Access to and Usage ofOffshore Liberty ShipReefs in Texas

ROBERT B. DITTON, ALAN R.GRAEFE, ANTHONY J. FEDLER,and JOHN D. SCHWARTZ

Sinking a Liberty Ship off the Texas coast. Texas Coastal and Marine Council photo.

Introduction

Artificial reefs have been used in theUnited States for more than a centuryto establish cover and habitat forfisheries. Offshore artificial reef con­struction began in 1935 with thesinking of four vessels and tons of othermaterials off Cape May, N.J. (Stone,1974). Initial success here led manyother states to become interested indeploying offshore artificial reefs. Thefirst reef building effort in the Gulf ofMexico was initiated in 1954 by theAlabama Department of Conservationand cooperating sportsmen's groups.They used automobile bodies to devel­op a series of artificial snapper banks(Stone, 1974).

The scale of offshore reef effortschanged drastically with the passage ofPublic Law 92-402 in 1972. Subse­quently, coastal states were allowed tomake application to the Secretary ofCommerce for surplus Liberty Shipsand to use these ships for establish-

ABSTRACT-Allhou[?h arlificial reefshave been deplored 10 increase fish slOcksin Ihe Uniled Slates for over'a cel7lur\"few slUdies have heen'done 10 evaluale Ihe"henefils of such reefs. This stud\' seeks 10idel7li!\, Ihe extel7l to which Ihe TexasLiberty Ship reefs are used hr recreation­al fishermen.

"Two independenl survers Vi'ere used 10

September 1979

ing artificial reefs, the ultimate purposebeing to enhance the productivity ofmarine fisheries.

Under the sponsorship of the TexasCoastal and Marine Council, the Stateof Texas requested 12 surplus LibertyShips for reef purposes. The 12 shipswere received and deployed in fourareas from 8 to 36 miles offshore (Fig.I). Three reef sites each consist of threeships sunk parallel about 300-500 feetapart at a depth of 100-110 feet (TexasCoastal and Marine Council, 1976).At the fourth reef site, the first twoships were sunk at the designatedlocation. The third ship swamped inrough weather and lies 8 miles offFreeport at a depth of 40-50 feet. Thisoffshore artificial reef program was

The authors are with the Department ofRecreation and Parks. Texas A&M University.College Station. TX 77843. This research wasfunded by the Texas Coastal and MarineCouncil, the Texas Agricultural Experiment Sta­tion, and the Texas A&M Sea Grant Program.

address Ihe two principal means of!?ainin[? access 10 Liherly Ship reefs. Onestud\' focused on Ihe Texas charier andparlr boalfleel and Ihe olher on privaleboal/ishermen residing in Ihe Houston­Galveston melropolilan area.

The Liherly Ship reefs were found /0atlract a subslal7lial number ot" privalehoal and charler/parly hoat fishermen,

completed in June 1976. Since finaldeployment, evaluative studies havebeen supported 15y the Texas Coastaland Marine Council to assess fisheriesutilization (Vetter and Roels, 1977)and biological effects (Vetter andRoels, 1978).

Evaluative research is useful todecision makers because they need toknow what programs have worked andwhat have not (Weiss, 1972). Besidesthe biological assessments made byVetter and Roels (1977, 1978), therehave been no other studies that addressthe success and benefits actuallyderived from deploying the LibertyShips as artificial reefs. This is not sur­prising as most of the reef literature ingeneral deals with the technical aspectsof deployment, materials, and relatedfish biology (Coastal Plains Center forMarine Development Services, 1973).

However, the basic question ofwhether or not to deploy an artificialreef is a capital investment decision. Aswith most public investment decisions,

especially when Ihe exlen! of use iscompared wilh other site-specific arli(i­cial or natural offshore al/ractions.Nearlr all use of ihe Liherty Ship reefsoriginated/rom Ihe closesl access poil7l.Use ofa parlicular reefsile appears to berelated 10 the availahilil\' at" allernalivefishing grounds and the Cfipability to travelgreat distances offshore.

