Coastal Artificial Habitats for Fishery and Environmental Management and Scientific Advancement

Abstract

Benthic reefs are the principal type of artificial habitat deployed in coastal waters worldwide to achieve fishery, ecosystem and other purposes. Ancient techniques to attract fishes to submerged natural objects for subsistence food harvest continue to be used, especially in tropical areas, while larger and more complex reefs commonly built of manmade materials and designed to meet an ecological life history requirement or limiting factor have been used in commercial fishing over the past 50 years, and more lately in marine ranching. Geographic centers of long-term artificial reef research and development include eastern Asia, the Mediterranean basin, India and North America. Trends in the use of this technology include a wider number of non-fishery applications, such as protection of habitat, conservation of biodiversity and socioeconomic development, at a growing number of sites in over 50 countries. This paper presents significant findings and trends concerning the ecology of artificial reefs, their effects on fisheries and ecosystems, and appropriate applications of the technology. The maturation of long-term biological datasets has enabled quantification of ecological processes such as production of biomass at artificial reef sites, characterization of functional equivalence for artificial and natural reefs, and determination of sustainability of certain localized fishery harvests.