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Coral reefs are the rainforests of the world’s oceans. Like their terrestrial counterparts, they occur in tropical and sub tropical environments, support a bewildering variety of species and are diminishing at an alarming rate. See the dozens of unique artificial fish habitat models, fish attractors and fish cover used at fishiding.com, the leader in proven science based, fish protection.
Marine biologists across the world are desperately trying to protect our remaining reefs from the impacts of global warming and destructive fishing. Others are building repositories of the known coral species – so that our grandchildren at least get to see them in aquariums or laboratories – and still others are constructing artificial reefs in areas of significant damage.
Humans have been creating reefs for thousands of years to improve their fisheries – you can pretty much sink anything solid in the right marine environment and calcium carbonate, the key ingredient in coral, will accrete to it. It’s a hit and miss affair, though, often bringing just a fraction of the biodiversity seen in a natural reef. But in the 1970s, some simple science created dramatic changes.
The biorock method was developed by architect and marine scientist Wolf Hilbertz and marine biologist Tom Goreau. They found that by running a small electrical current through seawater, a hard shell of calcium carbonate would form on the cathode. You could then attach small pieces of natural coral to the structure. The corals seemed to love these substrates, achieving growth rates often five times faster than normal. Today there are more than 20 Biorock projects around the globe, but by far the biggest – and arguably the most innovative – are in Indonesia.
“Right now we have 62 biorock structures around this island,” says Delphine Robbe, as she pulls on a wetsuit. “By 2012 we should have one hundred.”. Since coming to Gili Trawangan in 2005 with a vague plan to get her dive master certification, the Frenchwoman has become the driving force behind the island’s many eco programmes.
Trawangan is one of three tiny coral atolls off the coast of Lombok, Indonesia and increasingly a compulsory side trip to any Bali holiday, thanks to its bone white beaches, diving and snorkelling sites and absence of both dogs and motor vehicles. Pristine reef, however, is harder to find. “Probably 70 to 80% of our shallow reefs were destroyed by dynamite fishing,” Robbe tells me. “It was actually the local fishermen who kick started the eco movement here, when they set up patrols to try and stop the bombing.”
Goreau’s attention is on the Gili cluster, which has impressed him with its biodiversity and water quality. He and Hilbertz had chosen the tiny village of Pemuteran in north Bali as the site of what is today the largest biorock project in the world and are now looking for new areas to colonise with their artificial reef structures. Robbe met Goreau at the first Biorock conference and workshop in Trawangan in November 2005 and by the end of it, she’d been enlisted. “The next year, I led the workshop and brought in the major dive operators as sponsors,” she explains. “In return, they got their very own biorock installations in front of their dive shops.”
Besides stimulating biodiversity, the biorock structures also combat beach erosion, which became a serious problem with the destruction of the natural reefs. Increasingly, they are an attraction for tourists too – especially since English artist and environmentalist Celia Gregory joined the project.
Gregory, who besides being a mosaic artist and sculptor is also a dive master, contacted Tom Goreau after seeing the biorock project in Pemuteran. “I was really inspired by what they’d done and it gave me this idea of merging art with coral conservation,” she explains. “Plus I’d experienced dynamite fishing first hand when a device went off during a dive. We saw the shattered coral and the dead fish.”
Divers and snorkellers can now see underwater scultpures of a manta ray, dolphin, turtle, octopus, snake, moon, miniature phinisi schooner and even a komodo dragon. Gregory is now working with award winning industrial designer Tom Dixon who wants to create an underwater three-piece suite, while Bali based US photographer and vintage motorbike enthusiast Dustin Humphrey is thinking of sinking some old bikes and doing an underwater shoot complete with models.
Meanwhile, Robbe is building on the eco credentials of the project by exploring alternative sources of energy with which to power the biorock installations. “Running cable out to see and powering it with diesel generators is not exactly sustainable,” she says. “So we’re planning to build our first tidal energy turbines this year and then unroll much bigger ones by November 2012, the date of our next workshop.” She’s also landed some major commercial sponsors – oil company Total is looking to help fund the turbines, while Malaysian Airlines wants to put in an airplane sculpture.
