RIGS TO REEFS IN THE GULF OF MEXICO
"Offshore oil and gas platforms in the Gulf of Mexico serve as valuable marine habitat, supporting economically important recreational fishing in the Gulf region. These platforms serve as huge vertical reefs offering structure and coral where otherwise there would be only barren, smooth bottom.
Since 2006, removal of platforms has exceeded installations. For example, in 2010, 161 were removed while only 23 platforms were installed, and these installations were typically further from shore and therefore less accessible to anglers. Only approximately 10 percent of all eligible platforms in the Gulf of Mexico have been converted into artificial reefs, while the rest have been removed.
In the face of increasing attention on the removal of these important fish structures, in June, 2013, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) released an amended “Rigs to Reefs” policy that will make it easier to turn inactive platforms into new artificial reefs. The new policy supports and encourages the use of obsolete oil and gas structures as artificial reefs; provides greater opportunities for reefing by reducing the five-mile buffer zone between reefing areas to two miles; allows for reefing in place when appropriate in Special Artificial Reef Sites; and provides for extensions to regulatory decommissioning deadlines for companies actively pursuing a “Rigs to Reefs” proposal."...
To Read the entire article click on the title above or here: Rigs to Reefs
To Check Out The complete Website: Keep America Fishing
Editor's Note: Please comment on this site: http://keepamericafishing.org/ which we are evaluating for permanent listing in our FISHING SECTION
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