10 Reasons Why Artificial Reefs Will Help To Save The UK’s Endangered Wildlife

19 April 2017

Virgin Start-Up backed ARC Marine is giving everyone the opportunity to leave a legacy by helping to build an artificial reef which will help save the UK’s endangered white-clawed freshwater crayfish. The Torbay-based company is building the world’s first modular artificial reef at Vobster Quay, an inland water site and former quarry, near Radstock, Somerset, and is asking the public to back its current crowdfunding campaign in order to fund the structure and prove the viability of artificial reefs in ocean conservation. Tom Birbeck a marine-expert and co-founder of ARC Marine tells us how artificial reefs will help to save the UK’s endangered wildlife.

ARC Marine

Habitat regeneration – Many of the UK’s complex, natural marine ecosystems have been lost due to overfishing, habitat destruction and pollution. Native creatures, like the white clawed freshwater crayfish, are suffering from a lack of suitable habitat to breed and take shelter from the invasive American signal crayfish.

Illegal fishing prevention – Illegal and unreported fishing contributes to the overexploitation of the world’s fish stocks and is a hindrance to the recovery of declining fish populations and the ecosystems they need to survive.

By deploying our reef structures on the seabed in marine protected areas, it becomes impossible for towed fishing gear to move across the seabed. The introduction of these ‘sleeping policemen’ provides a permanent solution that needs minimal monitoring by the environmental agencies – saving time and money.

Boost fish stocks - Valuable fish stocks, and other marine life, are severely threatened by overfishing. The global fishing fleet is 2-3 times larger than our oceans can sustainably support. 53% of the world’s fisheries are fully exploited, and 32% are overexploited, depleted, or recovering from depletion.

Increase biodiversity - Creating complex reef structures encourages a wide variety of marine life to inhabit the area. In Lyme Bay the pink sea fan and seahorse are both in drastic need of protection and would directly benefit from artificial reefs which shelter them from destructive fishing methods.

Citizen science - A national project to create artificial reefs will encourage a new generation to seek out citizen science opportunities. The world’s water ways are crucial to all life on earth, and recreational divers can pay a key role in collecting data and helping to monitor the finished reef sites. This is a huge step in protecting and monitoring endangered species for generations to come.

Legacy - Artificial reefs have a life expectancy of over 500+ years. After 5-10 years (possibly sooner) the artificial reef will be unrecognisable as a manmade creation, and the life that adheres to it will have transformed it into a thriving habitat.

Waste plastics producing instead of polluting - It is now believed that there are 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic debris in the ocean.

ARC Marine uses recycled waste plastic to produce moulds. Marine-friendly concrete is then poured into these moulds to produce artificial reef structures known as ARC modules. These moulds are reusable, and will have a unique, long-life, assisting reef building for years to come.

New era of fishing methods - Artificial reefs can be sustainably farmed to produce a fish source which doesn’t include damaging their habitat. Destructive fishing practices currently destroy vast areas of the seabed including rocky reefs and seabed habitat, which are breeding, and nursery grounds for juvenile marine species.

Multi purpose - Our artificial reefs also serve as an anti-trawling device, a mooring and anchor point (to avoid anchoring which damages the delicate seabed) and will prevent scouring on sub sea structures such as offshore wind turbines. It’s this multi purpose use that we believe can incorporate artificial reefs into established markets and start protecting endangered species whilst serving an immediate use for humans as well.