Artificial Reefs Siting (2/2)

NEW JERSEY DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
DIVISION OF FISH AND WILDLIFE
MARINE FISHERIES ADMINISTRATION
BUREAU OF MARINE FISHERIES

Date Submitted: March 2003
Period of Study: 1973 through 2002
Reported by: Bill Figley
Data Compilation & Summarization: Jennifer Daetsch

This Job, "Coordination of Artificial Reef Construction, " was conducted under Grant F-69-D and supported in part by Wallop-Breaux Federal Aid to Sportfish Restoration Funds administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. #6dploy02

Annual Data Summary
Summary of Reef Materials Deployed through 2002

Initial Construction

concrete

The following report summarizes reef construction activities on New Jersey's fourteen artificial reef sites. Between 1973 and 1983, materials were deployed by a private group, called the "Artificial Reef Committee", working in cooperation with the Sandy Hook Lab of the National Marine Fisheries Service. During that time, the Committee deployed seven vessels, encompassing 17,213 cubic yards, and 400 cubic yards of steel drums on the Sea Girt Reef ( Table 1. )

Number of Deployments

In 1984, the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife took over all reef-building efforts in the state. Since the inception of the Division's program, reef construction has increased steadily ( Table 1. ) In 19 years, a total of 2,093 "patch" reefs were constructed. A patch reef is a several-square-yard to several-acre reef created by placing a vessel or army tank or barge-load of other material on the seafloor. About 13 percent of these reefs, 271 in number, were made in 2002.

Volume of Materials

concrete side-scan

During 2002, a total of 658,438 cubic yards of material was deployed on reef sites ( Table 1 ) including 634,176 cubic yards of rock, 11,830 cubic yards of concrete, 10,389 cubic yards of vessels, 1,018 cubic yards of concrete castings, 883 cubic yards of Reef Balls and 142 cubic yards of ocean cable. Over the last 19 years, a total of 3,301,892 cubic yards of material has been deployed on New Jersey's 14 reef sites, including 2,700,393 cubic yards of rock, 285,459 cubic yards of vessels, 229,365 cubic yards of concrete, 61,772 cubic yards of concrete-ballasted tire units and 17,853 cubic yards of obsolete army tanks. The distribution of material by reef site is shown in Table 2.

Tire Reef Program

The total production of concrete-ballasted tire units was 55,713 units during the 15-year cooperative tire reef program ( Table 4. ) the use of concrete-ballasted tire units was discontinued in 1998.

REEFEX

REEFEX began in 1994 as a joint military-civilian training program whereby the U.S. Navy, Coast Guard, Army and Navy Special Forces, Air Force, and New Jersey Army National Guard participated in providing obsolete military vehicles for reef construction activities. Tanks were cleaned and prepared at Fort Dix by the New Jersey Army National Guard. During the 6-year program, a total of 397 obsolete army vehicles were placed on 11 reef sites. The program ended in 1999 due to insufficient funding.

REEFEX

Reef Ball Habitats

In 1998, 16 fiberglass molds were purchased to fabricate concrete Reef Ball habitats. In 1999, construction of habitats began at Southern State Correctional Facility using inmate laborers. The program is designed to produce 700 habitats each year. Transportation of the habitats to ocean reef sites was provided by the Ocean County Bridge Department and now, by a contractor. In 2002, 650 habitats were placed on 5 reef sites. To date, a total of 2,556 Reef Ball habitats have been placed on 6 reef sites ( Table 4. )

Concrete Castings

Concrete castings is a new category of reef material in 2002. Concrete castings are pipes, junction boxes, and other hollow concrete structures with manufacturer's defects, like chips or cracks, that render them unsaleable. In 2002, 447 concrete castings were placed on two reef sites: Little Egg and Cape May.

Sea Floor Coverage

The seafloor coverage by reef structure is an important measurement of habitat for demersal fish and shellfish. The total area of seafloor that has been covered by reef materials over the past 19 years is 1,887,159 square yards ( Table 3. ) Rock, concrete and concrete-ballasted tire units provide the majority of the surface coverage due to their low height. The high relief of ships leads to large volumes, but low footprint coverage.

Reef Balls

Material Relief

The majority of material in terms of footprint ( area of seafloor covered ) has been moderately low ( 4-7' ) and low ( 0'-3' ) structures, with smaller amounts of moderately high ( 8'-12' ) and high profile ( over 12' ) structures. While the aim of the reef project is to create low profile structure that provides the greatest benefits for targeted reef species, such as sea bass, tautog, scup, and red hake, a mix that includes high profile material provides habitat for pelagic species, such as bluefish, bonito, jacks, and various baitfish. It should be noted that the lower portions of high profile structures also provide low profile habitat.

