Mississippi Gulf Fishing Banks, Inc.
Activity Report for the Period
July 12, 2002 - August 8, 2002
Summary
During this period, there were 8 reef construction trips, 2 dive trips, and 1 piling maintenance trip. On July
13, a dive trip was made with Kirk Loy of Mississippi Outdoors to the recently deployed Corps Barge in FH-2. On July 19, a trip was made to set a new piling at FH-11, but the piling was too short. On July 28, an
unsuccessful search was made for the FH-2 Buoy Mooring and video was taken of the concrete and
Mississippi Power Plant Daniel Pipes deployed there. Rubble deployments were made at Keesler Reef off
Deer Island on July 23, 25, 29, 30, 31, and August 1. Rubble Deployments were made at FH-11 on August 3
& 4. The Rubble came from Nichols Junior High School in Biloxi.
MS Outdoors Video Efforts, FH-11 Piling Maintenance, and FH-2 mooring search
In on-going efforts to support Mississippi Outdoors, a trip was made on July 13 to get video footage of the Glen
Swetman Schooner and of the Corps Barge in FH-2. Observations were made of the Barge and show it to be
developing very nicely. While a lot of sizeable game fish are not evident yet, there is a great abundance of bait fish,
blue fish, blue runners, and juvenile red snapper, as well as smaller animals like damsels, tomtates, arrow crabs, and
the like.
On July 19, a trip was made to set the missing piling at FH-11, but upon arrival and attempting the set, it was
apparent that the contractor, T&W Marine, had made a mistake and sent a 30 foot piling instead of 45 feet. The
rescheduled trip was delayed due to Tropical Storm Bertha and is still pending as of this writing.
On July 28, a trip was made to search for the FH-2 Buoy Mooring. A buoy had recently been purchased to replace
the FH-13 buoy, but did not arrive in time as that buoy disappeared. In the meantime, the FH-2 buoy had also
disappeared and since this site appears to be more utilized and void of oil rigs, it was decided to replace this buoy
first. But since the buoy was ordered without mooring, it was necessary to determine if the original mooring is still
on the bottom or if we need to order a replacement. The search was fruitless, but since the buoy was close to rubble
material, some video and observations were made of that material. Although there were not any large red snapper
sighted, there was a significant number (100-150) of fish in the 15-18 inch size range. Many small (12-18 inch)
grouper were also sighted.
Nichols Junior High Rubble Project
Construction was performed by Vice Construction and Spotter operations by PRIMOFISH.COM. This project
involved the deployment of Rubble debris from Nichols Junior High School in Biloxi, MS. The initial loads
consisted of mostly brick and a few cinder blocks, while the final 3 loads contained more busted up slab type of
concrete. Most loads were deployed at the northwest area of Keesler Reef off of Deer Island, but the last 2 loads
were placed in the southeast end of FH-11. On July 29, 30, and 31, the author was summoned to serve on a
sequestered jury and could not be present for those deployments. Since the site is marked with pilings at opposite
corners, it was not deemed critical and the DMR supervised some if not all of those deployments. Coordinates are
not provided for those deployments, but should be close to the first 2 coordinates listed below. The DMR has
indicated intent to side scan sonar the entire site in the near future. All other coordinates are listed below.
020723 Rubble Keesler Reef 267kr
Position: 30°21.885'N/88°53.048'W 12234.8/47103.5-6/29481.0
400 foot diameter area. The surrounding water depth was 10.5 feet with a minimum depth of 9 feet recorded.
Predicted tide level was 2.3 feet with a range of -.3 to 2.4 feet.
020725 Rubble Keesler Reef 268kr
Position: 30°21.860'N/88°53.002'W 12235.3/47103.5/29481.4
400 foot diameter area. The surrounding water depth was 11 feet with a minimum depth of 9 feet recorded.
Predicted tide level was 2.1 feet with a range of -.1 to 2.2 feet. Just east of 020723.
020801 Rubble Keesler Reef 269kr
Position: 30°21.816'N/88°53.041'W 12234.9-8/47103.3/29480.9
200 foot diameter area. The surrounding water depth was 9.5 feet with a minimum depth of 7.5 feet recorded.
Predicted tide level was 1.0 feet with a range of .6 to 1.4 feet. Little to no current or wind.
020803 Rubble FH-11 270F11
Position: 30°15.531'N/88°53.941'W 12226.6/47081.0-1/29448.0
300 foot diameter area. The surrounding water depth was 18 feet with a minimum depth of 16 feet recorded.
Predicted tide level was 1.1 feet with a range of .2 to 1.8 feet. East wind 10-15 knots with current running east
against the wind..
020804 Rubble FH-11 271F11
Position: 30°15.588'N/88°53.957'W 12226.4/47081.2-3/29448.0
400 foot diameter area. The surrounding water depth was 19 feet with a minimum depth of 17 feet recorded.
Predicted tide level was 1.1 feet with a range of -.1 to 2.0 feet. Northeast to East winds at 25-30 knots. Water
running a foot or two above normal due to Tropical Storm Bertha.
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EMail Author: Mark@primofish.com