Texas Artificial Reef Program 2015 Year in Review. Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Artificial Reef Program J. Dale Shively 15 March 2016

Texas Artificial Reef Program 2015 Year in Review Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Artificial Reef Program J. Dale Shively 15 March 2016

Texas Artificial Reef Program by the Numbers Over 4,800 Acres Permitted Reef Sites: 77 Permitted / 10 Pending 149 Platform R2R Donations to Date Plus 12 Other Components 30 Platform R2R Donations in Progress $25.2 Million Generated through Rigs-to-Reefs Program Other Donations: 22 Vessels - Barges, Shrimp Boat, 2 Tugs, Tanker, Ships > 7,000 Fabricated Materials - Concrete Reef Balls and Pyramids, Culvert, Utility Poles, Fly-Ash Blocks, Hatchery Troughs, MARAD Steel Buoy 700 Quarry Rock

Rigs-to-Reefs Program

1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 Reefed Oil and Gas Platforms 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0

Methods of Removal Topple in place Traditional method Rarely used anymore

Tow Most common Used for smaller structures Methods of Removal

Methods of Removal Partial removal Preferred method for larger structures

TPWD Oil & Gas Platform Removal Methods Topple 12% Partial Removal 27% Towed 61%

Sizes of Platforms in TPWD Program 12-pile jacket 1% 8-pile jacket 29% 3-pile jacket 13% 6-pile jacket 2% 4-pile jacket 55%

Petroleum Structures in Texas Gulf OCS Region Reef Sites Reefed Platforms NORTH High Island 40 81 Galveston 6 14 Brazos 5 9 Matagorda Island 5 11 Mustang Island 8 17 Padre North 4 3 Padre South 4 8 SOUTH

Reef Sites by Water Depth Water Depth (ft) Reef Sites Structures 50-100 14 10 101-150 13 17 151-200 20 62 201-250 17 30 251-300 11 32 301+ 6 3

Nearshore Reefs & Public Reefing Program Quarry Rocks Concrete Culverts Reef Pyramids Reef Balls Bridges and Causeways

Proposed Nearshore Reefs Public Reef Development Lonestar Boatmans Lonestar / Boatmans / Boatmans Lonestar Corpus Christi Port O Connor Vancouver Matagorda Matagorda Matagorda Sabine 1 Sabine Sabine 2 Big Man Reef Galveston Big Man Reef Port Mansfield Rio Grande Valley Port Isabel

Freeport and Matagorda Nearshore Reefs NRDA (Natural Resource Damage Assessment) funded projects $5 million Contract awarded to Callan Marine Reefing slated for summer 2016 Freeport Reef: 800 reef pyramids Matagorda Reef: 1,600 reef pyramids Production slow. ~ 100 pyramids completed to date

Ships-to-Reefs 1960s: 3 Barges 1970s: 12 Liberty Ships, T2 Tanker V.A. Fogg 1980s: Barge 1990s: Tugboat, Navy Barge 2000s: Tugboat, Hopper Barge, Shrimp Boat, 473 Texas Clipper, 155 MV Kinta S

M/V SCM Fedra

Biological Monitoring Methods Roving Fish Census Decompression diving Lionfish removal Water quality Video transects Vertical long lines Photo documentation Biological sampling

Monitoring Events and Contracts UTRGV (2007 present) Padre South protraction region Diving surveys, biofouling, sidescan and multibeam surveys, economic impact study TAMU - Corpus Christi (2011 present) Numerous platform sites in the Mustang and Matagorda protraction regions Diving surveys, tagging surveys, vertical longline, remote operated vehicle surveys, etc Scuba diving socio-economic impact study TAMU - Galveston (2011 - present) Vancouver archeological survey Bottom surveys and bathymetry, biological monitoring, multibeam surveys TAMU - College Station(2013-2014) Socio-economic survey of anglers and boaters USGS (2013-present) Offshore water quality survey Nearshore AUV, water quality, substrate survey

Reaching Out... TAMUG: 2013 2014 survey of anglers and boaters using TPWD license system for boats 27ft TAMUCC: Diver survey completed 2015

So How Important are Artificial Reefs in Texas? 2013-14 TAMU-College Station Survey of Licensed Boat (>26ft) Owners (7,000 boat owners) Reef users were white males, 57 years old, with annual income >$160,000 62% took a trip into GOM in last 12 months, 70% to fish on TPWD reefs Average trip cost = $1,652 per person

So How Important are Artificial Reefs in Texas? 2014-15 TAMU-CC Survey (55 dive shops and 508 divers) Average Texas Diver is a male 34-44 years old, 4 yr Bachelor s degree, annual income of >$70,000, lives in Corpus Christi Average trip cost to dive Gulf only = $1,173

So How Important are Artificial Reefs in Texas? Total coastal county economic impact from diving: Flower Gardens Banks National Marine Sanctuary only = $2.4m Gulf diving only = $2.5m Combined freshwater and saltwater diving in TX = $23m

So How Important are Artificial Reefs Conclusion: in Texas? I don t know much about the artificial reef program The best diving in Texas is Mexico

TPWD Artificial Reef Program Partners Coastal Conservation Association Recreational Fishing Alliance Saltwater fisheries Enhancement Association Matagorda, Brazoria County Government Port Mansfield Reefing Community Reef-Man, LLC Cities of Corpus Christi and South Padre Island Friends of Rio Grande Valley Reef

Public Outreach & Information tpwd.texas.gov/landwater/water/ habitats/artificial_reef/ Direct link to Interactive maptpwd.texas.gov/artificialreefs www.facebook.com/ TexasParksAndWildlifeArtificialReefProgram