I live in Point Pleasant New Jersey, a small beach town on the Mid Atlantic coast in the US. The state of New Jersey has always had one of the most active artificial reef programs in the country until recently. The state is now involved in a fight with the federal government over use of the reef sites by commercial fishermen. The funding rules set down by the the US government says that the federally funded reefs are to be used exclusively for recreation and the use of commercial fishing gear is prohibited. Well, the commercial guys have some powerful friends in the state house that are blocking any attempt to enforcing the existing rules so the federal government had pulled all funding until they do. That means that the artificial reef program here in my home state has been completely halted.
Our state is very densely populated and recreational fishing is extremely popular. If it weren't for the artificial structure created by accidental shipwrecks and artificial reefs, our most popular spearfishing targets would have been fished out long ago. We live on a virtual desert, a 100 mile wide, sandy continental shelf with very little in the way of vertical structure.
Because of recent events I have decided to build my own artificial reefs. The first of which is almost complete and will be ready for sinking after the first of the year. I am a SCUBA instructor, marine biologist, and an artist so this is right up my alley. A local dock builder donated a 50 foot long, steel spud barge that I have built an anatomically correct sculpture of one of our favorite local critters, a horseshoe crab. I chose that shape because it would make great habitat due to its large surface area and cavernous space underneath. It is made of rebar and cement and is welded straight to the barge, so the whole thing will be sunk as one unit. The newly defunded reef program has given me permission to build it and will assist with logistics, but I am funding the whole thing myself.
Thought you all might be interested.
Check out the website www.ArtAsReef.com
Our state is very densely populated and recreational fishing is extremely popular. If it weren't for the artificial structure created by accidental shipwrecks and artificial reefs, our most popular spearfishing targets would have been fished out long ago. We live on a virtual desert, a 100 mile wide, sandy continental shelf with very little in the way of vertical structure.
Because of recent events I have decided to build my own artificial reefs. The first of which is almost complete and will be ready for sinking after the first of the year. I am a SCUBA instructor, marine biologist, and an artist so this is right up my alley. A local dock builder donated a 50 foot long, steel spud barge that I have built an anatomically correct sculpture of one of our favorite local critters, a horseshoe crab. I chose that shape because it would make great habitat due to its large surface area and cavernous space underneath. It is made of rebar and cement and is welded straight to the barge, so the whole thing will be sunk as one unit. The newly defunded reef program has given me permission to build it and will assist with logistics, but I am funding the whole thing myself.
Thought you all might be interested.
Check out the website www.ArtAsReef.com
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