The Benefits of Leaving Oil and Gas Rigs Intact to Serve as Artificial Reefs

摘要

Offshore platforms stand out from all other artificial reefs because they occupy the entire water column, from the sea floor through the splash zone, whereas conventional artificial reefs usually only occupy 10 to 40 percent of the water column. When platforms are toppled over to create artificial reefs, 90 % of fish and invertebrate populations either perish or leave the structure. When rigs are left standing the fish biomass is ten times greater, per unit area, than the fish biomass at the Flower Gardens Fish Sanctuary. The Gulf of Mexico is home to 4,000 artificial reefs that are ten times bigger, ten times stronger, and ten times more prolific than average artificial reefs. They create one of the most prolific ecosystems on the planet.