The NJ DEP Division of Fish and Wildlife has had five hundred reef balls constructed at Southern State Correctional Facility at Delmont which are ready for deployment during early November at the Great Egg and Little Egg Reefs. The Great Egg Reef is located eight nautical miles southeast of Absecon Inlet and the Little Egg Reef is located five nautical miles east of Little Egg Inlet. Each reef site will receive 250 reef balls. The reef balls will soon be homes for more than 150 species of fish and other marine life as part of the Division's Artificial Reef Program. Reef balls are a designed reef habitat that is well suited for drift fishing areas within reef sites. The interior of the reef ball habitat is hollow and a current vortex is created inside due to concave holes on the exterior. The exterior holes also allow marine life such as crabs, shrimp and fish to enter the interior as refuge from predators. The deployment date is subject to weather and sea conditions. For further information on this deployment contact Hugh Carberry at 609-748-2022. For information on past and planned deployments see the Artificial Reef Deployments page at
http://www.njfishandwildlife.com/artreefdeployment.htm on the division's website.
