Artificial Habitats

Artificial habitats can include diverse items such as scuttled ships, reef balls, statues, construction material, lost fishing gear and structures used as fish or lobster aggregation devices. NOAA analyzes proposals for placing any structures on the seafloor on a case by case basis evaluating the projects goals and consistency with policies and regulations.

The 2011 Condition Report discussed artificial habitats and artificial reefs; however, during the scoping process several members of the public commented that the regulatory and permit process was unclear and NOAA needed to provide a better understanding of the science of artificial habitats. NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries published the Science Review of Artificial Reefs in 2012 which highlighted some science gaps for determining ecological pros and cons when evaluating deployment of new structures in the ocean to function as artificial habitat.

The Sanctuary Advisory Council provided some initial recommendations at the October 21, 2014 meeting and later formed the Artificial Habitat working group as the council felt the issue needed closer examination and wanted to bring in outside expertise. In July 2015, the Artificial Habitat working group developed draft recommendations to pass on to the Sanctuary Advisory Council for consideration at the August 18, 2015 meeting.

For advisory council meeting archives visit: Current Year or Previous Year Archives.