Good news for coastal anglers. I am sure these will hold plenty of striped bass, bluefish, seabass and other fish which should make for some good fishing not too far offshore.

——————-

DOVER, Del. – Three retired tugboats were sunk last week 16 nautical miles off the coast to enhance Delaware’s most popular and heavily fished artificial reef sites. The sinkings on “Redbird Reef” added recycled materials to the ocean floor that will ultimately improve fisheries habitat, increase marine biodiversity and provide fishing and diving opportunities for decades.

“Our survey shows that “Redbird Reef” has as many as 13,000 angler-trips each year,” said Jeffrey Tinsman, reef program manager with DNREC’s Fisheries Section. “The reef has proven to be a favorite of many recreational anglers, providing excellent fishing for black sea bass and summer flounder.”

“Redbird Reef” is Delaware’s only named reef site, because 714 New York City “Redbird” subway cars were sunk there since 2001. Development of the site has been on-going since 1995 and now covers 1.3 square nautical miles of ocean bottom. With the deployment of the three tugboats last week, the total of eight tugboats and barges now reside there. In addition the site holds 86 retired tanks and armored personnel carriers and 3,000 tons of ballasted truck tires. Two more vessels are scheduled to be sunk on “Redbird Reef” later this summer.

Reef construction is especially important in the Mid-Atlantic region, where the ocean bottom is usually featureless sand or mud. Recycled materials, including concrete pipe and other concrete products, ballasted tire units, subway cars and decommissioned military vehicles and vessels, have been sunk off the Delaware coast. Using these materials saves landfill space and allows them to serve in a productive capacity for hundreds of years past their originally intended use.

Monitoring studies have shown that placement of durable, stable reef materials can result in a 400-fold increase in the amount of small sea life and fish. The materials provide refuge or shelter for small fish, and they are the prey that attracts larger fish. Swift, open-ocean pelagic fish, such as tuna and mackerel, use the reef as a hunting ground to grab a quick meal.

A tugboat or other vessel makes an ideal reef material, because Continue Reading »