Can a small artificial reef reduce diving pressure from a natural coral reef? Lessons learned from Eilat, Red Sea

The Relationship between Diver Experience Levels and Perceptions of Attractiveness of Artificial Reefs - Examination of a Potential Management Tool

“…One of the primary goals of recreation-orientated artificial reefs is to generate ecological benefits [34] by diverting diving pressure from nearby natural reefs. Polak and Shashar [35] suggest the apathy among experienced divers to a new artificial reef in the Gulf of Eilat, Israel, was due in part to its modest size. In contrast, Dowling and Nichol [37] and Leeworthy et al [34] reported positive environmental benefits surrounding the immersion of retired naval ships aimed at improving recreational diving in Western Australia and Florida respectively.…”

“…Whilst experienced divers chose natural reefs over artificial habitat (Figure 4), novices exhibited a greater preference for artificial reefs. Indeed, a recently deployed artificial reef in the Gulf of Eilat, Israel, was shown [35] to be effective in changing the behaviour of in-training and novice divers (but not of advanced divers), by reducing their use of nearby natural reefs. In view of the fact that novice divers (often with poor buoyancy control) are recorded as generally causing most damage to natural reefs [12]–[14], and represent a significant market share of the dive tourism market [65], these results have considerable implications for the management of scuba diving tourism.…”

“…Of significance, artificial reefs have been shown to alleviate user pressure to nearby natural reef habitats [34], [35], and to contribute substantially to local host economies [18]–[20], [34]. In view of the fact that some scuba divers place little importance on the ecological characteristics of a reef site [38], [39], it may be possible to satisfy divers’ requirements with well conceived artificial reef diving attractions.…”

Can Artificial Reef Wrecks Reduce Diver Impacts on Shipwrecks? The Management Dimension

“…Artificial reefs, however, also create and enhance recreational diving opportunities by (1) adding diversity to the overall diving experiences available in an area; (2) providing more accessible dive opportunities by being sited accordingly; (3) reduce crowding and the associated loss of amenity at other popular dive sites in the vicinity; and (4) attracting more and a different assemblage of marine life than other nearby sites, and thus providing enhanced diving experiences (Sutton and Bushnell 2007;Van Treeck and Schuhmacher 1998;Stolk et al 2007). Given their popularity with divers, artificial reefs are increasingly being used as a tool for reducing diver impacts on natural reefs (Polak and Shashar 2012;Shani et al 2011;Kirkbride-Smith et al 2013;Van Treeck and Schuhmacher 1998;Leeworthy et al 2006). In Australia, it has been suggested by some maritime archaeologists that artificial reef wrecks can be used to take the pressure off historic shipwrecks (see McCarthy and Garratt 1998).…”

Importance of environmental briefing and buoyancy control on reducing negative impacts of SCUBA diving on coral reefs

“…Some mitigation measures suggested so far include the implementation of a "no-use zone" (Epstein et al, 1999), limiting the number of divers to below the carrying capacity (Hawkins and Roberts, 1994), pre-dive environmental briefings for divers (Medio et al, 1997;Worachananant et al, 2008, Camp andFraser, 2012;Krieger and Chadwick, 2013), and the use of artificial reefs to reduce diving pressure (van Treck and Schumacher, 1998;Polak and Shashar, 2012). However, few studies have analyzed the effectiveness of such management strategies.…”