What do you do with shoreline protection structure no longer needed? If it’s hard structure like concrete or wire cages, then one application is reefs. Oysters, barnacles, and many other crustaceans find this stuff to be great real estate… a good place to start a new home!
The Nature Conservancy teamed up with the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Mobile County, Dauphin Island Sea Lab, the University of South Alabama and Alabama Gulf Seafood to repurpose material from a shoreline protection project to create four new reefs in Mobile Bay. Funds were obtained from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
The cages used for shoreline protection had taken a beating and were no longer useful purpose. By relocating them to deeper areas – where they sit on the bottom – they serve as great habitat for oysters and other crustaceans. Which in turn, creates a hard-bottom reef attacting various species of fish.
The next phase of the project involved relocating concrete dome habitats. The structures were covered in mussels and oysters and will be used for an artifical reef near Dog River.
In addition to the four new reefs under construction, the Alabama Wildlife Federation purchased another $250,000 worth of rocks to use for two of the new reefs to enhance their oyster productivity.
It’s expected that within one year after completion, the reefs will begin to reach their full potential. Click on the image above to see the location of the new reefs.
