Tyre Reefs,Yes or No?

[theoldfart2]

I see that some members are advocating the use of Tyre Reefs around our coast..

Personally I think it is a good idea, not that anyone gives a Tinkers Cuss what I think.

Having Googled this subject it seems that there have been quite a few disasters doing this, and a lot of successes.

Having been involved in Marine Engineering in my younger days I know about how steel corrodes underwater.

Very quickly in some cases ,especially if there is a lot of boat and ship traffic around causing Electrolysis.

As the 'Reef' is held together ( from what I can see) with chains I can see why it would fail in our waters, with our tides and our storms, break up and cause an environmental mess.

On the other hand I can also see the advantage of such reefs, stops trawling, fish habitat,etc.

I would also have thought that to have any real effect the Reefs would have to be massive to create a micro environment .

 Ignoring the cost, should we as anglers be for or against Tyre Reefs and do we want to take the chance that in twenty years from now it could all go Pear Shaped?

[tomstevo]

Not sure how some tyres would stop the tons of steel work being towed by Scallop dredgers.
The natural reefs are there,..just stop them destroying what we already have.
I believe the marine environment is very robust and if given a chance would recover.

[theoldfart2]

I think that the theory is that the base layers of the tyres quickly silt up on the sea floor.

Once this happens and they become buried in mud/sand the suction is phenomenal and ,trust me, no trawler would shift them.

I remember, back in the day, I was working with Bob Woodford , trying to pull up a mooring from the Yar. It was a tyre filled with concrete, but had sunk in the mud.

We had to double purchase the winch and use a tide lift to shift it. One tyre! And that winch could lift five tons.

So I don't think any dredging/trawling would move a tyre reef, and people would avoid them.

Its more if they break up on the course of time.

[snoopy54]

Anything that sabotages Trawlers is ok by me Old Fart

[wavecheif]

With you on that snoops lol id like to see a huge. Reef dropped of sandown bay right smack in the middle . That's got to bring good fish in .

[tomstevo]

I can understand the feelings of anglers but really local reefs to stop trawling will only move the CF effort to another area.
The answer should be simple and direct, a set distance from the coast line all the way round a total ban on trawling, I would go for 6 miles to start with.