Artificial Reef Deployments in New Jersey [New Jersey]
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection's (NJDEP) Bureau of GIS · 2022 Full Details
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Full Details
- Title
- Artificial Reef Deployments in New Jersey [New Jersey]
- Description
- Since 1984, the New Jersey Bureau of Marine Fisheries (BMF) has coordinated and held the permits for an intensive program of artificial reef construction and biological monitoring off the coast of New Jersey. The purpose is to create a network of artificial reefs in the ocean waters along the New Jersey coast to provide a hard substrate for fish, shellfish and crustaceans, fishing grounds for anglers, and underwater structures for scuba divers. Within each reef site, which range in size from one-half to over four square miles, numerous deployments or "patch reefs" have been constructed. A patch reef is an area within a reef site boundary where material has been deployed. In total, over 4000 patch reefs have been constructed on the state's 17 reef sites since the program began. Reefs are used extensively by anglers and divers who catch summer flounder, winter flounder, ling, black sea bass, tautog, scup, and lobster along with a myriad of other species.Deployments most often consist of three material types; concrete, rock, and metals. These deployments are frequently old bridges, dredge rock, or ships which have all been repurposed as artificial habitat. Over time, these materials become encrusted and a living reef matrix envelopes the structure. This matrix can be several layers thick as different types of encrusters compete for an available toehold, often growing on top of each other. At this stage of reef development, a multitude of minute organisms take up residence in this protective matrix and form an important component of the food chain. Deployed reef structure not only leads to more food for marine fish, but also increases the energy efficiency of reef feeding by dissipating underwater currents. The structure acts as a baffle, reducing current along the bottom, which allows energy from food to be used for growth rather than exertion. Additionally, as water flows over and around reef structure, eddies form, which carry food to waiting fishes.The DGPS coordinates upon which this GIS data is based were obtained through direct observation, i.e. by finding each structure at sea and then recording its exact location from LORAN C and DGPS receivers. Older patch reef coordinates were obtained using LORAN C devices. More recent reef drops were recorded with DGPS machines. To convert the earlier reef deployment coordinates that were obtained solely from LORAN C devices into DPGS, two techniques were used. Most of the conversions were obtained by on-site observations. If an on-site observation was not possible, mathematical equations were used to convert from Loran C into DGPS. Unfortunately, while close, these conversions are usually not accurate enough to find reef structures. The exact locations of structures can usually be found by using a wreck search patterns.This dataset includes all deployments located at reef sites and installed between 1905-2016 as well as deployments installed after 2016 which were sponsored.
- Creator
- New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), Fish and Wildlife (FW), Office of Fish and Wildlife Information Systems
- Publisher
- New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection's (NJDEP) Bureau of GIS
- Temporal Coverage
- Last Modified: 2022-07-20
- Date Issued
- 2022-06-08
- Rights
- New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) Data Distribution Agreement. The data provided herein are distributed subject to the following conditions and restrictions: NJDEP assumes no responsibility to maintain them in any manner or form and disclaims any duty or obligation to either maintain availability of or to update the data. Terms of Agreement 1. All data is provided, as is, without any representation or warranty of any kind, implied, expressed or statutory including, but not limited to, the warranties of non-infringement of third party rights, title, merchantability or fitness for a particular use, freedom from computer virus nor are any such warranties to be implied with respect to the digital data layers furnished hereunder. Any reproduction or manipulation of the above data must ensure that the coordinate reference system remains intact. 2. Digital data received from the NJDEP may not be reproduced or redistributed without all the metadata provided. 3. Any maps, publications, reports, or other documents produced as a result of this project that utilize this digital data will credit the NJDEP's Geographic Information System (GIS) as the source of the data with the following credit/disclaimer: "This (map/publication/report) was developed using New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Geographic Information System digital data, but this secondary product has not been verified by NJDEP and is not state-authorized or endorsed." 4. NJDEP makes no warranty that digital data are free of Copyright or Trademark claims or other restrictions or limitations on free use or display. Making a copy of this data may be subject to the copyright of trademark laws.
- Access Rights
- Public
- Format
- ArcGIS DynamicMapLayer
- Language
- English
- Date Added
- August 10, 2025
- Provenance Statement
- The metadata for this resource was last retrieved from New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection's (NJDEP) Bureau of GIS on 2026-01-08.
Cite and Reference
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Citation
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), Fish and Wildlife (FW), Office of Fish and Wildlife Information Systems (2022). Artificial Reef Deployments in New Jersey [New Jersey]. New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection's (NJDEP) Bureau of GIS. https://gisdata-njdep.opendata.arcgis.com/datasets/njdep::artificial-reef-deployments-in-new-jersey (web service) -
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