November 25, 2013 — A hopper barge laden with chicken cages became Georgia’s newest artificial reef when the Department of Natural Resources sank it about 10 miles off Tybee Nov. 18.
“It’s going to make great habitat,” said January Murray, who manages the DNR reef program. “It’s a long and tall piece of metal material. That is what fish love. Encrusting organisms will attach to the barge and coat it. Fish will flock to it, where they can shelter, feed and reproduce. Now they have a home; it’s like if you build it they will come, and they do.”
The 254-foot-long barge, donated by Georgia Recyclers, was stacked with 330 steel chicken cages donated by Claxton Chicken. The East Coast Terminal Co. in Savannah allowed the use of its land as a staging area where the cages were stored and donated the use of its equipment.
The vessel had previously been docked on the back river, sitting there long enough — about a decade — that several full-grown Chinese tallow trees sprouted from its bow. As scrap, the combined barge and cages donation was worth about $225,000. It cost almost $20,000 to clean the vessel to environmental standards and tow it to place, according to Murray.
Read the full story and watch the video at Savannah Morning News