Texas Great Barrier Reef

OUR VISION

We believe that more needs to be done to provide suitable habitat for many of the species of fish found offshore of Texas. The natural bottom topography offshore of Texas is a predominately flat, featureless sand/mud bottom that would benefit greatly from this artificial reefing program. Several thousand oil and gas platforms are scheduled to be removed from the Gulf in the next 10 years that could devastate the fish communities depending on those structures for survival. The TGBRP is the only project on the table at this time that could adequately complement existing TPWD artificial reefing efforts and mitigate the loss of this critical habitat. We have been taking from the resource for years without replenishing - the time is NOW to plant the seeds for the future.

Our goal is to raise the money needed to carry out this program of research and reef development here off of the Texas coast. This will be accomplished through public funding sources as well as private donations. The research and reef deployments will be done in phases.

Phase One:
We are raising funds to establish and initiate a Plan for research and reef development within the proposed reefing corridor. Part of that process will entail detailed analysis of the boundaries of the actual reefing areas, habitat types, species occurring in the area, and any potential impacts of the project on the environment. This plan will identify suitable bottom types for placement of appropriate reef material. We will then use this information to obtain the required permits from the USCOE and the GLO for the actual reefing areas and to begin reef construction.

Phase Two:
Continue pre-construction research and then reef development using information from our scientific team, exclusionary mapping process, and from our TGBRP Advisory Committee.

This will enhance juvenile and adult fisheries habitat, improve the fishing experience here off of the coast of Texas, and provide comparable economic benefits to our coastal communities as demonstrated by the results of similar projects off the eastern Gulf states. Since the reefs would be situated inside state waters, this will have many economic benefits in addition to the ecological benefits; notably fuel savings due to a multitude of close-in fishing spots, provides a "trolling corridor" which will attract other species such as tarpon, king mackerel, dorado, and other pelagics, and will result in increased fisherman participation in the sport, thus energizing coastal community economies along the entire Texas Coast (currently a $8 billion/year industry).