Battered Battleships, Derelict Derricks Provide New Home for Fish.Sunken battleships The battleship was the key strategic weapon of the late 19th Century and early 20th Century. A large number of battleships were built by the Great Powers. Due to the high cost of building and maintaining these large ships, most were eventually scrapped to recover the metal. , derelict oil derricks, huge concrete balls are turning the flat expanses of mud and sand in such places as the Gulf of Mexico Noun 1. Gulf of Mexico - an arm of the Atlantic to the south of the United States and to the east of Mexico Golfo de Mexico Atlantic, Atlantic Ocean - the 2nd largest ocean; separates North and South America on the west from Europe and Africa on the east into enchanting grottos that lure fish, fishermen, tourists and divers. A number of states on the Gulf and Atlantic coasts--including Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of , North Carolina North Carolina, state in the SE United States. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean (E), South Carolina and Georgia (S), Tennessee (W), and Virginia (N). Facts and Figures Area, 52,586 sq mi (136,198 sq km). Pop. , South Carolina South Carolina, state of the SE United States. It is bordered by North Carolina (N), the Atlantic Ocean (SE), and Georgia (SW). Facts and Figures Area, 31,055 sq mi (80,432 sq km). Pop. (2000) 4,012,012, a 15. , Texas and Virginia--are actively building artificial reefs that change the seascape and provide welcoming homes for a variety of marine life. The Artificial Reef Program continues a long history in Texas. The first such creations in the state--made of tires, old cars and construction rubble--were built nearly 50 years ago. But those materials failed to withstand the onslaughts of storms and time. In the mid-1970s, 12 obsolete World War II Liberty ships were sunk at five different sites; these reefs still are thriving, and the recreation and marine life habitats they helped create have been augmented by the 31 oil rig-based reefs. Recycled offshore oil and gas platforms, which can provide two to three acres each of marine life habitat, now form the core of the Texas Artificial Reef Program. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is a Texas state agency that oversees and protects wildlife and their habitats. In addition, the agency is responsible for managing the state's parks and historical areas. manages some 26 artificial reef sites. Companies that are decommissioning Decommissioning is a general term for a formal process to remove something from operational status. Some specific instances include:
"Tourism and sport fishing are a billion dollar a year industry in Texas," notes Representative Patricia Gray. "The rigs to reefs program is very popular, and my constituents would like to see more such habitat development." A program under way off Barnegat Inlet in New Jersey involves concrete "igloos," three feet high and four feet wide, that are peppered with holes that fish can swim in and around. These are being installed by the Department of Environmental Protection's New Jersey Reef Program. More than 700 balls that will be deposited along the ocean floor will become homes for sea bass, lobster and other marine life. Luring the wildlife to the artificial reefs also will prove lucrative for the state where sport fishermen and divers spend $5.6 million annually to ply their hobbies along the New Jersey reefs. Even the Department of Corrections has played a role; the reef balls are made by inmates of the Southern State Correctional Facility in Maurice River Township, New Jersey Maurice River Township is a township in Cumberland County, New Jersey, United States. It is part of the Vineland-Millville- Bridgeton Primary Metropolitan Statistical Area for statistical purposes. As of the United States 2000 Census, the township population was 6,928. . In Alabama, seven conservation organizations have united to construct 10 artificial reefs in Mobile and Baldwin counties. The program, called Roads to Reefs, uses recycled concrete blocks and culvert piping to build the underwater structures. Two of the reefs will serve double duty as fish habitats and oyster bed nurseries. |
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