NEWCASTLE’S first artificial reef is now open for business, with two massive reef pinnacle towers, weighing 90 tonnes and standing 12 m tall, installed off Blacksmith’s Beach.
The project has been years in the making, with Minister for Agriculture Adam Marshall calling on local anglers to try their luck on the reef.
“It’s designed to support a large variety of fish species – especially bottom-dwelling and pelagic species that are popular with recreational fishers,” Mr Marshall said.
“Although the fish community will rapidly evolve and change in the next few years, patienc the key as the reef will only improve with age.”
Designed to stay intact for decades, the towers were floated, towed and sunk remotely from a nearby tug, avoiding the use of barges and cranes on the open ocean (see the video above).
“This is by far the safest method for installation and has been adopted from the oil and gas industry and the methodology for installing oil rig platform ‘jackets’,” Mr Marshall said.
The reef is located south of Newcastle harbour at a sandy location off Blacksmith’s Beach, approximately 3.5 km north-east of the Swansea bar and approximately 28 m deep.
The location was finalised after extensive seabed mapping and community consultation, which took into account the many competing uses of the Newcastle coastline.
NSW Government monitoring has already identified over 50 different fish species on previously deployed offshore reefs, including yellowtail kingfish, bonito, blue mackerel and many more.
“This design deflects currents and creates upwellings, while also providing shelter for fish among the large base structure with its various shapes and crevasses,” Mr Marshall said.
“The steel structure is the skeleton of the new thriving fish community; but the ocean will ultimately do the rest with the reef rapidly accumulating a wide variety of attaching marine organisms.”
The reef pinnacles are a long-term NSW Government investment, using funds from the Recreational Fishing Trust to improve recreational fishing across the state.
For more information, including the reef site coordinates, click HERE.