But all of this comes with a caveat. The increasing popularity of the Gilis has prompted an unprecedented surge in development that threatens to scupper conservation efforts in the long term. Rising population and a rash of new construction is putting pressure on an island whose circumference is just 12km and which imports nearly everything, including fresh water.
Behind the quaint beach facing facades of the hotels, lies an open dump where most of the island’s rubbish goes, though Robbe recently set up a recycling system with the help of a Bali based company. The hotels often have rudimentary wastewater treatment systems, so biological waste goes straight into the sea, where it may create algae blooms that are toxic to coral.
There are a few exceptions. I stayed at the largely wind- and solar-powered Gili Eco Villas on the quiet north side of the island. They even have their own biorock sculpture of a whale.
“I have this vision of Gili Trawangan being a model of sustainability – it’s like a microcosm of the rest of the world, experiencing both threats and opportunities” Gregory says. “It has these amazing currents, endless sunlight and it’s small and contained enough to manage – if we were just smart about it.”
http://underwaterfishphotos.blogspot.com/2012/06/artificial-fish-habitat.html
See the dozens of unique artificial fish habitat models, fish attractors and fish cover used at fishiding.com, the leader in proven science based, fish protection.
Protect fish habitat. See the dozens of unique artificial fish habitat models, fish attractors and fish cover used at fishiding.com, the leader in proven science based, fish protection.
The five classes were on an awareness walk in response to changes to the federal Fisheries Act, but also checked out an ongoing stream project.
A control gate on Maggie Creek which flows into Kanaka Creek at 240th Street, helps maintain water levels in the wetlands area upstream, and creates more sheltered habitat away from the main stream.
The project was part of the habitat improvement required when the 240th Street bridge was built a few years ago.
That’s since improved Maggie Creek, confirmed by the presence of a few coho, stickleback and snapper found in the trap during the tour.
Only a few students however commented on Ottawa’s changes to the Fisheries Act now underway which will remove protection of habitat from all streams and just focus on streams of commercial, recreational or aboriginal value.
The phrase ‘harmful alteration, disruption destruction” of fish habitat in general is gone, while the new legislation says no one can cause “serious harm” to native, recreational or commercial fisheries.
Leigh Vivier was one of the few students carrying a Walk for Habitat sign and said he wants to make a difference.
“I want to help save Kanaka Creek – fish, animals and wildlife is at stake.”
He said the trap set in the creek showed that salmon are using Maggie Creek for habitat to stay safe from predators.
“And the number one predator is humans.”
Jade Plul and Alivia Stockall were also aware of the issue.
“We don’t want the fish to go extinct,” said Plul. “We want to save the fish,” added Stockall.
Senior biology teacher at Samuel Robertson Steve Halfnights said the exercise was an “awareness walk” and that many students probably have other concerns.
“For us, we just have to plant the seed and let the students make their choices down the road.”
Ross Davies, with the Kanaka Education and Environmental Partnership Society organized the walk. He helps teach Grade 8 science courses at Samuel Robertson.
He said the changes to the Fisheries Act could threaten the small tributary streams which could be considered neither recreational, commercial or aboriginal fishery.
“In our opinion, it (defining a stream that can be protected) becomes much more subjective.” Under the existing Fisheries Act, protection is automatic, he explained.
The new legislation removes the requirement to get authorization for disruption of any kind of fish habitat. That’s only required for waters that connected to recreational, commercial or aboriginal fisheries.
According to the government, authorization will not be required for projects occurring in waters that do not support the recreational, commercial or Aboriginal fisheries. New tools will be available to manage smaller impacts to recreational, commercial and Aboriginal fisheries.By Phil Melnychuk – Maple Ridge News
See the dozens of unique artificial fish habitat models, fish attractors and fish cover used at fishiding.com, the leader in proven science based, fish protection.
