Summary of Trips

Two trips were made during the fiscal month of July. A trip was made to sink the two deck barges at FH-4 and FH-5 off of Ship Island on July 15. A second trip was forced on July 16 to complete the job since there were insufficient explosives carried to sink the unexpectedly stubborn barges. Due to the reef construction efforts, no reef monitoring dives were made this past month.

During the past month, 149 new fish were reported tagged and released by Mark Miller. Three MGFB red snapper was reported recaptured as well as a GCRL tagged Cobia and an unidentified tagged Amberjack.

Ship Island Barge "C" (FH-4) & Squash Channel Barge "C" (FH-5)

These two 120' X 30' deck barges were condemned by the Harrison County Board of Supervisors and donated to the organization for use as artificial fishing reefs. The two barges were welded together end to end as they were apparently used as some sort of rail transportation or bridge system. John Foretich of Gulfport was contracted to transport the barges to the sites and cut them apart. Jim Bowman of Pascagoula was contracted for the demolition work and Mark Miller of Gautier was contracted for the spotter boat operations.

On July 15, the project was initiated. Sea conditions began at a choppy 2'-4' level but increased to 4'-6' by afternoon. The two barges were anchored in position on the Ship Island Site (FH-4). Captain Raymond Morgan (Foretich's Tug) cut the two barges apart as Jim Bowman set the charges on Barge #2323. A charge was set at each bow hatch and two more at the stern end of the center compartment (there were three compartments on these barges). The explosion caused the bow of the barge to swell and rise like a mountain at the center line. This end of the barge quickly sank to the bottom, but the stern was more stubborn and appeared to be sinking slowly. Since the other site was only three miles away, it was decided to proceed with sinking the other barge and return afterwards to finish the job if it had not sank by then.

Barge #28196 was anchored in position on the Squash Channel Site (FH-5). Four charges were set, one in each of the four corners. The charges were successful in flooding the end compartments, but the barge was still floating on the center compartment. Another charge was set on the center compartment but failed to puncture the hull. A second attempt was successful and the barge sank to the bottom. This only left a small amount of charges for the first barge which was still visible on the horizon. The charge was placed at the waterline but was not successful. More explosives were obtained the next morning and a return trip was made to finish the job.

FH-4 Barge "C" (#2323) was sunk at 12228.9, 47061.6, and 29427.9. This places it northeast of the existing two barges (12227.4, 47061.3). The water depth was 29 feet with a least depth over this barge of 18 feet (Most of the barge is at 21' but the forementioned swell at the bow caused the decrease to 18 feet). The long axis orientation of the barge was generally northeast (45 - 50).

FH-5 Barge "C" (#28196) was sunk at 12265.8-9, 47063.7-8, 29466.1-2. This places it east and a little north of Barge "A" (12263.8, 47063.2) while south and a little west of Barge "B" (12268.0, 47064.8). The water depth was about 35 feet with a least depth reading of 26 feet.

Fish Tagging Update

During the past month, 149 new fish were reported tagged and released by Mark Miller. Three MGFB red snapper was reported recaptured as well as a GCRL tagged Cobia and an unidentified tagged Amberjack. The release information has not been received on the Cobia as of yet. Also the Amberjack tag could not be read very easily. The source of the tag could not be made out, but the ID number was legible. The fish weighed about 38 lbs. and the source of the tag is under investigation. It is believed at this point to be a NMFS tag.

Ken Bush of Laurel reported a recapture of tag 3382 which Mark Miller released almost two months earlier. John Ward of Ocean Springs reported the recapture of tag 3498 which Mark Miller released five months earlier. Mark Miller reported recapturing tag 3304 which he released four months earlier. The growth rates are summarized below in Table One.

Tagged Fish Recaptures

(for past month of July, 1992)

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

3382 6/14/92 8/08/92 12.2" 13.5" 1.3" 0.71"

3498 3/02/92 8/01/92 10.8" 13.8" 3.0" 0.59"

3304 3/14/92 7/17/92 13.0" 15.6" 2.6" 0.62"

Table One