A PUBLIC meeting to discuss the creation of an artificial reef in Port Erin bay will be held at the Erin Arts Centre at 7pm tonight (Monday). Organized by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, the speaker will be Dr Ken Collins from the School of Ocean and Earth Science at Southampton University.
The university – considered European leader in this field – will monitor the project. The DAFF wants to sink coils of marine cable in the area of the bay that is already protected to promote the scallop population.
It is hoped the coils will create reef structures and be colonized by seaweeds, soft corals and similar organisms, creating habitat suitable for to many larger species and therefore encourage biodiversity.
