OC Reef Foundation Sinks New Materials Offshore

OCEAN CITY — While fishing off the resort coast has been relatively dormant over the last few weeks, there has been no shortage of artificial reef building activity this winter as the Ocean City Reef Foundation continues one of its most prolific periods in its nearly two decades.

For the last 17 years, the Ocean City Reef Foundation has been creating a vast network of artificial reefs off the coast of the resort, creating essential habitat for many species critical to the recreational and commercial fishing industries. Over the last year or so, the artificial reef program has been enjoying one of its most prolific times in recent memory with tons of material going down on the designated sites, which range from as close as one mile off the coast to as far away as 20 miles.

The renewed effort continued last week with another major contribution of concrete reef blocks dropped off at various sites. A hearty group of volunteers endured the cold early last Sunday morning to take the latest batch of concrete reef blocks out to the designated sites off the coast. Another boatload of concrete pipe was also unloaded last Sunday by Reef Foundation volunteers.

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