Vessels

Since 1973, a total of 122 vessels ( Table 5 ) have been sunk, with 115 by the Division of Fish and Wildlife. The vessels range in size from a 31-foot steel sport boat to a 460-foot Navy attack cargo transport. The Sea Girt, Garden State North, Atlantic City, and Cape May reefs have received the largest numbers of vessels ( Table 5. )

The vessels sunk during 2002 include:

  • Wedding Barge ( 109' deck barge )
  • Tuna Sub ( 42' deck barge )
  • Southwick's Barge ( 62' deck barge )
  • BassBarn.com ( 224' tanker barge )
  • Capt. Walt Hendee ( 244' tanker )
Vincent Tibbetts reef
Vincent Tibbetts

Reef Site Coverage

New Jersey's fourteen reef sites comprise over 99 million square yards of seafloor ( Table 14. ) By the end of 2002, the area of seafloor covered by all materials deployed on reef sites amounted to 1,887,159 square yards. Thus, reef material is now covering only about 1.90 percent of the state's 14 reef sites; 98.10 percent of the ocean bottom on these sites is still not covered with reef structure but remains as sand.

Acknowledgements

Personnel involved in the deployment of reef materials during 2002 included Jeff Carlson, Barry Preim, Linda Barry, Jennifer Daetsch, Nathan Figley, and John Makai. Data compilation and summarization was performed by Jennifer Daetsch. The manuscript was typed by Nancy Loveland.


Table 1

Number of Patch Reefs Deployed By Year

YearConcreteRockTire
Units
VesselsTanksReef
Balls
OtherTOTAL
1984112
19851258
19866814
198788622
19881929654
1989832949
199077246145
199122583351119
199252148243227
19933148157173
199411291996377
19953495581107
19962225771107
19971251084102
1998554116130
199952561578
20004342058
TOTAL1783922289539749331372

Table 2

Volume of Materials Deployed in 2000
by Artificial Reef Site ( cubic yards )

Reef Site
ConcreteRockReef BallsVesselsTanksOther *TOTAL
Sandy Hook0
Shark River0
Sea Girt64576457
Axel Carlson16910861255
Barnegat Light161161
Garden State N8080
Garden State S167167
Little Egg0
Atlantic City474474
Great Egg0
Ocean City0
Wildwood0
Cape May517517
Deepwater0
TOTAL00577806004749111

* includes steel drums, railroad cars, cable


Table 3

Volumes of Materials From All Sources Deposited on
Reef Sites by Year Through 2000 ( cubic yards )

Year
ConcreteRockTire
Units
VesselsTanksReef
Balls
OtherTOTAL
19831721340017613
198411001701270
1985200010501587918929
198622102096610423280
19871040026471491227959
19883327234801224849000
1989711036221171222444
199010687480053609311110031258
1991205762007056606543922302284581
19923305067169071104320400716570
1993500071650065017680672736353
19948400145000117291818560064183978
19955862555573683254070405
199665041696412384776615844
1997453450102322545385930922
1998327525011476457119572
199938104596212257511103
200080605774749111
TOTAL19690017421456241424376017539115262822270192

Table 4

Volumes of Materials From All Sources Deployed
on Artificial Reefs Through 2000 ( cubic yards )

Reef SiteConcreteRockTire
Units
VesselsTanksReef
Balls
OtherTOTAL
Sandy Hook1003721742145751441843312
Shark River2680059775258102655
Sea Girt39495479081318216090881
Axel Carlson4388109218516910901
Barnegat Light22731782464490205425
Garden State N453630527112732636516
Garden State S48354788125716711047
Little Egg2002057141215441065319
Atlantic City5281451031460127653120
Great Egg78933208193913040
Ocean City47623668163410410168
Wildwood500652550815919124
Cape May2953319332223431020257274800
Deepwater38853885
TOTAL19690017421456241423476017539115262822270193

Table 5

Number of Tire Units Constructed and Deployed by
Carbon Service Corporation and Ocean, Atlantic and Cape May Counties Cooperative Tire Reef Programs

YEAR
TIRE UNIT PRODUCTION
1984380
1985700
19862203
19872647
19883480
19893347
19905278
19917382
19926429
19934879
19949327
19954714
19963854
1997712
1998313
TOTAL55645

Table 6

Numbers and Types of Military Vehicles
Deployed Through REEFEX by Year

YEAR

M-113
APC*
M-551
Sheridan
M-60
tank
M-578
tow vehicle
TOTAL
199466
19954081058
199624431077
19972116284
1998974132116
19994141156
TOTAL202764475397

* Armored Personnel Carrier


Table 7

Numbers and Types of Military Vehicles Deployed
Through REEFEX by Reef Site Through 2000

Reef Site
M-113
APC*
M-551
Sheridan
M-60
tank
M-578
tow vehicle
TOTAL
Sandy Hook
Shark River
Sea Girt196126
Axel Carlson3629148
Barnegat Light41651264
Garden State N265132
Garden State S2452233
Little Egg562536
Atlantic City286925
Great Egg1351937
Ocean City8182634
Wildwood713828
Cape May3434
Deepwater
TOTAL202764475397

