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Article: Alabama artificial reef program.
- Article from:
- Journal of the Alabama Academy of Science
- Article date:
- October 1, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 Alabama Academy of Science. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The natural bottom offshore Alabama is predominately flat sand, gravel and mud. This bottom type attracts very few fish that are either commercially or recreationally valuable. However, it has long been known that if vertical relief is created on this bottom, many reef fish such as snappers and groupers will be attracted (Shipp personal comm.). Shortly after the Second World War, local charter boat captains and commercial fishermen discovered that they could catch valuable reef fish at locations where artificial structures (ships, planes, etc.) had accidentally found their way into the Gulf of Mexico. It did not take them long to equate bottom structure with reef fish and ...