Conservation groups, lake associations and local governments can help improve fish habitat and water quality through a Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) grants program. Read more…………fish
By The Columbian
Pleasant Valley — Students at Pleasant Valley Middle School have become experts at river ecology. First, educators from the Estuary Partnership visited classrooms to teach lessons on river ecology. Then students applied the lessons by donning gloves and boots and planting 1,100 native plants in Pleasant Valley Community Park next to their school on March 12 and 28. These students join a larger partnership of Estuary Partnership and Northwest Wild Fish Rescue working to restore fish habitat in the park. Additional funding for stream restoration was provided by Clark County. See the dozens of unique artificial fish habitat models, fish attractors and fish cover used at fishiding.com, the leader in proven science based, fish protection.
| Vince Lovato Editor WASHINGTON, DC – Federal legislation now requires the Army Corps of Engineers to address the safety risks of placing dead trees in Lake Chelan to offset the environment damage allegedly caused by building a dock. The House Appropriations Committee passed a bill April 25 that requires the Corps to address the safety risks to recreational users of woody debris placed in Lake Chelan, according to U.S. Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Wenatchee). “Individuals wishing to construct a residential dock must pass through an exhaustive and very expensive permit process,” wrote boating safety instructor Russ Jones in a guest column to The Mirror. “Yet any agency wishing to deposit non-native species into the lake appear to be able to do so without the simplest of review processes. This was also the case with the use of submerged fruit trees. No prior study was conducted nor has there been any follow up study.” With the dramatic rise and fall of the water level through the different seasons, local residents have raised concerns about the possible movement of this woody debris and the safety hazards that it poses to boaters and other recreational users of the lake, Hastings said. “Washington residents have enjoyed waterskiing, swimming, boating and fishing in Lake Chelan for generations, and it is critical that it remain a safe environment for recreation,” said Hastings, who contributed language in the bill, “I am pleased that the Appropriations Committee acknowledges the need for the Corps to address the safety hazards of woody debris in Lake Chelan and reevaluate its use in the future so Lake Chelan can remain a safe place for Washington families to enjoy recreational activities. Additionally, I question the science and lack of monitoring of large woody debris as a mitigation requirement.” In January 2011, Chelan City Council members unanimously adopted a complicated resolution restricting the use of large woody debris as an environmental offset to construction projects such as boat docks over the lake. “In layman’s language, it would allow large woody debris but only low enough where it won’t interfere with boaters,” said council member Wendy Isenhart at that time. “It’s our responsibility to make policy here and we need an expression of our policy.” Chelan County Commissioners followed shortly thereafter with a similar resolution. Hastings’ language, which was included in the report accompanying the Fiscal Year 2013 Energy and Water Appropriations bill, requires the Army Corps of Engineers to report back to Congress on their efforts to address the safety hazards posed by woody debris in Lake Chelan, the liability of the Corps and private dock owners should a person or property be injured or destroyed by the woody debris, and whether woody debris should continue to be an acceptable option offered for mitigation within Lake Chelan. In March, Hastings, who has long questioned the need to mitigate the impact of docks on fish, submitted a request to Administrator Lubchenco of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for the science used to determine the impact of docks on fish species. Lubchenco has yet to respond to this request. One prescribed method is to anchor apple trees, referred to as large woody debris, near the shoreline to create artificial fish habitats. The Army Corps of Engineers and the State Department of Ecology created a prospectus that includes research allegedly proving this method would work in Lake Chelan. The agencies call the trees “large woody debris” and fear that every time a portion of the lake is covered by such things as docks, it has a negative impact on the ecology of the lake. Making up for that negative impact, by tethering dead trees near the lake shoreline to create habitat for fish, is called “mitigation.” |
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| ‘Don McDowell and Chris Cantrell share a check for $12,600 for working on the state’s habitat project. A mold for a Reef Ball is in the foreground.’ Don McDowell |
Reefballs are making a significant impact – Efforts to enhance Arizona’s bass fisheries with man-made habitats received a big boost, when the Arizona B.A.S.S. Federation Nation (ABFN) was awarded a $12,600 grant. That money from Arizona Sportsmen for Wildlife Conservation (ASWC) will be used to assist Arizona Game and Fish (AGF) in making concrete Reef Balls.
