Projects - Artificial Reef Projects

A number of artificial reefs have been created by the Marine Park since active management commenced in 1997. Some of these artificial reefs have been created for fishing purposes, and others for divers.

STENAPA Reef

The first artificial reef was created in 1997 for fishermen, due to the loss of fishing area when the Reserves were created, and is named ‘STENAPA Reef’. This reef is a collection of barge and tug boats that were sunk by Statia Terminal for the Marine Park. The reef is now heavily encrusted with algae, sponges, soft and hard corals, and it has attracted large numbers of fish and turtles so that is has become a popular dive site – particularly at night when divers see sleeping turtles - and has been marked with a dive mooring.

Charles Brown Wreck

In 2002, the Government of St. Eustatius in the Netherlands Antilles acquired its newest reef, the Charles L. Brown. The Charles Brown is a 100-metre long (320 ft) vessel previously used by US company AT&T for cable laying. It was originally constructed by a Napolese ship builder in Italy in 1954, and has travelled internationally for cable laying operations.

After having crossed many oceans, the vessel is being retired and it made its final passage to St Eustatius from Curacao (where it was inspected for sinking) in March 2003. At this point, the Charles Brown Committee was set up by the government to oversee the preparation and sinking of the ship. The Committee was comprised of the three island dive centres, Statia Marine Park and the Tourism Office. The boat was prepared for sinking (cleaning, removal of oils and fuel, removal of hazardous waste), and it was sunk on 25th July. Sinking of the vessel had commenced on 21st when ballast, cable and fuel tanks were filled with sea water.
The sinking of the ship could not have been achieved without the assistance of many volunteers. In particular, the cleaning of the ship was done by staff and volunteers of St Eustatius National Parks (STENAPA), dive centres and the fire department. Statia Terminals removed all the fuel and oil from the ship and provided its tug boats to tow the Charles Brown to its final resting place. Mr Kees van Essen from Smit International (Rotterdam, NL) used his own vacation time to assist with, and supervise, the sinking. The project was also sponsored by Budget Marine in St Maarten.

The ship is now in a perfect resting place in 31 meters of water and just outside of the Marine Park. Within the past few years, many shoals of fish, as well as lobsters, rays and a hawksbill turtle have colonized the vessel, making it one of the most popular dive sites of the Marine Park.


Fishing Reef

The fishing reef was initiated following a meeting with local fisherman in February 2004; they requested that the Marine Park create an artificial reef designated solely for fishing, and not as a dive site. It was agreed at that meeting to locate the new reef at a depth of 75 feet, west of the Southern Marine Reserve. Following some equipment delays, the reef was finally completed in February 2006 with the sinking of a pipe, concrete mix barrel and the tug boat “Miss Cathy”. The Marine Park wishes to acknowledge the assistance provided by Statia Terminal in making this project possible.

Following a “settling-in” period of six months since the sinking of the last reef structures, a survey was conducted in August to assess the fish population at the new reef. It was found that both diversity and density of fish had increased when compared to the results of the survey conducted prior to the creation of the reef. Diversity increased from 14 to 18 species, and more than twice as many fish were recorded than in the initial survey.

The new species were observed in large numbers, in particular shoals of Bar Jack, Blue Tang, Striped Grunts and Horse-eye Jacks, all drawn to the area by the new reef structures. As had been agreed upon in 2004 this site is only used for fishing; there is no dive mooring attached, and the site is marked for fishermen by a small brown buoy.

It seems that the new reef is also attracting other marine life. Earlier this month local fisherman “Gordo” caught the largest lobster ever recorded in the Statia Marine Park at this site; it weighed approximately seven pounds.

Beach stabilisation

The survey and design phases of the Oranjestad Baai Beachfront Development project were completed in early 2006 with a design for beach stabilisation and restoration as well as landscaping design and plans for renovation of two historical buildings. When complete, the project aims to redevelop the lower town waterfront area, on and off shore, and help regenerate this important area of the island. The design phase of this project was funded by AMFO.

The restoration of the beach is an integral part of the project. It has been many years since a beach last existed and, if successful, new proposals may restore a permanent sand beach. The beach replenishment scheme involves placing submerged reefs along various lines parallel to the waterfront. These will act as breakwaters, which hold existing sand in place and encourage more sand to be deposited. With time, an extensive and stable beach should develop. In addition, the reef will become an attractive habitat for sea-life and there are plans to transplant corals onto the reef. Also included in the proposals is the creation of a “snorkel and diving trail” with underwater information signs.

Dr Lee Harris, an Associate Professor at the Florida Institute of Technology, is consultant for the project. He and his team surveyed and profiled the existing waterfront and offshore area, from the Blue Pier to Smoke Alley, in order to draw up a full engineering design indicating the best locations for the breakwaters.

It is hoped that funding will be available in late 2006 to start the next phase of the project – to construct the first of the Reefball breakwaters.

Reefball Breakwaters

A breakwater reduces the wave action that reaches the beach, thereby assisting to stabilise the shoreline. Breakwaters can be constructed of armour rocks or custom designed concrete armour units (such as Dolos), and can be designed as traditional narrow emergent structures or as wide-crested submerged structures. The existing wall ruins offshore of the beach area are not sufficiently wide or high enough to assist with wave attenuation. The use of artificial reef units for submerged breakwaters will also provide underwater habitat, enhancing the environment, and providing a swimming and snorkelling amenity.

Unlike traditional breakwaters that project above the water surface and stop all wave action, submerged breakwaters allow the smaller waves to pass over the structure so that sand transport along the coast is maintained during normal conditions. During large wave events, the larger waves are forced to break on the submerged breakwater, thereby reducing the wave energy reaching the beach from large waves, and reducing the associated beach erosion. The disadvantage of submerged breakwaters is that they become less effective as their depth of submergence increases, so that they are less effective at reducing wave action during elevated water levels due to storm surge.

The reef itself will be made up of “Reef Balls” (pictured above), hollow concrete domes pinned to the sea floor. The dome design includes holes through which fish can swim and find protection. Reef Balls have been used extensively, and successfully, in other similar locations to construct submerged breakwaters (as shown above in the Dominican Republic). The construction of the reef balls will be carried out locally.