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Can Artificial Reef Wrecks Reduce Diver Impacts on Shipwrecks? The Management Dimension

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Abstract

Managers have been advocating the use of artificial reef wrecks to diversify the experiences of recreational divers and thereby reduce the well-known impact on reefs. To examine whether artificial reef wrecks can serve as substitutes for historic shipwrecks this paper discusses the attitude of Australian divers to wreck diving in general and to artificial reef wrecks in particular. While the overwhelming majority of divers surveyed accepted the need for control, the experienced divers were less interested in artificial reef wrecks and less prepared to tolerate controls over their perceived freedom to dive wrecks. We present projections that show that this legacy issue will have largely resolved itself by 2025 due to attrition and natural ageing.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank all of the divers who participated in the survey. Thanks to Associate Professor Jonathon Howard who supervised the design and data collection phase of this study. Thank you to the reviewers whose comments improved and refined the manuscript.

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  1. School of Environment, Science and Engineering, Southern Cross University, PO Box 157, Lismore, NSW, 2480, Australia

    Joanne Edney

  2. Institute for Land, Water and Society, Charles Sturt University, PO Box 789, Albury, NSW, 2640, Australia

    Dirk H. R. Spennemann

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Correspondence to Joanne Edney.

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Edney, J., Spennemann, D.H.R. Can Artificial Reef Wrecks Reduce Diver Impacts on Shipwrecks? The Management Dimension. J Mari Arch 10, 141–157 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11457-015-9140-5

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