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Reef Balls are the Arizona chapter’s answer to the state’s lack of habitat in its fisheries. Made of 3/4 yard of concrete, a Reef Ball looks like a half-sphere of Swiss cheese, according to Chris Cantrell, AGF fishery manager. He added that ecosystems form in and around the balls, which were popularized for marine fisheries. ‘It’s really good habitat that’s there for a long time,’ said Cantrell. ‘A Reef Ball is thought to take more than 500 years of saltwater.’
Compare that to five to 20 years for most artificial habitat.
‘Money will be spent to create additional molds to allow bulk concrete purchases to mass produce Reef Balls in one fell swoop instead of hand-mixing the concrete,’ said Don McDowell, ABFN conservation director.
‘This will allow us to build 12 additional three-piece molds,’ he continued, adding that this is the first time that the organization has provided a grant for fish habitat.
‘Looks like our fish are getting much needed new furniture much sooner than we had hoped for,’ he continued. ‘Our deepest gratitude to the ASWC.’
Sometime this fall, Saguaro Lake probably will be the next fishery to receive Reef Balls, which ABFN volunteers will help build, load, offload and place. The first was Tempe Town Lake.
Other funding so far has included a $910 donation from Midweek Bass Anglers from the club’s Holiday Open.
‘Once we’re to the production phase, we can go anywhere,’ Cantrell continued. ‘The concrete, renting the forklifts, moving the habitat, getting volunteers — all of that will be the easy part. The hard part is getting the molds created.’
Lack of habitat in Arizona waters is the No. 1 limiting factor for anglers.
‘It’s like a bathtub out there,’ Cantrell said of Arizona’s impoundments.
‘We don’t have a renewable resource,’ McDowell added. ‘We have to babysit the fish. And we have to take care of the habitat before we can have the fish.’
Bass Master website
AZ Sportsman for Wildlife Conservation website
Arizona Game and Fish website
by Robert Montgomery
See the dozens of unique artificial fish habitat models, fish attractors and fish cover used at fishiding.com, the leader in proven science based, fish protection.Jose Mundo, an employee of Lancaster Custom Dock & Lift Systems Inc., places sticks while “seeding” a new osprey nest about 25 feet above the water of Lake Norman on Thursday.
WANT TO HELP?
To volunteer with Saturday’s Lake Norman buttonbush planting and other N.C. Wildlife Federation projects, visit www.ncwf.org or call Chris North, federation conservation director, at 704-332-5696. GPS coordinates for the rock reef sites are on the federation’s web site.
LAKE NORMAN Fishermen watched from boats as a trackhoe on a barge dumped 270 tons of boulders into Lake Norman Thursday, and a worker placed a manmade osprey nest 25 feet above the water on a sturdy wood pole.
The nonprofit N.C. Wildlife Federation led the initiatives in an ongoing effort to build habitat for wildlife, both fish and birds of prey.
“The more rock piles, the more habitat you put in the lake, the more (fishing) tournaments you have and the more money you generate for the local economy,” longtime Lake Norman fishing guide Gus Gustafson said. “There’s not enough rock piles to go around.”
Gustfason and other fishermen pulled nearby as trackhoe operator Ignacio Martinez of Lancaster Custom Docks and Lift Systems dumped rocks into 25 to 30 feet of water off the southern end of Brawley School Road peninsula in southern Iredell County. Other boulders were dropped farther north, near Lake Norman State Park in Troutman. The rocks came from a quarry in Denver, N.C.
The boulders are intended to create habitat for catfish, spotted and largemouth bass and other prized catches at the bottom of North Carolina’s largest lake.
By Friday morning, the fishermen knew, shad, herring and other bait fish would cluster at the rocks for protection from the larger fish, which in turn become unsuspecting catches for rods and reels.
“It’s the same as how people congregate at the opening of a new mall,” Gustfason said.
The federation led the rock dumping for the second year in a row. In 2011, Lancaster trackhoes plopped 270 tons of boulders at two other locations on the lake, creating fish habitat on the lake’s otherwise sandy bottom.
Fishermen previously established habitat by tossing Christmas trees into the lake, but the trees rot in a year, they said.
