Following on from Fisho’s recent story on artificial reef installations around Australia comes news of more man-made reefs planned for NSW.
A series of offshore deep-water artificial reefs is being planned along the NSW coast to improve recreational fishing opportunities, NSW Primary Industries Minister, Steve Whan, said today.
“This is the first time that purpose built artificial reefs of this scale have been used in Australia,” Minister Whan said.
“This is an exciting new step in the NSW Government’s bid to improve recreational fishing opportunities for all fishers in NSW.
“The reefs are proposed to be deployed by Industry & Investment (I&I) NSW in waters off Newcastle, Sydney and Wollongong, with the first trial reef to be deployed off Sydney.
The Offshore Artificial Reefs (OARs), are expected to measure approximately 12 metres high, 15 metres long and 12 metres wide, and would be deployed between 30 metres and 40 metres deep at:
• Newcastle – approximately 3.6 km offshore from Blacksmiths Beach
• Sydney – approximately 1.2 km off The Gap and 1.9 km south-east of South Head
• Wollongong – approximately 2.4 km offshore from Perkins Beach, and 2.5 km south of the Five Islands Nature Reserve
“The Environmental Assessment and Draft Public Environment Report is currently on public exhibition,” Minister Whan said.
“A significant amount of planning, analysis and consultation has already been undertaken in relation to the design and site selection.
The minister said deployment of OARs would complement existing recreational fishing enhancement projects such as FAD deployments and existing artificial reef projects.
To view the Environmental Assessment and Draft Public Environment Report, visit www.planning.nsw.gov.au
