Abstract

There has been relatively little study of the efficacy of decommissioned oil and gas platforms as artificial reef habi-tats for various species of fish in the Gulf of Mexico. A variety of fish species have been reported to occur on these structures; but the species biomass distribution and community structure has not been studied thoroughly. Hydro-acoustic and video surveys are being conducted quarterly during a two-year study from June 2013 to June 2015 to gain information about the differences between the community structures of the two toppled and two standing plat-forms located approximately 130 km off the coast of Louisiana in the northern Gulf of Mexico, at 90 m depth. The de-commissioned platforms in our study are a part of the Louisiana Artificial Reef Program (LARP) and have been in place since 2002. Stereo-cameras will be utilized for the video surveys, allowing us to post-process the lengths and frequencies of the fishes recorded. Hydroacoustics will be used to define the spatial distribution of fish biomass. Determination of the community structure differences between the sites will allow for further understanding of how artificial reef struc-tures in the Gulf of Mexico impact the ecology of the fish communities. Additional data collection will allow us to gain more knowledge both about these structures and their roles and applications for management of fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico.

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