Assessment of French artificial reefs: due to limitations of research, trends may be misleading

Abstract

International audienceArtificial reefs have been deployed in France since 1968 with the principal objective of enhancing success and continuity of artisanal fishing. Over 50 % of the volume of reef material has been deployed since 2000. Because of significant expansionof reef construction and availability of new research results concerning their performance since the late 1990s, we examined status and trends of French artificial reefs. Since the review of Barnabe´ et al. (Artificial reefs in European seas, 2000), 35 reports have been published and are analyzed here. Fish assemblages on artificial reefs have been the focus of ecological research, with emphasis on species richness and abundance. Fish production has been associated with the age of artificial reefs and the reef’s structural complexity. The perception of stakeholders toward artificial reefs is a notable area of investigation. Economic studies are absent. Other developments in French artificial reefs over the last 10–15 years include the discontinued use of waste materials in reef construction, more directed design of reef structure, and the inclusion of additional objectives concerning biodiversity and recreation. Recommendations here include development of long-term ecological studies of artificial reefs and the evaluation of fishery production, including issues such as trophic dynamics, ecological connectivity of habitats, and socio-economic studies

Functional traits unravel temporal changes in fish biomass production on artificial reefs

“…From October 2007 to July 2008, more than 400 ARs were deployed in a 2km² area in the Bay of Marseilles. This is the largest deployment of ARs in the Mediterranean Sea (Tessier et al, 2015b).…”

Feeding ecology of fishes associated with artificial reefs in the northwest Gulf of Mexico

“…While it is evident that high densities of economically and ecologically important species are often associated with artificial reefs [ 6 , 7 ], their ecological role has continually been debated [ 8 – 12 ]. Nevertheless, global use of artificial reefs as fisheries management tools continues to increase [ 13 , 14 ], and thus there is a need to further clarify the functional role artificial reefs provide to economically important species.…”

Managing the development of artificial reef systems: The need for quantitative goals

“…We classified these reefs and the research conducted on them as "experimental" because generally these reefs were small in scale and deployed with the objective to evaluate factors such as construction materials or the configuration and location of structures (Table 1). The types of materials evaluated reflected the trends reported in previous reviews (Baine, 2001;Tessier, Francour et al, 2015), showing a shift from the use of waste materials such as tyres (Feigenbaum, Bushing, Woodward, & Friedlander, 1989;Reimers & Branden, 1994) to design-specific modules which are now most commonly constructed from concrete and steel (Kim, Lee, & Park, 1994;Kim et al, 2008). Features such as the structural complexity of artificial reefs and how this might affect response variables such as fish or epibenthic communities were also a recurring topic of discussion (e.g.…”