| Faux Reefs |
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Housing Homeless Fish & Marine Life
By the end of August, 700 tons of concrete
will be dropped into
the ocean 6 miles off Mickler’s Landing in St. Johns County to mimic beds of coral reef. These artificial reefs will provide a surface on the ocean floor for algae to flourish, small fish to seek shelter and breed, and provide a more diverse ocean floor than the current sandy bottom. They may also provide a way to counteract beach erosion by absorbing energy from the waves. The man-made reefs have previously been made from a variety of recycled objects besides concrete, such as old car parts and airline, military, or ship scrap. Other areas have had great success with planting artificial concrete reefs on the ocean floor. In Scotland, scientists used 600 tons of concrete blocks to form 12 reefs off the coast and saw a drastic increase in marine life living and breeding within the blocks after a few months. They hope to use the project to enhance the livelihood of fisherman and produce more jobs. Off the coast of Germany in the Baltic Sea, scientists sunk concrete pieces over a large section of the ocean to repopulate fish reserves. Using underwater cameras to monitor the project, they noticed algae and marine life settling around the concrete in only a few months. Other sea life such as eels, cods, and colonies of mussels, crabs, and starfish inhabited the area soon after. Fisherman and divers will particularly enjoy the benefits of the artificial coral reef beds by forming a new area of activity surrounded by only barren sand. This is the first approved reef project in Duval County in several years and the city is matching a grant of $50,000 from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to fund the project. |
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