Aboard R/V Long Bay, Capt. Davie 'D.R.' Guthrie and his mate spot AR-372 

 Buoy, five miles off Wrightsville Beach. 



also oversees seven estuarine reefs in sounds and rivers. 



Reef-building efforts were sporadic for many years. 

 Four decommissioned warships were sunk off the coast 

 in 1974, authorized by the U.S. Liberty Ship Act. But 

 little large-scale activity took place until 1986 when 

 hundreds of railroad box cars were donated for use on 

 artificial reef sites. 



"Through the years, the box cars deteriorated, and 

 their sides have fallen in on themselves, offering little 

 habitat advantage," Francesconi says. 



Some good ideas ended badly. He recounts one 

 project that took thousands of tires from landfills to use 

 as reef material. Tires were bundled using two kinds of 

 metal straps — one of a noncorrosive material, the 

 second of a corrosive metal. The premise was simple. 

 One strap would permanently bind them, the other strap 

 eventually would fall away, enabling the less restrained 

 side to provide additional habitat surfaces. 



Unfortunately, even the noncorrosive straps were 

 no match for ferocious ocean storms. And thousands of 

 tires were unleashed — some all at once, some over time 

 — to foul fishing nets and litter beaches. Never again, 



Nothing would happen, she says, if it were not for 

 the partnership of the DMF with the State Ports Authority 

 and stevedores to provide port clearance, space, equip- 

 ment and heavy lifting needed to get reef materials out to 

 permit sites. 



Francesconi would argue that Merritt leaves out the 

 most important factor in the partnership — the involve- 

 ment and financial support of the recreational fishing 

 community. 



But it hasn't always been as systematic. 



LEARNING FROM HISTORY 



It could be said that North Carolina's artificial reef 

 program began when the earliest sailing vessels sank to 

 the ocean floor to create a spontaneous marine habitat. 



But a more "managed" artificial reef program came 

 along with the implementation of the National Artificial 

 Reef Plan in 1985, mandated by the National Fishing 

 Enhancement Act enacted the previous year. The goal 

 was to enhance fish habitat — and ultimately fisheries 

 stocks. 



Early on in North Carolina, permits were held by 

 sport fishing clubs, but the permits were acquired by the 

 state in 1985 when DMF became the state's management 

 agency. Now, DMF maintains 39 ocean sites — about 

 two-thirds are located from Cape Lookout south. Only 

 three ocean sites are more than 20 miles offshore. DMF 



The first of 1 30 artificial reef balls takes the plunge onto the reef site. The 

 prefabricated structures come in three sizes. 



8 SPRING 2002 



