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The Benefits of Leaving Oil and Gas Rigs Intact to Serve as Artificial Reefs


Figure 5: A Schematic of Sustainable Fisheries Programme and Possible Applications for Retired Platforms


of structures have already been removed and most of the remaining platforms are scheduled for removal by 2020. Kaiser (2010)27


reported


that oil and gas operators will spend US$17 to US$48 billion decommissioning the remaining infrastructure. The size of and construction materials and installation expense affect the cost of deploying artificial reefs. Today’s cost to replace an equivalent number (1,900 hectares) of artificial reefs is US$17.9 billion.28


They constitute the


Table 1: Summary of the Socioeconomic Impact (Revenue and Employment) from the Introduction of Artificial Reef Programmes in the Gulf of Mexico


Area


Annual Economic Job Impact


Southeast Florida US$2.4 billion Northwest Florida US$415 million Mississippi


US$78 million Offshore platforms US$324 million


Creation Source 26,800 8,100


largest collection of artificial reefs in the world; however, the majority of them will be destroyed in the next 10–15 years. Kolian and Porter29 (2010) reported oil and dispersants across much of the Louisiana continental shelf and found high levels of toxins in the water column due to the subsurface oil and dispersants plume. The widespread subsurface plume indicates that the fisheries could be impaired for many years. Commercial fisheries create 30,000 jobs and US$2.8 billion annually in economic benefits to the Louisiana economy.30


If the retired platforms


Johns et al., 200123 Bell et al., 199824


No data Southwick, 199825 5,560


marine sport fishing and diving industries.22 Hiett and Milon, 200222 Two independent


socioeconomic studies on the impact of artificial reefs in Florida and a third in Mississippi indicate the substantial economic impact that artificial reef programmes can have on coastal communities.


The oil and gas companies have invested US$200 billion constructing and installing the petroleum infrastructure in the Gulf of Mexico.26


Thousands 1.


Wilson CA, Pierce A, Miller MW, Rigs and Reefs: a Comparison of the Fish Communities at Two Artificial Reefs, a Production Platform, and a Natural Reef in the Northern Gulf of Mexico, New Orleans: Louisiana State University, 2003;95.


2.


Stanley D, Wilson C, Variation in the density and species composition of fishes associated with three petroleum platforms using dual beam hydroacoustics, Fisheries Research, 2000;47:161–172.


3. Carney RS, Characterization of Algal-Invertebrate Mats at Offshore Platforms and the Assessment of Methods for Artificial Substrate Studies, New Orleans: US Department of the Interior, Minerals Management Service, 2005;93.


4.


Beaver C, Childs S, Dokken Q, Secondary productivity within biotic fouling community elements on two artificial reef structures in the Northwester Gulf of Mexico. In D. Stanley and A. Scarborough-Bull, eds. Fisheries, Reefs and Offshore Development, Amer Fish Soc Symp 2003;36:195–204.


5.


Dokken QR, Withers K, Childs S, Riggs T, Characterization and Comparison of Platform Reef Communities Off the Texas Coast by Center for Coastal Studies Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi 6300 Ocean Drive Corpus Christi, Texas Prepared for Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Artificial Reef Program, 2000.


6.


Gallaway BJ, Johnson MF, Martin LR, et al., The artificial reef studies. In: C.A. Bedinger, Jr. and L.Z. Kirby (eds.), Ecological investigations of petroleum production platforms in the central Gulf of Mexico, 2001, Southwest Research Institute Project 01-5245. U.S. Dept. of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, New Orleans, La. 199 pp.


7.


Keenan SF, Benfield MC, Importance of zooplankton in the diets of Blue Runner (Caranx crysos) near offshore petroleum platforms in the Northern Gulf of Mexico. Prepared by the Coastal Fisheries Institute, Louisiana State University. US Dept. of the Interior, Minerals Management Service, Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, New Orleans, LA. OCS Study MMS 2003-029. 129.


8. 9. 62


Sammarco PW, Determining the geographic distribution, maximum depth, and genetic affinities of corals on offshore platforms, northern Gulf of Mexico. US Dept. Interior, Minerals Management Service, New Orleans, LA, GM-92-42-117. Cowan JH, Grimes CB, Patterson WF, et al., Red snapper


were left intact and standing as artificial reefs and properly managed to maximise their potential for sustainable fisheries, the new industry could directly employ 27,000 citizens in the coastal communities.31


Summary


Offshore platforms produce unique coral reef habitats that would otherwise not exist over tens of thousands of square kilometers of soft bottom on the northern continental shelf of the Gulf of Mexico. Maintaining this existing offshore infrastructure intact for future environmental applications could help preserve ecosystems that are critical to many organisms, as well as provide substantial opportunities in a variety of areas, including providing infrastructure for a diverse range of sustainable fisheries applications and reducing the exploitation of natural coral reefs. n


management in the Gulf of Mexico: science- or faith-based?, Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries, 2009.


