NORTHERN CALIFORNIA OCEANS FOUNDATION
About NCOF
Northern California Oceans Foundation (NCOF) is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit public benefit corporation with members and volunteers from the marine, business, medical and scientific communities. It's mission is to promote ocean stewardship by leading, supporting, participating in, receiving contributions, and providing financial resources to projects that enhance ocean habitat, protect and preserve marine ecosystems, encourage sustainable use of ocean resources, enhance ocean water quality, and strengthen the coastal and marine opportunities, economies and amenities of the Northern California Coastline for the benefit of current users and future generations.
Rugged and wild, California's magnificent coast attracts people from around the world. For more than six thousand years, various cultures have sustained themselves from the Pacific without overtaxing its bounty. Since the 1980s, however, mariners and scientists have sighted trouble. Salmon, reef fish and marine mammal populations have declined sharply, along with natural habitats. Among a myriad of causes, pollution and concentrated coastal development are largely responsible. As such, conservation efforts need to be multifaceted and vigorous to restore what we've lost.
NCOF members and volunteers have come together to forge creative solutions for replenishing our coastline that will benefit all who work, live and play here. NCOF's Ships 2 Reefs Project is a plan to sink surplus military (U.S. Navy) and military support ships from the U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD) as artificial reefs in California's coastal waters. In support of that goal, NCOF has joined a coalition with other organizations to form the California Ships2Reefs Coalition (CS2R).
Reefing a ship provides a hard substrate to which plants and invertebrate animals may attach themselves. These, in turn, provide food resources for larger sedentary and free swimming animals, and the complex nooks and crannies of a ship's superstructure provide hideouts and nursery areas for fish and other animals.
While most of the information on increased fish populations is anecdotal, there are a few studies which confirm this. One is a study conducted by the Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF) on the Spiegel Grove, sunk off the Florida coast in 2002. This study indicated a 3 fold increase in fish numbers and a doubling of species in the year following its sinking. A Scripps Institute study commissioned by the San Diego Oceans Foundation that was published in January 2005, of the Yukon which was sunk off of San Diego, found that within the first year three species were using the Yukon as breeding habitat. Two of these species (barred sand bass and bocaccio) are depleted over their range. In addition, a study published in January 2006, by The University of Miami - Rosentiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science indicates that fish standing stock, density, species richness, and recruitment on all artificial reef designs were either similar to, or greater than, those observed at two nearby natural reefs. The amount, but not the type, of reef material had a substantial influence on the fish assemblage, with higher densities and numbers of species occurring on artificial reef modules with greater area of hard substrate.
It has also been shown that there is no corresponding decrease of population in the surrounding waters as there would have to be if this was only an in-migration. It is clear from these recent studies that science is showing that artificial reefs add to the marine environment.
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The term "artificial reef" refers to any manmade object that is intentionally or unintentionally placed underwater and that subsequently becomes an environment for aquatic life. Examples include vessels that have sunk as a result of storms or battle, decommissioned ships sunk purposely (for the purposes of diving, fishing, or as breakwaters), and random debris accidentally dumped off of ships. Some artificial reefs are structures created for the unique purpose of becoming an alluring fish habitat.
The first intentional artificial reefs were designed decades ago by Japanese fisherman to improve the catches of their local fisheries. They continue to be used today.
What are the benefits of artificial reefs?
- Maintaining biodiversity and the understanding of species: Artificial reefs often enhance and help maintain biodiversity (the number of species in a given marine location). This may be helpful where human activities, such as overfishing, have decreased the number of species. These projects also help marine scientists understand how life colonizes new mediums.
- Restoring fish populations: Research has convinced marine biologists that most intentional artificial reefs are helping the environment. For example, research done by Milton Love, Ph.D., a Santa Barbara marine biologist and one of the world's foremost authorities on artificial reefing, shows that fish populations are thriving around Southern California oil platforms. The fish use the platforms as "nurseries" for their young, sheltering the juveniles from currents and predators. As a result, the fish populations around the platforms have measurably increased, according to Dr. Love.
- Artificial reefs generate revenue for surrounding communities. Biodiversity and abundant marine life attract scuba divers, underwater photographers, and fisherfolk. Coastal fisheries and aquaculture have proven their limits, according to Monterey marine biologist Lionel Pawlowski, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow at Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI). Aquaculture, which was designed to solve the problems of overfishing, has revealed some other problems regarding the quality of the products and some bad environmental effects (such as pollution by feces of high number of fish in semi-closed environments, such as in bays), Dr. Pawlowski's research has shown. Coastal fisheries are more and more limited by declining populations and with the necessity to go further and deeper. Artificial reefing may help rebuild fish species to support our population's growing demand.
