ABSTRACT
Artificial reef construction in the United States has been, to date, limited primarily to the use of scrap and surplus materials or rocks, brush, and wood. In countries such as Japan and Taiwan, the emphasis is on the use of designed and prefabricated reefs for commercial and recreational fisheries development, extensive aquaculture, and the rehabilitation or enhancement of areas impacted by land reclamation, pollution, and overfishing. Artificial reef design involves a number of factors: unit design, overall reef size and configuration, and the orientation and spacing of the units within a reef. The use of artificial reefs in conjunction with stocking programs is also quite common in East Asia and some experimental work has been done in the United States with invertebrates such as the northern lobster and the abalone. Artificial reefs can be used to create new or expand existing nursery or spawning grounds for some species.
