A boat sinking off the coast of South Carolina isn’t good news — unless it’s something that is done purposely by the S.C. Department of Natural Resources’ artificial reef program.
This year there have been six such vessels that have been deployed, ranging in size from a 40-foot concrete hull boat that was sunk at the Ron McManus Memorial Reef near Little River to a 260-foot deck barge that was added to the Edisto 60-foot Reef.
The latest addition to one of the state’s 43 permitted reef sites was a 60-foot trawler named Seahorse, which has appeared in the Netflix series “Outer Banks.” The Seahorse, along with 26 concrete culverts, was added to the Ten-Mile Reef near Murrells Inlet a couple of weeks ago.
Altogether this year, SCDNR has deployed some 280,000 cubic yards of material on artificial reefs, which is almost triple the program’s yearly goal of 100,000 cubic yards, according to Bob Martore, who oversees the program.
“Really, (2021) was kind of typical. It just seems like a lot because last year was not a good year,” Martore said, referring to the COVID pandemic. “A lot of things got canceled. We actually were not at work for several months and contractors who were doing work for us were not doing things. Last year was a light year with fewer deployments. We just got back to normal with about 15 deployments this year and that’s pretty typical.”
And one more, a memorial reef off Murrells Inlet, is planned before the end of the year.
The reef program has begun doing a number of memorial reefs. Martore said in this case a reef structure with a plaque on it will go into an area of a permitted reef site along with a load of concrete culvert pipes. Martore said in the case of memorial reefs, they generally ask people to pay about half the cost of a load of material.
“Everything is built and ready to go. We hope to get that in before the year of the year,” he said, noting that all reef deployments are weather dependent.”
The number and size of vessels deployed during 2021 helps account for the large increase in volume for the reef additions.
“We’re always on the lookout for vessels. I talk to marine contractors all along the coast, asking what they have,” Martore said.
Vessels that cannot be used any more may be available for purchase, or sometimes are donated. Sometimes it’s a package deal, he said, such as the 260-foot deck barge that came from Stevens Towing and was deployed at the Edisto 60 Reef after container boxes, part of the Mount Pleasant water tower, and even a concrete shark were added to the deck. He said they paid for the barge, which no longer was being used, and also for Stevens to take care of preparation and towing to the site.
Martore said organizations such as CCA South Carolina, the Harry Hampton Fund and South Carolina Governor’s Cup Billfishing Series have stepped up and helped SCDNR increase what it can do.
“A lot of these vessels we do now we do with CCA. That’s been ongoing for several year now and has been very helpful. We’ll generally split the cost of these vessels so our reef construction budget is doubled by having a group like this partner with us,” Martore said.
Scott Whitaker, executive director of CCA South Carolina, said the organization’s efforts are part of its Topwater Action Campaign.
“The entire habitat focus was something we created back in 2009. Topwater Action was totally created to be the habitat arm of CCA South Carolina and was a conscious decision to start focusing on the next piece of the marine fisheries puzzle, which was habitat,” Whitaker said.
“We came up with four or five different things, including creating new habitat and rehabilitating or restoring degraded habitat. We wanted to start contributing to artificial reefs off the coast of South Carolina.”
CCA South Carolina partnered in five different vessels that have been added to reefs off the coast of South Carolina during 2021, and since 2009 has helped with 17 different reef projects.
“South Carolina has 43 permitted sites for reefs and our goal with the coastal reefing initiative is to put material on all 43 sites by 2030 and we’re on track to to that,” Whitaker said.
Whitaker said decommissioned tugs are ideal because they are wide and also have elevation in the water column.
“The downside to this stuff is that projects are getting more and more expensive,” he said. “Ninety percent of the environment off the coast of South Carolina is nothing but sand. Couple that with hurricanes, big storms, heavy currents and big tides, and you need a substantial structure to make a big impact and have any kind of longevity.”
The Governor’s Cup and Harry Hampton Fund are partnering with SCDNR for another addition to the South Carolina Memorial Reef, a Type II Marine Protected Area located 52 miles off the coast, which provides protected area for deep water species but where trolling for pelagics is allowed. The Coastal Venture, a 242-foot cargo ship, is currently at the Charleston Navy Base and Martore expects it to be ready for deployment.
Hard structures such as concrete are an important part of reef projects in South Carolina. Martore said companies that manufacture culvert pipes and junction boxes donate ones that have cracks or otherwise won’t work for their intended purpose but are excellent as reef material. He noted that a company that manufactures toilet bowls once donated some of their product, and the toilets worked extremely well.
Other unusual items include the concrete shark his department built and attached to the deck of the 260-foot barge deployed this year at the Edisto Reef. He said a sculptor made two small cherubims that were for a memorial reef. And, he said, his work crew is currently working on a velociraptor.
“Things like that generate a lot of interest,” Martore said. “They are all just concrete and function the same, regardless of what they look like. As long as it’s hard structure, they all function pretty well.”
He said the structures retain their basic shape, but as marine organisms attach themselves to the structure they get a fuzzy look with all the growth waving in the current.
“The tanks that were deployed (several years ago) still look like tanks, but a fuzzy tank. It will still retain the general outline,” he said.
Reef balls, designed concrete structures that serve as reef material, also are an important part of the reef program. CCA South Carolina has donated molds to the program and Martore noted that country singer Kenny Chesney’s No Shoes Reef Foundation, started in Florida, has sent molds to SCDNR. He said a dozen or so reef balls have been built and they will be deploying them off the SCDNR’s Palmetto next year.
South Carolina’s artificial reef program officially begin in 1973 when the state began permitting artificial reef sites through the Corps of Engineers and OCRM (Ocean and Coastal Resource Management).
“The variety of material and quality of materials has changed over the year,” Martore said. “We do designed structures that we know are not just appropriate environmentally but target certain fish species through their various life history stages. That really helps with increasing the population size, having appropriate structures that will protect juveniles and allow them to grow.
“Artificial reefs are a big help for fisheries in South Carolina, by expanding the number of areas fishermen have to go to. They prevent the natural reef sites from getting overfished. They make it easier for fishermen. They have known spots they can go to. By having such a variety of reef structures spread out in such large areas, it keeps any one particular site from being overfished.”
