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Designed Habitats on the Reefs

    During the summer of 1999, 700 Reef Ball habitats were deployed on the Barnegat Light and Garden State North Reefs. The concrete habitats, resembling small igloos, were fabricated by inmate laborers at Southern State Correctional Facility, located in Cumberland County. Transportation from the prison to the ocean reef sites was provided by the Ocean County Bridge Department. The Reef Ball Program is ongoing, with 700 more habitats scheduled for deployment in 2000.

    In most cases, the strategy for deployment is to disperse the Reef Balls far apart on the reef site. The distance between habitats makes them harder to fish and thus, provides a refuge for fish and shellfish. These small sanctuaries will then provide additional fish to help replenish larger reef structures that are subject to greater fishing effort.

    
A Reef Ball habitat is placed on the Barnegat Light Reef.

The Ocean County Bridge Department delivering new homes for sea life on the Garden State North Reef.

How The Reef Habitat Works

The reef habitats are made entirely of concrete. Their dimensions are 4 ft base  diameter and 3ft in height. Each habitat weighs 1500-1700 pounds. Reef habitats were designed by Reef Ball Development Group of Sarasota, FL and are used throughout the world's oceans to build reefs.

• The 1500-pound concrete reef structures provide a stable substrate for the attachment of marine invertebrates (called fouling organisms), such as blue mussels, barnacles, hydroids, tube worms, sponges and anemones These stationary animals feed on plankton carried past the habitat by ocean currents. Within just two or three years, the reef habitats will be colonized by a luxuriant, 3-inch thick carpet of invertebrate growth.
  
• Mobile invertebrates, such as crabs, shrimp, starfish, worms and snails, live upon and within the carpet of attached growth. The living carpet serves as a hiding place and as a source of food for the mobile animals.
  
• Fish, including sea bass, blackfish, porgy, fluke and triggerfish, use their undersea condos as refuges from large ocean predators. They feed upon the mussels, barnacles, crabs, worms and other invertebrates inhabiting the reefs. Lobsters hide in burrows they dig in the sand under the concrete habitats. Baitfish, such as scad, round herring and menhaden, often school over the top of reefs to feed on the plankton concentrated by currents deflected upwards by reef structures.

ADOPT-A-REEF HABITAT

A great gift or memoriam for a fisherman or diver

CREATE AN UNDERSEA CONDO FOR NEW JERSEY MARINE LIFE

    New Jersey's marine life - sea bass, blackfish, lobsters, crabs and - others need a place to live. You can help by sponsoring the placement of a concrete reef habitat on a New Jersey ocean reef. Not only will your habitat create a home for marine life to thrive, but it will also provide anglers and divers a new place to fish and explore.

    A tax-deductible donation will help pay for the fabrication and transportation of your habitat(s) to a New Jersey ocean reef site.

Adoption costs:
Number of Habitats    Cost
1                                    $ 125
3                                    $ 300
7                                    $ 500
12                                  $ 750
20                                  $1,000


What you will receive:
• Your nameplate attached to a habitat placed on a New Jersey ocean reef.
• A "New Jersey Reef" T-shirt.
• A certificate describing the location of your habitat.
• Listing as a reef sponsor in "Reef News".
• For 12 or more habitats, the name you have selected for your reef will be published on New Jersey reef charts.

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Adopt-A-Reef Habitat Application

Your Name______________________________________________

Address_________________________________________________

Phone No._______________________________________________

Your Habitat Name "_______________________________________"

Number of Habitats sponsored_______________________________

Select a T-shirt Size: S    M    L    XL    XXL

Make check, tax-deductible donations, payable to "Sportfish Fund" and mail to:
    Adopt-A-Reef Habitat
    Artificial Reef Association
    P.O. Box 16
    Oceanville, NJ 08231

For information call the Reef Program at 609-748-2020.

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