DON DUBUC

Artificial reefs beneficial to fish, anglers For the past decade fishing in Lake Pontchartrain has been getting better. And if a newly constructed reef lives up to its expectations, it should get even better. “Fish Haven,” the current name the reef appears on National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration charts recently had crushed limestone laid atop the remnants of an earlier reef created in 1971. Saltwater fishing, shrimping and crabbing has steadily improved as the result of the clean-up efforts spearheaded by the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation. Shell dredging, which was a form of strip mining that targeted the base of the food chain, the rangia clam, was banned over a decade ago. The clams act as filters and the lake is now cleaner, clears more quickly following storms and provides more food for crabs and fish. Controls on sewage dumping, dairy and urban runoff has the bacteria levels down and most of the lake is again suitable for swimming. Fishing has benefitted from a more healthy lake. Recent years have produced more and bigger speckled trout and other species over a larger area. But with limited fish-attracting structures such as bridges, platforms and depth variations, locating fish can be tough. That’s where the reef idea comes in. The concept of artificial reefs is to create an area of varied relief and disruption of bottom currents. The hard surface that varies the depth and disrupts currents attracts baitfish that in turn stimulates feeding by predator species. The University of New Orleans will conduct regular monitoring to help assess the growth and productivity of the reef. Data acquired will be important in developing new concepts in improved reef design. “We expect the reef to attract recreational game fish such as drum, redfish, speckled trout and white trout,” LDWF artificial reef coordinator Rick Kasprczak said. The new reef is 2.1 miles due east of the northern runway lights at Lakefront Airport, just minutes from an already popular fishing spot, the Seabrook Bridge. It is composed of crushed limestone spread over a two-acre site and is marked by Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries reef buoys. The LDWF markers are yellow floaters labeled “Artificial Reef.” Coordinates for boaters using GPS are 30 degrees, 3.5208′, 89 degrees, and 59.6083′. Reef maps should be available next year. The artificial reef is one of more than 100 that have been created since 1986 to improve fishing habitat. Most of those are located in offshore waters. There are plans to evaluate two additional Lake Pontchartrain locations as reef sites. Potential sites include several oil and gas structures west of the Causeway Bridge in Jefferson Parish. Some of these structures have been or will soon be removed and have underlying shell foundations that are already reefs. By topping them off with limestone, their fish producing capabilities can be enhanced. Another probable reef location is near the NorthShore, somewhere between Slidell and Mandeville. One of the encouraging aspects of the effort to create fishing reefs in the lake has been the way environmental groups, organizations, corporations and the government have joined forces to make it happen. Groups like the East Ascension Sportsmen’s League, the Jefferson Parish Marine Advisory Board and the LA Wildlife Federation got the ball rolling. The Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation supported the idea and Lake Pontchartrain Artificial Reef Program Working Group (LPARWG) was formed to make it happen. The LDWF, LSU Sea Grant and UNO provided planning and design expertise. Funding came from donations by corporations. British Petroleum in Houston donated $50,000 for reef construction in the lake while the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation and the U.S. EPA provided an additional $30,000. Chet Morrison Contractors, Inc. donated its services for placement of the reef material and T. Baker Smith & Son, Inc. performed the site survey. The Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation is looking for a name for the new reef. Anyone interested in submitting a name can send suggestions to LPBF, P.O. Box 6965, Metairie, LA 70009-6965. DON DUBUC is the outdoors reporter for L’Observateur. To ask him a question or to pass along information send an e-mail to lobnews@bellsouth.net