July 13, 2000

Doubts raised about ship sinking for fish populations

By JUDY LIN
Associated Press Writer

SAN DIEGO (AP) -- In 30 years of service, the HMCS Yukon was well received by ports in some 30 countries. But with its last voyage this weekend, not everyone is happy about the ship being granted a permanent stay.

Thousands of spectators are expected to bid farewell to the Yukon on Saturday when explosives sink the 366-foot Canadian warship off Mission Beach to create an artificial reef intended to help replenish marine life.

Opponents say there's no evidence that dropping the giant metal hulk, about the size of a football field, will actually do so.

While fish can be seen swimming through 36 reefs that have been built off California's coast since 1958, there's no evidence that such sites help fish populations grow, according to the state Department of Fish and Game.

Supporters of Saturday's sinking, however, maintain the Yukon will attract marine life by providing hiding places and spawning grounds for fish, and smooth surfaces to which invertebrates will attach themselves.

"I'm 63 and I've seen oceans dying all my life," said Dick Long, president of the San Diego Oceans Foundation, which sponsored the sinking. "We need to be proactive before something bad happens."

The foundation says it is setting an example for how old ships can be put to good use.

"Now all of a sudden, you've created a whole new ecosystem," Long said.

More fish or not, there is one group the ship is certain to attract: divers.

Three-hundred people have paid $100 each to be the first to see the 2,890-ton destroyer in 100 feet of water Saturday. Organizers expect recreational diving at the site will generate at least $2.5 million a year.

The Oceans Foundation paid $250,000 for the Yukon, which was sent down from British Columbia last year. Volunteers worked to scrap parts such as machinery and wire, and clean the vessel of potential contaminants. Also, more than 50 holes were drilled into the ship as safe passageways for divers.

As long as ships are being sunk, Long said, "we might as well do it properly."

The local foundation and an independent Washington-based group, the Marine Technology Society, are gathering at a convention this week in San Diego to promote the idea of building artificial reefs from old ships.

Environmental groups, however, remain skeptical over potential pollution, such as rusting and oil leaks.

"Our general rule of thumb is that the ocean is not a dump," said Michelle Kremer, deputy executive director of Surfrider Foundation in San Clemente.

Tires and pipes salvaged from landfills once were used in state efforts to build reefs along the California coast.

In the early 1980s, the Fish and Game department experimented further by sinking three ships off Mission Beach -- not far from the site slated for the Yukon -- in an area divers have come to call "Wrecks Alley."

But Dennis Bedford, the department's artificial reef project manager, says he would not use ships today because there now are better ways to construct reefs. Marine biologists prefer to mimic natural reefs by using concrete and quarried rocks, which have yielded kelp beds that feed marine life.

"We're learning from our past mistakes and improving our environment," Bedford said.

Meanwhile, scientists are still trying to determine whether such reefs help replenish marine life.

"We need better information," said Stanley Young, of the state's Resources Agency. "We don't have enough hard scientific evidence to substantiate a position."

Bedford and others currently are monitoring fish populations in the San Clemente reef off Orange County. The five-year project will compare the site to a natural reef near San Mateo.

The California Coastal Commission ordered Southern California Edison to pay $50 million to build the San Clemente reef last year after the San Onofre nuclear generating station destroyed kelp beds.

Conservation groups are urging legislators to limit new artificial reefs until results of such studies are released. Others, however, are pushing for continued construction.

A bill proposed by state Sen. Dede Alpert, D-Coronado, would allow oil rigs to be converted into reefs.

The bill, which has passed the Senate and is to be heard by an Assembly committee next month, would no longer require oil companies to remove rigs and cap underwater wells. The financial savings that would be created would be put into an endowment for ocean preservation.

Several environmental and fishing groups are fighting the bill, which would target several rigs off the Santa Barbara coast. Linda Krop of Santa Barbara, who represents the coalition, said more research should be done before the bill goes up for a vote.

"This is literally ocean dumping and passing liability on to the state," Krop said.