Inshore reefs are those artificial reefs developed solely in Louisiana state waters between the Louisiana Intracoastal Waterway and the Louisiana coastline and within Lake Pontchartrain. There are currently 30 inshore reefs dispersed between Louisiana’s coastal basins: Calcasieu, Vermillion-Atchafalaya, Terrebonne, Timbalier, Barataria, Breton, and Pontchartrain.
These reefs are utilized by the greatest number of Louisiana’s fishermen due to shorter travel distances, and provide options to stay closer to land during inclement weather conditions. Inshore reefs are created using a few different types of material including limestone, recycled crushed concrete, and pre-fabricated material such as reefballs. Many inshore areas are relatively shallow, so these reefs need to be carefully sited, and are lower in profile than the offshore counterparts.
The Louisiana Artificial Reef Program has recently developed nine inshore planning areas across the coastal zones. These planning areas have been created to facilitate the process of future inshore reef development and to enhance existing inshore reefs. Typically, prior to an inshore reef being created, it must go through a lengthy approval process. The inshore artificial reef planning areas have already gone through the permitting process, have been given a thumbs-up by user groups such as shrimp, oyster, and crab fishermen, and are ready to be enhanced to benefit anglers.
Example Projects
Lake Pontchartrain
Between 2001 and 2004, concrete perforated domes known as reefballs were tested as artificial reef structures in Lake Pontchartrain. The reefballs were placed at three sites on the southshore of the lake on pre-existing shell pads that once held oil structures. They were studied by The University of New Orleans and determined to be a suitable and successful artificial reef material. An additional four more reef ball sites were added on 2009 including sites on the northshore. On the eastern end of the lake, the two Twin Span reefs (aka Dudley and Kim Vandenborre Reefs) were constructed from recycled concrete from the old I-10 Twin Span bridges that were damaged during Hurricane Katrina. Reefs were also added in conjunction with the St. Tammany Pier in 2013, and the Laketown Pier in 2014.
Independence Island
Many decades ago, Independence Island was just that, an island. Over time, the island slipped below the water surface, and is now located under 3 to 4 feet of water. The island’s oyster reefs and natural channels once provided ideal habitats for fish and anglers alike, but have since been covered by mud from erosion and hurricanes.
In 2011, through a partnership with CCA, the largest inshore artificial reef at the time was constructed to revitalize some of these historic features. Over 8,000 tons of limestone was added onto four acres at the site a few miles northeast of Grand Isle. The Independence Island Reef was an essential effort to rebuild areas along out coast that have been damaged by erosion, thus replenishing aquatic habitats for our coastal species.
Videos
The video was made at the St Tammany East Reef, which was deployed in 2009. It is located approximately 2 nautical miles south of the mouth of Bayou Lacombe in Lake Pontchartrain, Louisiana.
Statistics
Statistics will be added soon!
