alabama ~ll recei-, ~ just
under one million pounds of
red snapper allocation for a
potential 47-day snapper sea-
.: withgur goals o ~'uSing son, which co~d be, the ~ata-
:, r m.reve e
deploying artificial reefs." Wend m .private reef deploy-
Newton said a downward
trend in reef deployment by
the public coincides with the
reduction in the public's
access to the fishery with the
shorter and shorter seasons.
ment. Marine Resources will
host meetings in late April and
early May to answer questions
from the public if the EFP is
approved.
No Hard DATA Limits N Net
pbsinternet.com Promo Code: 3227
* If you exceed your monthly plan data, speeds will be reduced.
The Alabama . Maline
l~esources Division ~ host a
i meeting about commercial crab-
" bing on Tuesday, April 24,2018,
from 10 aan. to 11 asn. at the
:South Bay Coastal Response
Center in Ceden (7385 Hwy 188,
Coden, AL 36523).
: This meeting is open to the
public, and those involved in the
" commercial blue crab industry are
: .eocouraged to attend.
-Commercial blue crab topics
will include:
Information and feedback per-
taining to recent laws and regula-
tions.
Information and feedback per-
raining to derelict crab trap
removal.
If any accommodations are
needed, contact Jason Henmann
(jason herrmann@dcnralabama.g
ov) or Scott Bannon (scott.ban-
non@dcnrzlabama.gov) at 251-
861-2882. Requests shbuld be
made as soon as possible, but at
least two days prior to the scbed-
aled meeting.
The Alabama Department of
Conservation and Natural
Resources promotes ~ stew-
ardship, management and enjoy-
ment of Alabama's natural
resources through four divisions:
Marine Resources, State Lands,
State Parks, and Wildlife and
Freshwater Fisheries. To learn
more about ADCNR, visit
www.outdooralabamazom.
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