Summary of Trips

One trip was made during the fiscal month of January. A visit was made to Rubble Barge 'E' in FH-1 on February 11, 1991. The purpose was to take video and measurements, and to make routine observations. It was planned to do some comparisons with the newer Chevron Rubble site, but very poor visibility on the first dive resulted in a decision to abort the second dive.

During the past month, 201 new fish were reported tagged and released; 101 by Mark Miller, and 100 by Ken Dropco. Thirteen red snapper were reported recaptured.

Rubble Barge 'E' at FH-1

Rubble Barge 'E' is a 30' X 120' Deck Barge located in 63 feet of water at the northwest end of FH-1. It was sunk during July of 1988 during the Hwy 613 Bridge Rubble project. It is located at LORAN Coordinates 12403.7, 47038.0, and 29573.2 placing it about 10.7 nautical miles at 210 from Horn Island Pass, or 13.7 miles at 140 from Dog Keys Pass.

Unfortunately, the visibility was near zero at the bottom and only about two feet at the top of the barge. This rendered observations useless at the bottom and severely hampered them at the barge deck. Fish observations were customary along with one decent gag grouper in the 12-14 lb. class. They are summarized below in Table One. The water was baited to concentrate the fish, but keep in mind the reduced visibility probably causes a lower count than there would have been.

Structurally the barge deck was beginning to show some noticeable deterioration. When initially sunk, the barge exhibited several weather cracks in the deck. Now there are significant holes appearing along with buckling cracks along the top edges especially at the stern. They seem to enhance the wreck since sheepshead, spades, and a trigger fish tended to scuttle along the cracks as the diver made his way along the edge. As the diver approached closer than satisfactory to the fish, they quickly dropped down into the barge through the crack. The metal pipes (about 1-½" dia.) that were protruding through the hatches at the bow are significantly shorter. The starboard pipe measured 1'-8" long and the port one measured 2'-1" which compares to a 6'-10" measurement taken in 1989.

The marine growth on the barge consisted primarily of barnacles with little evidence of hydra, other plants or coral. This seems to contrast somewhat with last months observations at the box cars. The box cars have been in place almost six years compared to four, but what is probably more of a factor, is the higher relief of the box cars (10-13 feet compared to 5 feet). The corner height measurements are compared below in Table Two and show virtually no change, denoting the stableness of the barge and surrounding sediment. The Change shown reflects the current difference as compared to the 1989 measurements since the same tape measure, methods, and diver made both of them. Also the comparison is better reflected after the barge has had a short time to settle in.

Fish Tagging Update

During the past month, 201 new fish were reported tagged and released; 101 by Mark Miller, and 100 by Ken Dropco. Thirteen red snapper were reported recaptured. This is indicative of the tremendous increase of red snapper fishing particularly for this time of year. Ken recaught nine of his own previously tagged fish (tags 1983, 1977, 1988, 1936, 1377, 1995, 1326, 1950, and 1949). Mark recaught one of his previously tagged fish (tag 2469). Both Ken and Mark's fish had very little time to show significant growth data except for Ken's 1377 fish which shows a data discrepancy.

Ryan Kilgore of Gautier reported recapturing a snapper with one of Mark's tags in it (2526) which shows growth consistent with previous data. It was originally tagged at a module near the Bill Walker and was reported to be recaptured on the Bill Walker.

Bobby Williams reported catching a red snapper originally tagged by Mark (1584), but unfortunately, no measurement was taken of the recapture. Bobby was commercial fishing at a Well Head in 120 feet of water which agrees with the original tagging information. The recaptures are summarized on the next page in Table Three.

Mark Goodwin of Pensacola was commercial fishing at the Rigs to Reef Jumbo Barge (FH-7) and reported catching a red snapper originally tagged by Mark Miller (2748). There was only 2 weeks between the period and only an approximate measurement was taken rendering the growth data useless.

Only three of the thirteen growth measurements correlate well with previous data (tags 1995, 1949, & 2526). The variance of the growth rates, and the short times involved between recaptures, reinforce the need for precise and consistent measurement techniques. For the purposes of tagging, the preferred method is to use a measuring board with a stop at the end. Push the snappers' head against the stop, press the body firmly flat, pinch the tail together, and read the maximum length possible. The measurement markings on the board should be scaled to at least 1/2 inch with the reading interpolated to the nearest 1/10th. This means measurements should be turned in as 13.4, 13.5, or 13.6 rather than 13½.

Tagged Fish Recaptures

(for past month of January, 1992)

Tag Num Date-1 Date-2 Size-1 Size-2 Growth Rate/Mo.

1983 12/26/91 1/17/92 13.1" 13.1" 0.0" 0.00"

1977 12/07/91 1/17/92 12.3" 12.4" 0.1" 0.07"

1988 12/07/91 1/17/92 11.6" 11.7" 0.1" 0.07"

1936 12/26/91 1/17/92 11.4" 11.4" 0.0" 0.00"

1377 4/06/91 2/08/92 12.2" 11.8" -0.4" -0.04"

1995 12/07/91 2/08/92 12.6" 13.5" 0.9" 0.43"

1326 1/18/92 2/08/92 11.8" 11.4" -0.4" -0.57"

1950 12/26/91 2/08/92 12.5" 12.6" 0.1" 0.07"

1949 12/26/91 2/08/92 11.8" 12.2" 0.4" 0.27"

2469 1/05/92 1/25/92 12.4" 12.5" 0.1" 0.15"

2526 6/05/91 1/25/92 12.2" 15.0" 2.8" 0.36"

1584 9/14/91 1/03/92 17.0" ? ? ?

2748 1/25/92 2/10/92 14.6" ~ 14" -0.6" -1.13"

Table Three