Artificial Reefs In The Uk. Times Story

[Jaffa]

The Sunday Times - Scotland

 

The Sunday Times November 06, 2005

 

Reefs to be turned into lobster farms

Marc Horne

VAST stretches of Scotland’s coastline could be turned into environmentally friendly lobster ranches following the success of the country’s first artificial reef.

 

Scientists behind the project at Loch Linnhe, near Oban, claim the structure — made from 10,000 tonnes of concrete blocks — has increased the amount of sealife in the area sixteenfold since work began in 2002. Numbers of lobster, cod and shellfish have increased dramatically thanks to the new habitat.

 

A plan is already being drawn up for a similar reef off the coast of Aberdeen, and representatives from Scotland’s beleaguered fishing industry are keen to use the technique to farm lobster.

 

Demand for lobster, which is ideally suited to the habitat provided by the artificial reefs, has soared in recent years. Since 2001, lobster landings in the UK have increased by more than 25%, with the industry now worth about £12m a year.

 

Marks & Spencer’s lobster sales have soared by a third in the past year and Tesco is preparing to cash in on the upturn in demand by selling whole lobsters for £4.99 in the run-up to Christmas.

 

“When you start a project like this there is always an element of doubt, but the results so far have been far more positive than we ever envisaged,” said Dr Martin Sayer, director of the project, which is run by the Scottish Association for Marine Science.

 

“I was diving on the reef this week and the sort of bio- diversity and numbers of fish and shellfish that are there now is incredible compared to a natural reef. The idea is that you have an almost continual production line of animals. Ranching of the sea is a very good description of what we are looking to achieve. In essence these reefs are our fields on the seabed and we are farming them.

 

“Juvenile lobster, which are very easy to rear, could be released into the reefs. Demand for lobster is increasing and through this technology hopefully people will be able to take advantage of this.”

 

Artificial reefs are already big business in Japan, where as long ago as the 1700s Japanese fishermen were using weighted bamboo frames to attract fish. Today, most of the country’s southeast coast is surrounded by man-made reefs, which are harvested commercially. Artificial reefs have also been established off the coasts of Texas, Australia and New Zealand.

 

The man-made habitats are considered a far more environmentally friendly way of replenishing stocks than fish farms because the animals are allowed to roam free and find food for themselves.

 

“Comparing artificial reefs with salmon farms is like comparing battery hens with organic, free-range hens,” said Sayer. He added that reefs could be created almost anywhere around the British coast.

 

Professor William Ritchie, director of the Aberdeen Institute for Coastal Science and Management, has drawn up plans for an artificial reef off the city’s Nigg Bay.

 

“In years to come we will see artificial reefs emerging around the coast of Britain,” he said. “The success of man-made reefs has been demonstrated in so many places around the world and there is no reason why they would not work here.”

 

Craig Burton, an adviser with the state-funded Sea Fish Industry Authority, believes lobster ranches could be combined with off-shore windfarms. He said: “If they are creating offshore or inshore windfarms areas they could also create a viable habitat for crustaceans such as lobsters as well as fish rather than just sitting the turbines on ordinary concrete blocks.”

 

The reef experiment has already caught the imagination of the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation (SFF), the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations and the Shellfish Association of Great Britain.

 

An SFF spokeswoman said: “We are very supportive of this project and will be looking at the results with considerable interest.”

 

The Marine Conservation Society, an environmental charity, also backed the reef scheme. Calum Duncan, the group’s Scottish officer, said: “If they are properly managed we believe there could certainly be a role for artificial reefs in developing lobster and shellfish ranches.”

[thurso angler]

I read this, sounded like a very good idea, but why not use decommishioned vessels??

[kimik]

I read this, sounded like a very good idea, but why not use decommishioned vessels??

or all the old tyres were struggling to get rid of even?

Kim!

[Ken Davison South Wales]

This type of activity has been ongoing of the shores of Bahrain for some fifteen years now and it has turned a once barren sea bed into a complete reef eco-system.

 

If this was coupled to the raising and releasing of a wide range of juvenile fish raised in coastal colleges for release at a viable size it would train future fishing industry students in the art of conservation and fish husbandry.