25

~

.. South Padre Island Liberty Ship sites~ ..

Objective

The objective of this study is toidentify the extent to which the TexasLiberty Ship reefs are used for recre­ational fishing. This information isneeded to better understand the natureof the public investment in LibertyShip reefs in Texas.

Methods

To achieve this objective, twoindependent surveys of fishermen wereconducted. One focused on charter andparty boat operators along the entireTexas coast and their use of the LibertyShip reef sites. The other surveyfocused on private boat fishermenresiding in an eight county study area,encompassing the Houston/Galvestonmetropolitan area, and their use of theFreeport Liberty Ship reef sites. Theprivate boat survey has a regional focusto allow a detailed description offishing patterns relative to LibertyShips. The Houston/Galveston regionof the Texas coast provides a particu­larly interesting case study becauseusage patterns for two Liberty Shipreef sites can be compared and implica­tions of their respective locations canbe drawn. The two surveys address theonly two means of accessing theLiberty Ship reefs for fishing purposes.

A 1975 Texas Parks and WildlifeDepartment survey of finfish harvest inGalveston Bay indicated that over 90percent of all Bay anglers came from

Parker et at. (1974) mention accessi­bility as a critical ingredient to a suc­cessful reef. Improved catch andeconomic impact depend on peoplebeing able to reach and use the reefs.If reefs are not generally accessible,these benefits are less likely to occur.As we move toward specific sitingcriteria that fisheries managers canuse in deploying offshore reefs, weneed to know considerably moreabout the extent to which reefs atvarious offshore locations are used.

This study aims to provide datatoward further understanding of reefuse and spatial relationships. Inaddition, findings serve as a baselineagainst which future evaluations ofreef use can be viewed.

95'

+26'

~ Freeport Liberty Ship sites

""'-----"L,.~

~

Freeport :.~

101101100% 33

I Liao. D. S. 197R. Economic im pact of offshorcsport fishing over artificial recl's and naturalhabitats in South Carolina. Un pub!. manuscr ..54 p. Mar. Resour. Res. Inst.. (,harbton. S.C

studies have established the extent towhich artificial reefs are used forfishing, by whom. the fishing success,and the economic impact (Buchanan,1972, 1973; Liao

').

Although most studies have gener­ally shown that man-made habitatsimproved catch rates and had a bene­ficial impact on the local economy,few systematically address the topicsof access and spatial relationships.

96'

+

+

9"

South Padre &121111 92% 19

+

~

.. Port Aransas Liberty Ship sites~

Figure I.--Location of Texas Liberty Ship reefs and location of Texas charter /party businesses operating in 1977: population, (sample size). response ra teo andnumber of vessels.

Daniel and Seward (1974) suggestedbenefit-cost analysis. Determining thecosts of reefs is far less complex from atheoretical and empirical viewpointthan determining benefits. Daniel andSeward (1974) identified three benefitswhich can result from the creation ofartificial reefs: I) Increased productivi­ty of the waters surrounding the reef interms of amount of aquatic and marinelife which can be supported, 2) greaterfishing success for those fishermen whofish in the waters surrounding the reef,and 3) because of 1and 2, the attractionof fishermen to the area. These arewhat can occur. Only a few evaluative

26 Marine Fisheries Rel'ieH'

Figure 2.-Map of the eight county private boat studyarea.

Harris, Galveston, Chambers, andBrazoria counties, all of which borderon Galveston Bay (Heffernan et a!.,1975). A second group of counties,including Fort Bend, Liberty, Mont­gomery, and Waller, was added to theprevious four counties adjacent toGalveston Bay to form the study areafor the survey of boat fishermen (Fig.2). Therefore, it is probable that nearlyall private boat fishing use of Galves­tOI} Bay and adjacent offshore waters isdone by residents of the study area. It isimportant to recognize that the focusof the private boat survey is on fishingparticipation by people residing withinthe eight county area, not on totalfishing use of Galveston Bay andadjacent offshore waters. Some addi­tional fishing use is contributed byprivate boat fishermen entering fromoutside the study area, but as indicatedabove, this is probably a small portionof total use.