10. Shipp RL, Bortone SA, A prospective of the importance of artificial habitat on the management of red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico, Rev Fish Sci, 2009;17:41–7.


11. Shipp RL, The artificial reef debate: are we asking the wrong questions?, 1999, Gulf Mex Sci, 17:51–5.


12. Bohnsack JA, Eklund AM, Szmant AM, Artificial reef research: Is there more than the attraction-production issue?, Fisheries, 1997;22(4):14–6.


13. Bohnsack JA, Are high densities of fishes at artificial reefs the result of habitat limitation or behavioral preference?, Bull Mar Sci, 1989;44:631–45.


14. Dokken, 2010, Personal communication and recorded on video interview. Available at: www.ecorigs.org (accessed 31 March 2010).


15. Kolian S, Sammarco PW, Mariculture and Other Uses for Offshore Oil and Gas Platforms: Rationale for Retaining Infrastructure. Technical Report, 2005, Baton Rouge: Eco-Rigs of Eco-Endurance Center.


16. Pomponi SA,The bioprocess-technological potential of the sea, J Biotechnol, 70:5–13.


17. Rouse L, Evaluation of oil and gas platforms on the Louisiana continental shelf for organisms with biotechnology potential, US Dept. of the Interior, Minerals Management Service, Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, New Orleans, LA. OCS Study MMS 2009-059. xi + 53 pp.


18. US Commission on Ocean Policy, 2004, An Ocean Blueprint for the 21st Century, US Commission on Ocean Policy, Report, 2004. Available at: www.oceancommission.gov/documents/full _color_rpt/welcome.html#full (accessed 27 September 2011).


19. Duckworth A, Farming sponges for chemicals with pharmaceutical potential, World Aquaculture Society 2001,32:14–8.


20. Wabnitz C, Taylor M, Green E, Razak T, From Ocean to Aquarium, Cambridge: UNEP-WCMC, 2003.


21. Ward TJ, Heinemann D and Evans N, The Role of Marine Reserves as Fisheries Management Tools: a review of concepts, evidence and international experience, Canberra: Bureau of Rural Sciences, 2001;192.


22. Hiett RL Milon JW, Economic Impact of Recreational Fishing and Diving Associated with Offshore Oil and Gas Structures in the Gulf of Mexico: Final Report. OCS Study MMS 2002-010 US Dept. of the Interior, Minerals Management Service, Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, New Orleans, 2002;98.


23. Johns G, Leeworthy V, Bell F, Bonn M, Socioeconomic study of reefs in southeast Florida: Final report, Oct. 19, 2001, for Broward County, Palm Beach County, Miami-Dade County, and Monroe County. Florida Dept. Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Wash., DC; Hazen and Sawyer (editors), Hollywood, FL, in assn. w. FL State University and NOAA, 2001.


24. Bell FW, Bonn MA, Leeworthy VR, Economic impact and importance of artificial reefs in northwest Florida. Office of Fisheries Management and Assistance Service, Florida Department of Environmental Administration, Report, 1998, Contract Number MR-235.


25. Southwick Assocs, Statewide economic contributions from diving and recreational fishing activities on Mississippi’s artificial reefs, Fernando Beach: Southwick Assocs, 1998;42.


26. API American Petroleum Institute, 2004, Personal communication with staff at the institute.


27. Kaiser M, Gulf of Mexico Offshore Decommissioning Report, Docomworld, 2010.


28. Kolian S, Sammarco PW, Removal of Offshore Oil and Gas Platforms: Rationale for Retaining Infrastructure in the Gulf of Mexico, 2008. Available at: www.ecorigs.org/Platform%20 Removal%20Brief.pdf (accessed 27 September 2011).


29. Kolian S. and Porter S, Subsuface Oil Plume video on EcoRigs, 2010. Available at: www.ecorigs.org (accessed 27 September 2011).


30. Southwick R, The economic benefits of fisheries, wildlife and boating resources in the State of Louisiana, Baton Rouge: Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, LA, 1997.


31. Kolian S, Sammarco PW, Job Creation and Marine Aquaculture. Technical Report No. 2, Eco-Rigs of Eco-Endurance Center, Baton Rouge, LA, 2006. Available at: www.ecorigs.org/JobCreation EcoRigsWebsite_6_1_06.pdf (accessed 27 September 2011).


EXPLORATION & PRODUCTION – VOLUME 9 ISSUE 2


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