Abstract

Artificial reefs, as well as oil and gas platforms, have been deployed widely across the Gulf of Mexico (GofM). The complex structure of platforms provides habitat throughout the water column and can support large populations of fish. As of 2016, there were 4,176 artificial reefs and nearly 2,200 active platforms in the GofM, many nearing the end of their production capability and being repurposed as artificial reefs or removed entirely2. The Coastal Conservation Association R.E.E.F Louisiana project is a conservation effort to replace removed platforms with artificial reefs to maintain habitat for important fishery species. This effort provided a unique opportunity to study the overall response of reef fish to a newly deployed artificial reef. In this study, we examined the before-after impacts of artificial reef deployment on fish assemblag-es using video surveys and characterized the movement dynamics of important reef fish species between the new artificial reef and existing nearby structure using acoustic telemetry to increase our understanding of how fish recruit to new artificial reef sites.

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