Charter/Party BoatOperator Survey

Since we were interested in LibertyShip reef use only, all charter/partyboat operators who fished exclusivelyin the bays were systematically exclud­ed. Charter and party boats wereaggregated since there was often noclear distinction between them. Manyoperations used boats for both charterand party trips. Also, some operationsran regularly scheduled trips on a perperson basis during the peak seasonand operated on a charter basis for therest of the year. Some operations actedas agents for other captains. Thesewere considered multiple boat opera­tions and usage figures were calculatedaccordingly for each operation.

A total of 58 Gulf operators wereidentified along the Texas coast. Fiveoperators were excluded from thepopulation due to discontinued serviceor an unknown address. Each of theremaining 53 Gulf operators was sent amail questionnaire. This was followedby a second mailing and telephone in­terviews with nonrespondents. Forty­seven usa ble responses were receivedfor a response rate of 89 percent.Figure 3 presents the total number ofGulf operators working for each

Seplemher /979

coastal port and the respective percent­age of response.

Houston/Galveston BoatFishermen Survey

We recognized that not all boatowners fish and of those that do, not allfish Liberty Ship reefs. Some boatersfish in freshwater only while others fishfreshwater and saltwater. Some salt­water fishermen fish in bays only oroffshore only with others fishing inboth locations. Therefore, it wasnecessary to select a sample of suffi­cient size to be statistically meaningfulwith regard to subsample findings, forexample those who fished Liberty Shipreefs.

There were 113,397 registered pleas­ure boats in the eight county studyarea as of October 1977, according tothe Texas Parks and Wildlife Depart­ment's computerized boat registrationfile. Boats were classified into categor­ies of less than 26 feet in length and 26feet in length or longer. A sample of1,500 (1.34 percent) was drawn from allboats less than 26 feet in length. Thenumber of boats needed from each ofthe eight counties to provide thesample size was calculated based on aconstant sampling proportion. TheTexas Parks and Wildlife Departmentcomputer then selected from the

10

J F M A M J J A SON 0

MONTHS

Figure 3.--Seasonality of charterlparty operators.

registration file the specified number ofentries from each county using sys­tematic sampling with a randomstart. The entire population of 1,953boats 26 feet or longer was includedsince it was expected that these boatswould have a greater propensity totravel offshore to fish and thus utilizethe Liberty Ship reefs.

A pretested survey questionnairewas sent to the sample of 3,453 boatowners in March 1978. The totalusable response rate for the survey was50.3 percent. Telephone interviewswere conducted with a sample ofapproximately 200 nonrespondents to

27

Table 1.-Descripllon 01 charter/party boat operations that used and did nol use the LibertyShip reels.

'Average based on 26 operations which indicated the number of trips they made.'Average based on 17 operations which indicated the number of trips they made.

Liberty Ship settles stem first into Gulf waters off Texas. Texas Coastal and MarineCouncil photo.

eight percent of the reef-using opera­tions reported that the Liberty Shipreefs increase the length of their fishingseasons. Many of these operatorsreported using the reefs in the spring orfall when other forms of fishing werenot available. Liberty Ship reef userstended to have periods of inoperationdue to a lack of customers whereasnonusers claimed more often that theinoperation was due to a lack of sportfish. This makes sense since the LibertyShip reefs would increase the numberof sport fish but not the number ofcustomers. Therefore the season forreef users is determined to a greaterextent by customer demand than theavailability of sport fish. The lack ofsport fish will affect smaller non-reef­using operations that specialize in fish­ing for one kind of species, particularlywhen that species has a specific naturalseason.

