Alex Trelinski
THE MAR MENOR may be getting a network of artificial reefs in its waters to protect the lagoon’s marine ecosystem.
The reefs can be made from concrete or recycled material and it’s planned to install them in marina docking areas.
A study was commissioned in November to see how effective using reefs could be as part of the Comprehensive Mar Menor Management plan.
Positive findings mean the Murcia government will ask for funding from the European Commission as part of its new initiative to restore biodiversity in oceans and woodlands, as well as urban areas.
The reef locations would be at Lo Pagan, Los Alcazares, Santiago de la Ribera, Los Nietos, and La Manga, in addition to the Baron, Perduiguera, and Veneziola islands.
Reefs first appeared around the Spanish coast to combat illegal fishing and to help improve marine species populations.
Their function now is the protection of marine ecosystems such as caring for the oceanic Posedonia meadows off the Murcia coast.
Artificial reefs come in all shapes and sizes and in 2021 an Alicante University team came up with a reef that uses electrolysis to create a coating that allowed tiny organisms to regenerate on it.
READ MORE:
- Scientists from Spain’s Alicante University create new type of artificial reef to regenerate Mediterranean seabed
- Controversial Gibraltar reef ‘exploding with life’ two years after installation
