Summary of Trips

Two trips were made during the fiscal month of July, 1993. On July 24, a trip was made to the newly created Rubble #8 in the Bill Walker Site (FH-2) as part of a series of progressive reef developmental visits. On July 31, a trip was made to the Jumbo Barge in the Rigs to Reef Site (FH-7) to make general observations and take video.

FH-2 Rubble #8

This reef was created on May 5, 1993 and consists of concrete rubble from the old Sears Town shopping center in Pascagoula and from Mississippi Power Company, Plant Daniel. It is in 55 feet of water with a least depth reading of 37 feet due to the 8' X 20' culvert which landed vertically. The Loran position is 12433.2, 47044.5.

An initial observation of the reef was made after 3 days of age on May 8. The observations revealed it completely void of marine life except for one remora clinging to the towering culvert.

After 25 days of age, the May 30 trip showed thousands of cigar minnows clouding the waters as well as 12-15 juvenile red snapper (less than 8 inches), 10-15 Tom Tates, a couple black snapper, Triggers, and a single squirrel fish. Barnacles were about an eighth inch tall with some algae growth showing and even a few blennies were sighted. Less than a dozen near legal size red snapper were sighted just at the end of the dive. On June 6, a trip revealed more legal size snapper showing up (30-35). Return trips on June 24, and July 5 showed a steadily increasing number of legal size snapper (13-14 inches long).

This trip, made on July 24, revealed an abundance of legal size snapper that rivals the other reefs in the area (150-200). It only seemed to lack those occasional 4-8 pound fish that are common on the other sites. In addition, two grouper were sighted, one Gag about 2 lbs., and one Warsaw at about 8 lbs. A small school (8-10) of small amberjack (3-4 lbs.) were also sighted as well as a flounder, about 5 sheepshead, and 50-75 Triggers. Several Triggers were observed nesting on the premises as well. The large school of cigar minnows seen on the previous trips were missing during this visit, however, there were numerous juvenile snapper, trigger fish, and small bait fish such as pin fish and tom tates. At less than three months of age this reef could already be considered a producer of game fish.

FH-7 The Jumbo Barge

This large sea going barge was sunk in 1986 about 36 miles south of Petit Bois Island in 128 feet of water at loran coordinates 12529.9, 46920.6. The immense size of this target has lended itself to produce some quality amberjack for the area. On December 28, 1989 the bow measured 23'-8" off bottom. On this trip (July 31, 1993) it measured 21'-10", or about 2 feet less. It is believed that this is due mostly to shifting of sediment rather than scouring into the bottom, although the visibility near the bottom was zero, which prevented verification of this. The visibility on the deck was quite good at about 60-80 feet. Near the surface it dropped down to about 10-15 feet.

The mast which rose 12 feet above the second story house in 1989, was now bent over flat on the deck. It appears that a boat probably fouled his anchor in the mast and bent it over in the process of clearing it. Other than that, the structure did not appear much different from the 1989 visit.

Fish sightings revealed 50-75 amberjack in the 25 pound class. This number seems declined from previous years, but the size may be slightly larger. Two sow snapper were seen in the 14-16 pound range, as well as a 5 pound scamp, a few black snapper, 30-40 triggers, 100-150 vermillion snapper, a single sheepshead, a blue angel, a pair of spotfin butterflies, and 300-350 red snapper in the 1-3 pound class. Many of the red snapper hovered around the rear opening of the second story house as has been observed in past visits.

Invertebrate sightings consisted mostly of sea cucumbers which were scattered across the decks. Hydras and barnacles flourished and a few soft corals were present but not thriving as well. Although not sighted during the dive, there were several blacktip sharks hooked topside as well as several King Mackerel. Also sighted topside were three sting rays (two different sightings), a large sea turtle, and a medium sized manta ray (7-9 feet across).

This reef overall appears to be producing quite well and is making a good come back from commercial fishing pressure observed earlier in the year. The recreational pressure is still consistently heavy in this area when the weather allows boats to venture the distance.