VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Marine scientists and local fisherman teamed up in Virginia Beach this weekend to build an artificial reef in the Chesapeake Bay.
Using round concrete castings known as reef balls, the structures they're building are meant to attract fish by giving them a safe place to live.
Volunteer fisherman met at the Lynnhaven Boat ramp to load the reef balls on their boats, then headed out drop them in the bay.
Bobby Wheeler and Jay Baysden are two of 10 fisherman volunteering to help in an effort that’s also beneficial to them.
“So, right here we have a concrete reef ball," Baysden said. “Wrecks and reefs - over time they sink into the sand - they disappear. It’s important to rebuild the reef to continue to catch the fish.”
He explained: “Bait fish get inside the reef ball, they have a place to hide. And as soon as the bait fish come out, the bigger fish eats the smaller fish.”
Wheeler said: The more fish in the Bay, the more opportunities recreation anglers have to catch them.
“We’re deploying these reef balls to help manage the reef down there," Wheeler said. "We’re starting to lose some of it and this will replenish it and give the fish someplace to live.”
It’s an initiative between the Virginia Saltwater Sportfishing Association and the Virginia Marine Resource Commission.
The association's president Mike Avery said this first drop is part of a pilot program. If it’s successful, event organizers plan to expand this to other reefs around Hampton Roads in the coming year.
"We’re utilizing the power of volunteerism to help replenish the reefs here," Avery said. “The fish are looking for a habitat – someplace to hang out. So if we can replenish the reefs with material. Then that gives opportunity for people to fish on the reefs.”
Fisherman are dropping 35 concrete reefs at the East Ocean View Reef.
The Virginia Marine Resource Commission's artificial reef coordinator Alicia Melson said that reef needs new material to support marine life.
“It’s a really great site for material like this... It’s a little bit more shallow, it’s really accessible to everybody leaving this marina and a lot of our others so a lot of our guys like to fish there," Melson said.
“Reef balls, any kind of concrete structure – anything out there, is actually giving fish a habitat. It’s helping to help that environment; You’ll have organism on that to attract more fish. It makes it more fun for us to fish on but it also makes that reef location more diverse.”
Heard Concrete from Chesapeake Virginia donated the material and created the concrete reef balls for the effort.