In the coming months, the state marine fisheries agency will remove all remaining buoys from the state’s artificial reefs in the Atlantic Ocean.
The buoys, which are used to identify the location of an artificial reef, are not required for safe navigation in the ocean. They are being removed because the state no longer has equipment capable of servicing them, and contracting for this service would be cost prohibitive.
The Division of Marine Fisheries began this effort in late 2014 when it removed 11 buoys from artificial reefs. An additional 25 buoys were slated for removal once GPS coordinates were verified for navigational charts. These verifications have been made, and state and federal permitting agencies have given authorization to proceed.
Since 2014, some of the 25 buoys that initially remained came loose during storms and were subsequently removed. The division will begin removing the remaining 18 buoys at the end of November.
The division will continue to maintain all 42 ocean artificial reefs, periodically adding material and monitoring the status.
GPS coordinates, site maps and other information about the artificial reefs can be found on the Artificial Reef Program’s website or in the recently published paper-bound Artificial Reef Guide.
For more information, contact Jason Peters with the division’s Artificial Reef Program at 252-808-8063 or Jason.Peters@ncdenr.gov.