Artificial Reefs

Artificial Reefs
Artificial reefs are man-made reefs in the ocean. They are objects (e.g. cars, wooden materials, concrete rubbles, etc.) taken to a specific or selected area of the ocean to provide better habitat while increasing productivity of certain kinds of fish that are valuable to humans. For example, fishes that inhabit unproductive sand or mud bottom reefs will either seek for a better habitat in the ocean or will die if it stays in the unproductive or mud bottom habitat. To save the lives of these essential species, artificial reefs are created.
The majority of artificial reefs are built for fishing or for the convenience of catching fish easily. Japan, for example, leads the world in artificial reef technology and has been building artificial reefs mainly for the purpose of fishing and to enhance ways of fishing. The United States “artificial reef programs of many maritime states are run for the benefit of recreational sports fishing, (SCUBA) diving, commercial fishing, waste disposal, and environmental mitigation; the materials used are mostly waste, including: concrete, rock, construction rubble, scrap tires, cars, railway carriages and ships. Only Japan and the USA have a national development plan” (Yip, 1998).
Artificial reefs are not easy to build nor can they be built whenever or wherever one wants to. Thorough planning to building artificial reefs is essential or else it will negatively impact the marine ecosystem. Also, there are limits/regulations which are important because as it allows people to build artificial reefs it also allows them to build to a certain limit in order to conserve the natural habitats of ocean species. A few of these regulations are: The Corps of Engineers and the Coast Guard require that no artificial reefs be placed in navigation channels or anchorages. Commercial fishermen must be allowed free access to historic fishing grounds. A reef place near a commercial fishing ground must be well marked so that fishing...