BASS BARN banner

BHCFA Junior Mate Reef Project reaches a major milestone.

2K views 10 replies 2 participants last post by  Captjohn22 
#1 ·
We have cleared a major milestone.
I received notice from the NJ DEP reef coordinator that the vessels we have been waiting to place on Little Egg Reef have been cleared by the Coast Guard in Norfolk for deployment. The vender said he has a tug chartered and they could start the trip north as soon as Tuesday 12/1/20.
It was the Coast Guard inspection that has been the hold up since the spring as we could not move forward with out it. Now it is the hands of the vender, the tug owner and the weather gods but this is a giant step in the right direction.

You can find more information about our organization and this project on our web site www.bhcfa.org
A brief recap of what spurred our Junior Mates to start this project to improve fish habitat on the four reefs off of Long Beach Island Island, NJ.
Bill Figley , the retired Reef Coordinator for the NJ DEP gave a talk at one of our Jr. Mate classes about the reefs including how very little has been done off of Long Beach Island, NJ and the current state of decline.
There was a very spirited discussion with the kids asking lots of questions, the last one was, "what can we do to help improve the artifical reefs?" And that is how we got started.

Synopsis of the NJ Artifical reefs and the underdeveloped reefs off of LBI..
The average artifical reef in NJ has over 600,000 cubic yards of material, the largest has over 4,000,000 Cu. Yds. of material.
Garden State North reef has 50,000 CU. Yds.
Garden State South has only 12,000 Cu Yds.
Barnegat Light reef has only 10,000 Cu. Yds.
Little Egg has only 9,000 Cu. Yds. of material and has not had any new material placed on there since 2005. A lifetime for most of our Junior Mates.

The State of NJ does not contribute any money to the building of artifical reefs. All the material and its preparation and transportation is paid for with private funds. The cost of this project is $100,000.

We have been fortunate to have had generous donors/investors for our project and we are receiving matching funds from the Sport Fishing Fund, without whos help this would not be possible.
As soon as the schedule is set I will post it so any of you who wish to witness the deployment of the three vessels can join us on Little Egg Reef and hopefully flood social media with pictures and videos.
This will be a great achievement for our Junior mates. Thanks you for your interest and support.
__
 
See less See more
#2 ·
Thank you for doing what you do. I have been thinking of moving my boat due to neglect of LEI reef, maybe neglect is the wrong word but the reef could use some help. I have my boat in Tuckerton creek and this year I did most of my sea bass fishing at AC reef. I would much rather stay at LER. This will keep me around Tuckerton and the folks at WAWA and Tuckerton bait and tackle should thank you as i spend a ton of $ thru the summer.
 
#6 ·
I got word last night that the three vessels we plan to deploy on Little Egg Reef may be here as soon as Tuesday AM.
While we have heard similar stories before this time is different. The Coast Guard inspections were completed in November and this weeks weather looks good.
I have my fingers crossed. I'll post any new info as it arrives.
 
#9 ·
Little Egg Reef deployment is back on! Maybe, LOL.
We are now looking at Thursday at first light.
For those of you who use the "Marine Traffic" AIS app the tug that will be towing our vessels is the "Vinik No. 6" She is currently off Delaware steaming for Norfolk.
Once she picks up the tow and is heading north I'll have a little more confidence.
Captain John Lewis
 
#11 ·
WE DID IT. Yesterday 1/14/2021 we had the first deployment on Little Egg Reef since 2005 and increased the volume
of material there by 20%. .
It was a good day all the way around, weather wise for January it was great. Our Junior mates showed what young people are capable of doing and we increased the marine habitat on Little Egg reef. Not a bad days work.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top