Ichthyofaunal Composition of the Artificial Liberty Ship Reef at Port Aransas, Texas

Date

1980-05

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

University of Texas Marine Science Institute

Abstract

During the winter 1976, three Liberty Ships were sunk in 115 ft of water 18 miles offshore at Port Aransas by the Texas Coastal and Marine Council to produce an artificial reef. Although no research was initiated to follow the early development of the reef community on the ships a study was begun in June 1977 (Vetter and Roels, 1977) to assess the use of the ship reef for recreational fishing and subsequent studies (Vetter and Roels, 1978a, 1978b) examined the fish populations on the ship reef. This report details continued investigation into the population dynamics of recreationally important fish species on the Liberty Ship reef with special emphasis on red snapper.

Description

35 pages with attached photos

Keywords

sport fishing, fish communities, Liberty ships, red snapper, species composition, artificial reefs

Citation