 

I am sure that within a few years the question of declining stocks would not be so critical.

 

This way sandeels could be left where they are as a natural food source for all of the creatures which rely on them.

 

“When you start a project like this there is always an element of doubt, but the results so far have been far more positive than we ever envisaged,” said Dr Martin Sayer, director of the project, which is run by the Scottish Association for Marine Science.

 

Am I surprised at the above comment, sadly no, it takes a long time to sink in with some people.

Edited November 8, 2005 by Ken Davison South Wales

[Kieran Hanrahan]

I read this, sounded like a very good idea, but why not use decommishioned vessels??

 

You can not decommission fishing vessels in this fashion, for reasons fo EU grant aid for new vessels and protection against pollution and basically undersea littering. Dump it in the wrong place and it could become a shipping hazard. Equally some unscrupulous sods would dump their hulking wrecks just to be rid of them and neglect to remove the deisel, oil in sumps and the lord knows what else. I am told it costs 000s to decommission old trawlers which is why they can be bought for a song (less tonnage) at the moment. Some skippers in Kilmore Quay wanted to create an artificial reef in this fashion and were warned they would be prosecuted if they tried without the proper agreement/warrants etc. Nice idea though... can;t imagine why people thought it would not work - why do people go wreck fishing!?!

 

FWIW...

[nickw]

And ban netting, including 'hobby' fishermen in the estuaries then the reefs would quickly self populate.

 

Artificial Reefs sound a great idea especially in those areas that have little protective habitat from natural reefs.

 

I've just got back from Tenerife where the local harbour wall was protected by huge square concrete blocks. The place was full of a huge variety of fish and crustaceans, whereas swim a few yards away over the sand and there was not a fish in sight. From my experience I would agree that the artificial reef had as many and possibly more fish than the natural rocky areas I was swimming over.

 

As long as the site was properly considered in terms of longshore drift etc. I would welcome seeing the experiment extended to my area - Suffolk. And why not the coast here is already artificially affected by coastal groynes and the dredging of the shipping channel into Felixstowe !

[Dave Godwin]

You can not decommission fishing vessels in this fashion, for reasons fo EU grant aid for new vessels and protection against pollution and basically undersea littering. Dump it in the wrong place and it could become a shipping hazard. Equally some unscrupulous sods would dump their hulking wrecks just to be rid of them and neglect to remove the deisel, oil in sumps and the lord knows what else. I am told it costs 000s to decommission old trawlers which is why they can be bought for a song (less tonnage) at the moment. Some skippers in Kilmore Quay wanted to create an artificial reef in this fashion and were warned they would be prosecuted if they tried without the proper agreement/warrants etc. Nice idea though... can;t imagine why people thought it would not work - why do people go wreck fishing!?!

 

FWIW...

[Here in Portugal they have built a series of three of these concrete artificial reefs, my only critisism is the blocks are laid out in lines of about 9-10 in a line with four rows to each reef but the blocks are approx a quarter of a mile apart .

I am thinking of trying trolling along the edge of these lines of blocks to see if it produces anything./quote]

[thurso angler]

Kieran of course i didnt mean just go out and scupper any old vessels, and i am quite aware of the costs of decomishining a vessel this is why i thought it would be a cost effective and environmental way to decomishion vessels and a tad ironic that the very things that caused the problems of fish stocks in turn one day would be helping them??!!

 

I know they have sun other large ships for this purpose so why not an ex fishing boat??

Edited November 8, 2005 by thurso angler

[geffaz]

Kieran of course i didnt mean just go out and scupper any old vessels, and i am quite aware of the costs of decomishining a vessel this is why i thought it would be a cost effective and environmental way to decomishion vessels and a tad ironic that the very things that caused the problems of fish stocks in turn one day would be helping them??!!

 

I know they have sun other large ships for this purpose so why not an ex fishing boat??

ther was talk of doing it with a northsea oil rig! dont know wot they did in the end, as green peice was up in arms about it !

[DoubleShotDamo]

It didn't take long for Samphire Hoe to become populated with marine life. I think it is a great idea.