In 2009, federation volunteers also placed 200 porcupine-like “fish attractors” in the waters north of the N.C. 150 bridge and 100 attractors in Mountain Island Lake. They’re still there, attracting fish and anglers, said Tim Gestwicki, federation executive director.
On Thursday, volunteers from the federation and its Lake Norman Wildlife Conservationists chapter also peered skyward as a harnessed-in Jose Mundo placed sticks on a platform made of chain-link fencing and galvanized steel tubing to form an osprey nest.
“The birds will drop their own sticks onto the platform and then weave them all together,” said Stephen Turley, a federation board member who built the nesting platform at his Lake Norman home and six other platforms to be placed on the lake this year.
The federation has placed nearly 50 osprey platforms over the years at lakes along the Catawba River chain, from Lake James to Lake Wylie, Gestwicki said. He said a 2011 survey revealed 50 pairs of osprey nesting on Lake Norman alone.
The federation also plans to add two great blue heron rookeries on Lake Norman this year. On Saturday, its volunteers will plant 1,000 buttonbush plants at seven locations on Lake Norman islands, wetland areas and shoreline to slow erosion. The plant’s white flowers benefit hummingbirds, butterflies and honey bees, and its seeds provide food for wood ducks, mallards and migratory teal.
In 2011, the federation provided $100,000 for Mecklenburg County to preserve land at Mountain Island Lake.
Duke Energy’s Habitat Enhancement Program fund paid for the federation’s initiatives. Proceeds from dock and other fees help pay for the program, which has awarded $433,000 to projects in the Carolinas since it began in 2007.
More than 25 farmers from the Fraser Valley demonstrated outside the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) headquarters in downtown Vancouver Tuesday, saying their ability to farm is being hurt because endangered fish species have colonized ditches.
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Farmers from Agassiz, Chillliwack and other parts of the Valley said fisheries officers are unreasonably restricting them from clearing or dredging ditches because they’ve been deemed fish habitat.
Ditches that aren’t kept clear can flood farmland, raise the water table and degrade the ability to grow crops or graze cattle, farmers said.
“I’m concerned for my farmland,” said Agassiz dairy farmer Gary Wikkerink, adding the allotted time each fall to conduct work in fish streams is too short.
Protesters brought two calves to the protest Tuesday to emphasize their point.
“It’s caused a lot of concern in the Agassiz area,” said Canadian Taxpayers’ Federation B.C. director Jordan Bateman, who organized the protest on behalf of farmers.
He said they want consistent enforcement of Fisheries Act rules that require setbacks and protection of fish-bearing streams.
“Fisheries officers seem to have a lot of discretion in how they interpret it,” he said. “That really bothers them.”
Bateman said farmers want to influence the outcome of Ottawa’s expected rewrite of the Fisheries Act, which environmental groups fear will seriously weaken fish habitat safeguards.
“It’s coming down to the usual battle between big business and environmental values,” he said. “Nobody is looking at how it affects small farm property owners.”
The Canadian Taxpayers’ Federation has launched a petition calling for Fisheries Act reform to support farmers.
Farmers aren’t the only ones affected.
One Agassiz home owner said a new 30-metre construction setback from a creek that runs through his land means he would not have space to rebuild if his house ever burns down.
“If they get the setback they want, it makes the my value of my place disappear,” Alan Callander said. “It makes it worthless.”
Wilderness Committee policy director Gwen Barlee said farmers may have some legitimate concerns over fishery issues.
“But we don’t want to be rolling back environmental standards,” she said. “If we can’t protect fish habitat, there’s no way to protect fish.”
Ecojustice staff scientist Susan Pinkus said recovery strategies launched by the federal fisheries department to protect two endangered species found in small Valley streams – the Salish sucker and the Nooksack dace – may have angered farmers, because the department mishandled communications with those affected.
She said only one per cent of the critical habitat of the Salish sucker is in ditches, although some streams also run through farms, triggering large setbacks.
Fisheries and Oceans Canada officials could not be reached for comment.
– files from Jeff Nagel