Programme - Conference 5

(Nov/12 - 09:00)

Lecture: Milton Love
Marine Science Institute
University of California
Santa Barbara, CA 93106 - USA
love@lifesci.ucsb.edu

Oil and gas platforms in southern California waters: Their roles as fish habitats

Since 1995, we have surveyed the fish assemblages living on oil and gas platforms and natural reefs off southern California. From this research it is clear that platforms both produce and aggregate fishes and that most platforms harbor unique fish assemblages. Our research demonstrates that for some fish species, the platform midwaters serve as nursery grounds.

On the other hand, the jacket-sea floor habitat is often inhabited by large and adult fishes, primarily because most California platforms are only lightly fished and these structures tend to act as /de facto/ marine reserves. We will discuss these findings in the light of the heavily overfished natural reefs off southern California.

SEE OTHER CONFERENCE

Willian J. Lindberg - Applications of Ecological Theory to Artificial Reefs for Spatial Management in Fisheries James H Cowen - The role of artificial reefs in a dynamic coastal geography: habitat enhancement or ecological transformation? John F. Caddy - Engineering marine habitats for productivity: an experimental approach to investigating bottlenecks in life histories from a population dynamics perspective Gianna Fabi & Alessandra Spagnolo - Overview on the artificial reef programs in Europe Yasushi Ito - Creation of Fishing Ground Projects in Japan Stephen Bortone - A Pathway to Resolving an Old Dilemma: The Lack of Artificial Reefs in Fisheries Management Willian Seaman - Artificial Reefs as a Unifying and Energizing Factor in Future Research and Management of Fisheries and Ecosystems