Some people build concrete artificial reefs while some purposely sink debris and wrecks. Can the materials used in building these reefs affect the abiotic factors of the water? Can this also change the type and number of species in the area? What types of artificial reef are practical to use?
Dear Christine,
Artificial reefs are often presented as a possible response to the decrease of the biological resource in the coastal strip. They are designed to increase the productivity of the environment, generally to support professional or recreational fishing activities. Independently or in association with this first concern, they may have as objective the protection and / or restoration of rich environments, sensitive or deteriorated. It must be recognized, however, that the examples of validating the impacts of these facilities on wildlife and the environment are rare. Demonstration of the desired effects is often partial, limited to a few species and / or restricted to the immediate environment of the submerged structures. The expected effects concern, on the one hand, the overall increase in the richness of the environment by protecting the most sensitive biological stages of certain species and, on the other hand, the increase and diversification of trophic intakes. The assumption of increased production is based on the supply of additional food, food facilitation, provision of shelter against predation, habitat favorable to juveniles. The expected biomass gain is therefore the result of improved growth, reproduction and survival rates at the various stages of life cycles of marine organisms. Artificial reefs, like wrecks, may also be responsible for phenomena of aggregation or individuals spatial fixation or fractions of populations of marine species. In some cases, this only function is sought, especially for the development of a recreational fishery.
With my best regards
Prof. Bachir ACHOUR
Dear Christina
I totally agree with Bashir. To make a somewhat simplistic analysis, there is little or no economic interest in the production of biomass, particularly in fisheries. The economic interest is often reduced to an interest in scuba diving in some site.
Artificial Reefs are Fish aggregating devices, concentrating fishes in particular locations where they more easily can be caught. Many years ago I made an evaluation of a project in Tamil Nadu, South India, where a NGO had dumped concrete rings into the ocean to aggregate fishes. The technology worked well, indeed the artisan fisherfolk had similar technology already long ago, first described by Hornell in the early 20th century. One big problem, however, came up: through making the artificial reefs property rights in the ocean were established: those fishermen who became part of the effort claimed the reef area as theirs and disallowed others to fish there. Earlier the ocean was free for anybody to fish….. Violent clashes were the outcome of this….
Economic impacts aer that it is easier to get good catches as fishes concenrtate around the strcuture cretaing a much higher density compared to other areas....
some publications on artificial reefs / FADs, mainly with regards to India
Grossman, G. D., Jones, G. P., & Seaman Jr, W. J. (1997). Do artificial reefs increase regional fish production? A review of existing data. Fisheries, 22(4), 17-23.
Dempster, T., & Taquet, M. (2004). Fish aggregation device (FAD) research: gaps in current knowledge and future directions for ecological studies. Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries, 14(1), 21-42.
Ambrose, R. F., & Swarbrick, S. L. (1989). Comparison of fish assemblages on artificial and natural reefs off the coast of southern California. Bulletin of Marine Science, 44(2), 718-733.
Keller, K., Steffe, A. S., Lowry, M. B., Murphy, J. J., Smith, J. A., & Suthers, I. M. (2017). Estimating the recreational harvest of fish from a nearshore designed artificial reef using a pragmatic approach. Fisheries Research, 187, 158-167.
Sreekanth, G. B., Lekshmi, N. M., & Singh, N. P. Can Artificial Reefs Really Enhance the Inshore Fishery Resources Along Indian Coast? A Critical Review. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, India Section B: Biological Sciences, 1-13.
Sanjeevaraj, P. J. (1996). Artificial reefs for a sustainable coastal ecosystem in India involving fisherfolk participation. CMFRI Bulletin-Artificial reefs and Seafarming technologies, 48, 1-3.
Lazarus, S. (1996). Artificial fish habitats in traditional fisheries of southwest coast of India. CMFRI Bulletin-Artificial reefs and Seafarming technologies, 48, 37-41.
Sasikumar, G., Mohamed, K. S., Rohit, P., & SampathKumar, G. (2015). Policy guidance on cuttlefish fishery using Fish Aggregating Devices (No. 1, pp. 1-56). Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute.
William, R. (2000). Group and community-based fishing rights. Use of Property Rights in Fisheries Management, FAO Fisheries Technical Paper, 404(1), 51-57.
Immanuel, S., & Narayanakumar, R. (2008). Performance assessment of selected technologies in marine fisheries. Marine Fisheries Information Service T&E Ser., 198, 5-8.
Srinivasa Gopal, T. K., & Edwin, L. (2013). Development of Fishing Industry in India. Journal of Aquatic Biology and Fisheries, 1(1), 38-53.
Artifial reef structure açcumulated in ocean and change biosphere reserves
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