Preliminary evaluation on fish-aggregating effects of artificial reefs in Chenghai coast, Guangdong, China

The background survey and tracking survey of artificial reef area in Chenghai Laiwu were carried out before and after reefing in 2003 and 2007, respectively. The results indicated that after the deployment of artificial reefs, the biomass density of fishery resources increased by 25.63 times, which were much higher than before. The resources species was much more abundant; total number increased from 23 to 41, which increased by 0.78 times. The crab resources sharply increased by 1.75 times after artificial reef were deployed. Harpodon nehereus and Portunus sanguinolentus, which did not appeared in background survey, now became the dominant species in tracking survey. There were high diversity indexes in artificial reefs area and control area in tracking survey. In conclusion, the results indicated that the fish-aggregating effect of artificial reef site has improved a lot, and the community structure and the habitat environment have been significantly improved. The ecological and economical effects of artificial reef have been proved to be good in its first beginning.