A regional difference is shown inFigure 4 where findings from the SouthPadre/ Port Isabel area are comparedwith the rest of the coast. Reef-usingoperations outnumber non-reef-usingoperations on the rest of the Texascoast while the opposite is true in theSouth Padre/ Port Isabel area. Only 43of the approximately 600 trips to theLiberty Ship reefs were generated fromthe latter port areas and 30 of theseships were from a single operator.Most South Padre/ Port Isabel oper­ators indicated that the Liberty Shipreefs are too far from shore and that anarray of fish are available within ashorter distance from the harbor. Also,South Padre/ Port Isabel's southern­most location allows for a longerseason and the outer continental shelfis closer to shore giving greater waterdepths at shorter distances.

Thus, for several reasons SouthPadre/ Port Isabel operators usealternative fishing grounds. OtherTexas operators have to travel fartherto find alternative fishing areas andtend to make greater use ofthe new reefresources. Of the approximately 600trips taken to the Liberty Ships, 557were to the three northernmost reefareas.

Charter/party boat use of the Free­port Liberty Ship sites originatedalmost exclusively from Freeport.

Averagedistancetraveledinto Gulf

Averagenumber oftrips per

operation

Numberof tripsmade

to Gulf

multiple boat operations. However, ofthe 4,895 trips made into the Gulf bythe reef-using operations, 600 trips, or12 percent, were made to the Li bertyShip reefs.

Reef users tra veled further seawardthan non-reef users. Average one-waydistances traveled were 30.7 miles and24.7 miles for reef users and non-reefusers, respectively. For all port areasexcept Houston and Galveston, how­ever, the average one-way distancetraveled seaward by both reef users andnonusers was in excess of the distanceto the adjacent reef location. Thiswould indicate that most of thecharter/party boats are going beyondthe Liberty Ships to other fishinglocations.

In addition to the extent of LibertyShip usage, seasonality of fishing usewas investigated. The seasonality ofGulf fishing by reef-users is comparedwith that of non-reef-users in Figure 3.As shown, 74 percent or more of theoperators are engaged in Gulf fishingbetween April and October. Forty-

AverageNumber of number of

Number of vessels in vessels peroperations operation operationItem

Reef users 27 72 2.7 4,895 '188.3 30.7Non-reef

users 20 28 1.4 1,351 '79.5 24.7

Total 47 100 6.246

Findings

Charter/ Party BoatOperator Survey

Of the 47 operations that responded,27 (57 percent) indicated they used theLiberty Ship reefs since they weredeployed in 1976 (Table I). These 27reef-using operations accounted for 72vessels whereas non-reef-using opera­tions had only 28 vessels. Therefore,the average number of boats was 2.7and 1.4 for reef-using and non-reef­using operations, respectively. Thereef-using operations reported a yearlyaverage of 188 trips into the Gulf, or72.3 trips per vessel. The non-reef­using operations reported an averageof 80 trips into the Gulf, or 57.1 tripsper vessel. These findings indicate thatin terms of number of vessels and trips,the reefs are used mainly by the larger,

control for any nonresponse bias andimprove the accuracy of extrapolationsfrom the sample findings to thepopulation.

28 Marine Fisheries Review

Figure 4.-Seasonality of charter/party use and non-use of the LibertyShip reefs.

J F M A M J J A SON D

MONTHS

0=11

Operators using reeFs

SOUTH PADRE ISLAND/PORT ISABEL OPERATORS

MONTHS

F M A M J J A SON 0

3020 .

10 •••••••••••• .•.•.•••

40

" :\ors NOT uS/I ,Ope'(o........--._-\~

/ ,--..... \~l!..--

I \ -50 --. \.-_.__•__•

60

70

80

90

100

'.•.....

.......

n=35

PORT ARANSAS, PORT O'CONNOR, FREEPORT ANDGALVESTON OPERATORS

50

o\Ors using reefs

/:f:,············ ..

30 .

60

70

20

90

40

80

'00Only 2 percent of the trips fromGalveston were to the Liberty Shipreefs. The reason reported most oftenas to why there was so little use fromGalveston was that the reefs are too farfrom the harbor (52 miles).

