Captain's Corner

By ROD BRADENBURG

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 4, 2000

Have you heard the saying, one man's trash is another man's treasure? That certainly fits the Pinellas County artificial reef program. The program has taken everything from tugboats to bridge rubble and created fish magnets off our coast.

Fish love structure, and though there are plenty of natural reefs in the gulf, the artificial reef program fills the gap. Its latest project is called Veterans Reef. Three barges sit in less than 50 feet of water about 10 miles off Clearwater, and on June 24 the bottom of a barge containing a Neptune bomber was exploded to perforate airtight chambers. The reef eventually will hold a plaque honoring war veterans, and the buoy marking the spot will hold an American flag.

The barges sunk just over a year ago are teeming with life. Just south are piles of large rocks, and though life is growing more slowly, the rocks offer good cover for large fish. Without the artificial reef program and with the 43,000 boats registered in this county, just imagine the pressure there would be on the natural reefs. More reef development is slated.

- Rod Brandenburg captains The Plunger out of Clearwater. Call (727) 443-6731.

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