- By Brianna Politzer Stevens, M.A., Get more information on artificial reefing.
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The U.S. Navy and U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD) have over 200 decommissioned ships in inventory that must be disposed of, 30+ of which are in the California waters of Suisun Bay.
In 2001, the Navy commissioned a study by the RAND National Defense Research Institute, to evaluate disposal options for this "mothball" fleet. The study considered 4 options: Long term storage, domestic recycling, foreign recycling and reefing. The analysis of these options immediately discards the foreign recycling option, as reliable implementation over the long haul was unlikely. A San Diego Union Tribune article by Michael Casey, published on June 25, 2006, characterized the atrocities foreign workers undergo to effect vessel breaking. The RAND study concluded that based on environmental consciousness and cost (Long Term Storage = $4.9 billion; Domestic Recycling = $1.9 billion; Reefing = $0.5 billion), reefing is the most logical course of action for those ships not in immediate peril of sinking. In addition to any savings on disposal costs, reefing brings with it the potential for additional economic offsets in the form of benefits to communities: increased revenues from recreational diving, sport fishing, improved commercial fishing, and similar endeavors that prosper when reefing takes place in adjacent waters. In a report by the Bulletin of Marine Science, dated 2006, the sinking of the Spiegel Grove resulted in a direct increase of expenditures (net increase $4.6 million), Sales/Output (net increase $5.2 million) and income (net increase $1.9 million) and the net addition of 137 jobs to local employment. A December 2004 UCLA study, commissioned by the San Diego Oceans Foundation, found that expenditures related to the HMCS Yukon have contributed $4.5 million to the local economy and supported 225 full time jobs with more then $700K in wages. The local economy has benefited each year by more then three times ($4.5 million) the initial investment of $1.2 million.
If the mothball fleets are left in place, their toxics are a "ticking time bomb." NCOF and the California Ships 2 Reefs Coalition plan to environmentally clean all potential sink group vessels to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's National Guidance: Best Management Practices for Preparing Vessels Intended to Create Artificial Reefs, approved in May 2006. The summary of narrative clean-up goals for materials of concern is as follows:
| Material of Concern | Narrative Clean-up Goal |
| Oil & Fuel | Remove liquid fuels and oils and semi-solids (greases) so that: no visible sheen is remaining on the tank surfaces (this includes all interior fittings, piping, structural members); no film or visible accumulation is remaining on any vessel structure or component (e.g., on machinery or from spills on decking or carpet). The end result of such clean-up should be that no sheen be visible upon sinking a vessel. |
| Asbestos | Remove any loose asbestos and asbestos that may become loose during vessel sinking; remove or seal accessible friable asbestos. |
Polychlorinated
Biphenyls (PCBs) | Remove all manufactured products containing greater than or equal to (>=) 50 parts per million (ppm) of solid PCBs; remove all liquid PCBs regardless of concentration; remove all materials contaminated by PCB spills where the concentration of the original PCB source is >= 50 ppm. |
| Paint | Remove harmful exterior hull anti-fouling systems that are determined to be active; remove exfoliating (peeling) and exfoliated paint. |
Solids/Debris
Floatables | Remove loose debris, including materials or equipment that are not permanently attached to the vessel that could be transported into the water column during a sinking event. |
Other Materials of
Environmental Concern | Remove other materials that may negatively impact the biological, physical or chemical characteristics of the marine environment. |
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Support a Reefing in Your Area:
It is very likely that Northern California will be selected for one of the first vessels reefed. This assumes that a suitable site can be located. Ideal sites will have sand bottom and depth will be within recreational diving limits (130-150 feet). A 60 foot clearance between the top of the superstructure and the surface is necessary. If a site that is otherwise suitable can be located, but is deeper than recreational dive limits, it is possible that a larger ship could be selected. Florida and the Navy sank the aircraft carrier USS Oriskany on May 17, 2006 in 212 feet of water. This still makes 2/3 of such a ship accessible to recreational divers, and deeper areas create an attraction for technical divers as well.
Read more: Reefing Is Now!
Become a NCOF Member:
Join Northern California Oceans Foundation today.
Make a Donation to NCOF:
Make a donation to Northern California Oceans Foundation today.
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California Ships to Reefs
Sunken Treasures Society of Los Angeles
Channel Islands Ships to Reefs
San Diego Oceans Foundation
Central Coast Ships to Reefs
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