Eight out of the 10 operators fromFreeport used the Liberty Ship reefs.All 10 operators made a total of 2,159trips into the Gulf. Of these trips, 8operators made 246 of them to theLiberty Ship reefs. This accounts forII percent of the total charter andparty boat fishing activity fromFreeport.

Houston/ Galveston BoatFishermen Survey

The offshore area adjacent to theGalveston Bay system includes a widevariety of artificial fishing attractionsin addition to the natural reefs andbanks that occur in the area (Fig. 5).Survey results indicated that 5,542boats were used for fishing thisoffshore area during 1977. These boatsaccounted for 66,924 offshore fishingtrips during the study year.

Table 2 provides the distribution ofthis offshore fishing activity acrossalternative fishing attractions. It isreadily apparent from the table that thetwo Liberty Ship sites in this areaaccounted for only a small portion (5percent) of the total number ofoffshore fishing trips. Fishing aroundoil platforms was the dominant type ofoffshore fishing, accounting for 50percent of all offshore trips. Trolling,which cannot be attributed to any par­ticular type of attraction, accounted foranother 31 percent of offshore trips.Three other specific artificial attrac­tions, the Fish Haven, V. A. Fogg, andS. E. Lump, collectively accounted forabout as much fishing (6 percent) as theLiberty Ship reefs. Finally, naturalreefs and banks attracted about 8.3percent of the fishing trips during thestudy year.

When interpreting these findings it isimportant to remember that, althoughthe Liberty Ships accounted for a smallportion of offshore fishing, they repre­sent only two specific offshore fishingsites intermixed among many alterna­tive attractions (Fig. 5). The dominance

of oil platform fishing in this area isprobably a function of the largenumber (approximately 138) of oilplatforms found at varying distancesfrom shore and major populationcenters. When fishing participation atLiberty Ships is compared with that atother site-specific attractions or atnatural reefs as a whole, the LibertyShips appear to constitute a significantand competitive attraction to offshorefishermen.

Further insight into the use ofLiberty Ships can be gained byconsidering two additional variables:boat size and port of origin. Relative toboat size, Table 3 presents the distribu­tion of Liberty Ship fishing participa­tion for boats less than 26 feet in lengthversus those 26 feet or longer. As wouldbe expected, given the relative abun­dance of smaller boats in the studyarea, most of the trips to the LibertyShips were made by boats less than 26feet in length.

The usual notions of decay in "con­sumption," or participation, with in­creasing distance from populationcenters would suggest that the near­shore ship should be used more thanthe offshore ship (Clawson andKnetsch, 1966). This is because thecosts (in both time and money) ofparticipation are lower for the near­shore reef and hence consumptionshould be greater at the nearshorelocation. In general this pattern wasobserved, but there was a markedcontrast in use by boat size between thenearshore ship and the offshore ship.

Table 2.-Extent of fishing participation during 1977 atvarious offshore fishing attractions.

No. oftrips in Percent No. of1977 of total person-

AttractIon (n~358) trips trips

Nearshore LIberty Ship 1,895 2,8 8.149Offshore Liberty Ship 1,493 2,2 6,719Oil platforms 33.434 50,0 133.870Other artificial

attractions 1 3.959 60 15,564Natural reefs 5.588 8.3 20,676Trolling (not place

specIfic) 20.555 30.7 84,276

Total 66.924 100.0 269.254

'Includes Fish Haven. VA Fogg, and S.E. Lump,

Table 3.-Extenl 01 Liberty Ship tishing during 1977 byboat length category.

NO. of trips- No. of trips-boats less boats 26 feet

than 26 feet or longerAttraction In'51) (n'307) Total

NearshoreLiberty Ship 1,663 232 1,895

OffshoreLiberty Ship 1,078 415 1,493

Total 2,741 647

The nearshore ship received consid­erably more fishing use by boats under26 feet as would be expected, but theoffshore ship was used to a greaterextent by the larger boats. In fact, thelarger boats accounted for almostone-third (28 percent) of the fishingtrips to the offshore reef while theyaccounted for only 12 percent of thefishing trips to the nearshore reef.Thus, boats 26 feet or longer showed areversal of the expected distance decay

September 1979 29

(85').

