New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), Fish and Wildlife (FW), Office of Fish and Wildlife Information SystemsSince 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.ArcGIS DynamicMapLayerhttps://hub.arcgis.com/datasets/862307fcb54b4f70a6bdb9915d4c149f_42engNew Jersey Department of Environmental Protection's (NJDEP) Bureau of GISPublicArtificial Reef Deployments in New Jersey [New Jersey]Web servicesNew JerseyLast Modified: 2022-07-20