Texas Artificial Reef Program: Over 50 Years of Marine Habitat Enhancement in the Gulf of Mexico

Resource managers have been involved in artificial reef development off the Texas coast for over 50 years. The donation of 12 Liberty Ships in 1975-1976 formed the foundation of the current Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Artificial Reef Program (Program). These ships represent the first successful reef development activity within Texas using stable, durable, and complex material. In 1989, the Texas legislature directed the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department to develop the artificial reef potential off Texas, based on the 1984 National Fishing Enhancement Act. The Texas Artificial Reef Plan was adopted in 1990, formally creating the Program. The Program utilizes the federally approved Rigs-to-Reefs Program which provides the oil and gas industry a method to donate their obsolete petroleum structures as artificial reefs in lieu of the standard salvage removal option required by federal law. The Program has reefed 64 obsolete petroleum jackets, one caisson, two decks and one net guard at 37 of the 46 currently permitted reef sites in the offshore waters of Texas. These donations have provided nearly $9 million to the Texas Artificial Reef Fund. Other materials used in the construction of reefs placed at Texas reef sites include: 300 blocks made of coal combustion fly-ash by-product stacked in a pyramid shape; one pipe structure welded in the shape of a 4-pile jacket structure; 132 concrete fabricated "reef balls"; 46 square open-ended concrete (box) culverts; 22 concrete anchors; four stacks of concrete culvert pieces on slag; 50 1-2 ton natural quarry rocks; four sections of a 55-ton U.S. Navy surplus steel buoy; one 100-ft YR=U.S. Navy barge; one T-2 steel tanker; four 100-ft long barges; and one obsolete 44-ft steel tugboat. The Program continues to assess new materials and obsolete oil and gas structures on a case-by-case basis to determine their overall benefits to the program.