Miles fromMiles from

Fr••porf· Galveston"

Nearshor. R••f 8 SSW S5 SE

Offshore R••f 36 SSE 52 SSW

S.E. lump 12 SSE 43 SW 1180'1.V.A. Fogg 38 SSE 55 SSW

Fish Hoven 38 Nt 19 S

J2 S.

8uccon••, fi.1d 35 E .aeoumon' Rigs 75 NE 35 SE

·Di,'ance from J.tties

.(150'1

N

:

• (21YI

. .

"(2Y)

Scale: 7/16" = 10 Miles

o 10 20L-_-----'-,__--',__.-J

...

..Beaumont Rigs

......'155'\

• ISS')

o Fish Ho ....en (55')

"" Bucconeer Field.,.' (65-67')

• (55')

• Offshore l. S. Reel hOa-10S')o V.A. Fogg 1100')

: 135-40'\

(.138'1• Nearshore 0 S.E. lump(b5')

• l.S.Reef••• (25')155'\155'1.

( ') Water depth in feet• Oil platform• Liberty Ship Reef Siteo Other artificial reef

structures

Figure 5.-Map of the offshore area adjacent to the Galveston Bay system.

relationship: almost twice as manytrips by such boats were made to themore distant reef. This finding suggeststhat variables other than distance areconsidered by offshore fishermen inselecting fishing locations. Considera­tions of water depth as it relates tospecies of fish sought, for example,probably draw many fishermen be­yond the nearshore Liberty Ship, Thus,the nearshore ship may be a popularattraction for those boats which are lim­ited by their size and equipment tostaying within a few miles of shore, butthe offshore ship site and its relatedfisheries are more attractive to those

which have the capability of traveling30 miles or farther offshore,

Considering the port of origin ofLiberty Ship fishermen providesfurther insight into patterns of partici­pation. Most fishermen in the regiongenerally la unch their boats at Free­port or Galveston, although someboats are kept in marinas or launchedat other locations along the coastline.However, nearly all of the fishing at theLiberty Ships originates from Freeport,the closest access point. Table 4presents the percentage of offshorefishermen utilizing each major accesspoint who used the Liberty Ships

during the study year. Despite therelatively large number of fishermenwho launch at Galveston, almost noneof them traveled the 50 or more milesto reach either Liberty Ship site. On theother hand, a noticeable proportion ofFreeport fishermen did utilize eachreef. When one considers the 5 percentof offshore trips that Liberty Shipsaccount for in terms of the relativelylarge size of the regional populationand the fact that nearly all of these tripsare channeled through Freeport, it isapparent that the impacts of theLiberty Ships on this single localcommunity could be considerable.

30 Marine Fisheries Revie ......

Table 4.-Relative distribution of participation in LibertyShip fishing by major access point.

Boats less than Boats 2626 feet feet or longer

Percent Percent Percent Percentof of of of

Freeport Galveston Freeport Galvestonoffshore offshore offshore offshore

fishermen fishermen fishermen fishermenAttraction (n~lg) (n=23) (n~104) (n~108)

Conclusions

To what extent are the Texas LibertyShips used for recreational fishing?This study indicates that the shipsattract both private boat and charter/party boat fishermen. The ships prob­ably have the greatest impact on thecharter/party boat fishery for theycontribute to the livelihood of theoperators and create recreationalopportunities for the customers. Whilethey account for 10 percent of alloffshore trips by charter/party boats,the Liberty Ships extend the season forsome operators by providing concen­trations of fishes at locations and attimes when they would otherwise belacking. Relative to private boatfishing, the Liberty Ships account fora portion of offshore fishing which iscomparable with the extent of fishingat other site-specific artificial or naturaloffshore attractions.