* Armored Personnel Carrier


Table 8

Number of Reef Ball Habitats
Deployed by Reef Site Through 2000


Reef Site
Total Number
of Reef Balls
Axel Carlson200
Barnegat Light591
Garden State N408
Garden State S200
TOTAL1399

Table 9

Sea Floor Coverage of Materials Deployed in
2000 by Artificial Reef Site ( square yards )

Reef SiteConcreteRockReef
Balls
VesselsTanksOther*TOTAL
Sandy Hook0
Shark River954954
Sea Girt0
Axel Carlson296217513
Barnegat Light282282
Garden State N140140
Garden State S292292
Little Egg0
Atlantic City93109310
Great Egg0
Ocean City0
Wildwood0
Cape May157157
Deepwater0
TOTAL00101013280931011648

* includes steel drums, railroad cars and cable


Table 10

Sea Floor Coverage of Materials From All Sources
on Artificial Reefs Through 2000 ( square yards )

Reef Site

ConcreteRockTire
Units
VesselsTanksReef
Balls
Other *TOTAL
Sandy Hook123967877584442671002060
Shark River1217077131420255
Sea Girt4361012121556152557812
Axel Carlson43817609262973421
Barnegat Light32458911061239205699
Garden State N60356247510571120214565
Garden State S486615115562897222
Little Egg2001412529733532927
Atlantic City647170155581411028154
Great Egg73326427858759
Ocean City530010536601247137
Wildwood25079982185719037
Cape May41817232905364510153372514
Deepwater49904990
TOTAL222014877584721484430574722396186351244554

* includes steel drums, cable, subway cars and other steel structures


Table 11

Sea Floor Coverage of All Materials on Artificial Reefs Broken Down by Relief Off the Bottom and Reef Site Through 2000 ( square yards )

Reef Site
Relief 0' - 3'Relief 4' - 7'Relief 8' - 12'Relief over 12'
Sandy Hook1204048797341923
Shark River771121707314
Sea Girt34995996992143694
Axel Carlson35401670476
Barnegat Light450451544
Garden State N730812776905291
Garden State S46489671607
Little Egg16161281086101
Atlantic City14707305442776117
Great Egg45292803785642
Ocean City53004831354
Wildwood7998588451
Cape May252904154413504330
Deepwater4990
TOTAL2377919539072569827905

Table 12

Number and Type of Vessels Sunk on New Jersey
Artificial Reefs by Year Through 2000

Vessel Type
73-83*8485868788899091929394959697989900TOTAL
Barge1112611141141126
Commercial
Fishing
31132221116
Crew Boat112
Dry Dock11
Ferry11
Freighter11114
Landing Craft112
Mold2226
Schooner11
Sport Boat1113
Tanker11131112113117
Tug22221323219
Coast Guard22116
Lightship11
Sailboat112
TOTAL51567614743798510424107

* vessels sunk by Artificial Reef Committee


Table 13

Number and Type of Vessels Sunk by
Artificial Reef Site Through 2000

Reef Site -- See below for key
Vessel Type
SHSRSGCARBLGSNGSSLEACGEOCWWCMDWTOTAL
Barge1102321131226
Commercial
Fishing
4151516
Crew Boat112
Dry Dock11
Ferry11
Freighter1124
Landing Craft22
Boat Mold1236
Schooner11
Sport Boat213
Tanker153321217
Tug1262133119
Coast Guard246
Lightship11
Sailboat112
TOTAL482642128215171170107

Key:

SH -
SR -
SG -
CAR -
BL -
GSN -
GSS -
Sandy Hook
Shark River
Sea Girt
Axel Carlson
Barnegat Light
Garden State North
Garden State South
LE -
AC -
GE -
OC -
WW -
CM -
DW -
Little Egg
Atlantic City
Great Egg
Ocean City
Wildwood
Cape May
Deepwater

Table 14

Percent Coverage of Reef Sites by Reef
Structures Through 2002 ( square yards )

Reef SiteArea
( square yards )
Reef Structure
( square yards )
Reef StructureOpen Bottom
Sandy Hook5,788,2221,298,94822.44%77.56%
Shark River2,067,222340,97616.49%83.51%
Sea Girt5,373,77763,1161.17%98.83%
Axel Carlson16,537,7166,2670.04%99.96%
Barnegat Light3,514,2775,9810.17%99.83%
Garden State North4,547,88814,5660.32%99.68%
Garden State South2,273,9447,7110.33%99.67%
Little Egg5,600,0004,0570.07%99.93%
Atlantic City16,537,77632,6770.20%99.80%
Great Egg3,307,5558,9310.27%99.73%
Ocean City3,142,17715,3430.49%99.51%
Cape May18,604,99872,3670.39%99.61%
Wildwood8,806,3669,2800.11%99.89%
Deepwater2,976,8006,9390.23%99.77%
TOTAL99,078,7181,887,1591.90%98.10%
Mantank reef
Mantank

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