Nearly all use of the northernmostreefs (charter/party and private) wasfound to originate from the closestaccess point, Freeport. The attractionof the reefs did not appear to extend tonearhy access points or populationcenters, as illustrated by the relativelack of Galveston fishermen who usedthe reefs. Further, the effect of locationof the reef. or distance, appears to berelated to both the availability ofalternative fishing grounds and thecapability to travel great distancesoffshore. Regional differences incharter/party boat use patterns sug­gested that competing opportunitieswas an import factor influencingwhether or not the ships were used.Private boats similarly showed asensitivity to the supply of alternative

A Liberty Ship is prepared for use as an artificial reef. Texas Coastal and MarineCouncil photo.

habitat on the marine sport fishery andeconomy of Murrells Inlet. South Carolina.Mar. Fish. Rev. 35(9): 15-22

Clawson. M., and J. L. Knetsch. 1966. Eco­nomics of outdoor recreation. The JohnsHopkins Press. Baltimore. 328 p.

Daniel, D. L.. and J. E. Seward. 1974. Naturaland artificial reefs in Mississippi coastalwaters: Sport fishing pressure and economicconsiderations. Bur. Bus. Res., Univ. South.Miss., Hattiesburg, 27 p.

Heffernan, T. L., A. W. Green, L. W.McEachron. M. G. Weixelman. P. C. Ham­merschmidt. and R. A. Harrington. 1975.Survey of finfish harvest in selected Texasbays. Tex. Parks Wild\. Dep. Proj. No. 2­231-R-I, Austin. Tex.. 115 p.

Parker. R. 0., Jr., R. B. Stone. C. C. Buchanan.and F. W. Steimle, Jr. 1974. How to buildmarine artificial reefs. U.S. Dep. Commer.,NOAA, Natl. Mar. Fish. Serv., Fish. Facts10.47 p.

Steimle, F.. and R. B. Stone. 1973. Bibli­ography on artificial reefs. Coastal PlainsCent. Mar. Dev. Servo Publ. 73-2, 129 p.

Stone, R. B. 1974. A brief history of artiflcia Ireef activities in the United States. In Pro­ceedings: Artificial reef conference, p. 24-27.Tex. A&M Univ. Cent. Mar. Res., Houston.

Texas Coastal and Marine Counci\. 1976.Liberty Ship reef program. Public Brochure.

Vetter. R. D .. and O. A. Roels. 1977. An assess­ment of the sportfishery on artificial LibertyShip reefs off Port Aransas. Texas. Rep. toTex. Coast. Mar. Counc., Univ. Tex. Mar.' Sci.Inst., Port Aransas Mar. Lab., II p.

____ . and . 1978. The icthyo-faunal composition and trophic interactionsof the artificial Liberty Ship reefs off PortAransas. Texas. Rep. to Tex. Coast. MarCounc .. Univ. Tex. Mar. Sci. Inst.. PortAransas Mar. Lab.. IJ p.

Weiss. C. H. 1972. Evaluation research;methods for assessing program effectiveness.Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 160 p.

Buchanan, C. C. 1972. A comparison of sportfishing statistics from man-made and naturalhabitats in the New York Bight. Coastal PlainsCent. Mar. Dev. Serv., Semin. Ser. 1:27-37.

1973. Effects of an artificial

Literature

attractions but also were limited in thedistances they could travel offshore bytheir size and equipment. The near­shore reef (8 miles from Freeport butonly 4 miles from land) was morepopular among small boats which aregenerally incapable of traveling fartheroffshore. The offshore reef (36 milesfrom Freeport), on the other hand, wasmore popular among larger boats withgreater travel capability, suggestingthat perhaps the offshore ship providesa better "quality" reef for the relativelyfew whose boats are able to reach it.

This study has focused on recre­ational fishing use of Liberty Ships asone category of benefits that have re­sulted from this public investmentprogram. This is not to imply that thereare no other benefits of the programnor that there are no costs. To fullycomprehend the merits of the decisionto deploy ships as reefs in Texas andelsewhere, further research shouldfocus on analyses of all costs andbenefits associated with each program.

3

21

304

o26

11

NearshoreLibertyShip

OffshoreLiberfyShip

Seplemher /979 3/