There was good news for fishermen Tuesday as the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation announced they were creating four artificial reefs in the lake, two of which will be in St. Tammany Parish.

The reefs, which are actually big concrete balls with holes in them, were placed on each end of the parish, according to Dr. John Lopez, director of the coastal sustainability program for LPBF. There is a reef off Goose Point just south of Big Branch National Wildlife Refuge on the east, and the other will be just south of the mouth of the Tchefuncte River on the west side of the Causeway.

The reefs are the brainchild of a international nonprofit organization called The Reef Ball Foundation whose mission is to improve and increase reef ecosystems around the world. The foundation came up with the idea of these big concrete balls.

These big balls of concrete are what the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation is using to create artificial reefs in the lake. (Courtesy The Reef Ball Foundation)

The balls are manufactured by several companies around the workd. Lopez said the LPBF got theirs from a company in Pensacola, Fla. Once the reef balls are placed on the bottom of a lake, or ocean, divers put in coral plugs in the holes. As the coral grows, they attract small bait fish, shrimp, plankton and other sea creatures that in turn attract bigger fish. According to the Reef Ball Foundation Web site, they have helped to create artificial reefs in over 70 countries.

“The reefs create a structural habitat which has been shown to increase fish populations and fish biodiversity in Lake Pontchartrain,” Lopez said.

That is great news for local commercial and sports fisherman along the lake. Lopez said the reefs will attract speckled trout, redfish and other fish commonly caught in the lake.

These four artificial reefs are the completion of a reef project that started in 2000. With the four new reefs, there are now 10 artificial reefs in Lake Pontchartrain. The first five reefs have shown that the fish population in the lake as increased, according to Mark Schexnayder with the LSU AgCenter/Louisiana Sea Grant, one of the sponsors of the reef project.

“They (fish) are drawn by the increase in bait species. More fish means a better chance of catching them and that is a good thing,” Schexnayder said.

There are over 600 reef balls of various sizes spread out over the four new reefs. The other two reefs are in Orleans and St. Charles Parishes. The entire project cost $160,000, which was funded by grants from the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, Shell Exploration and Production, and several other private and government organizations.

The completion of the reefs could not come at a better time. The LPBF is sponsoring its 13th annual fishing rodeo this weekend out on the lake.

“This is a great time to go fishing in the lake,” said Carlton Dufredhou, executive director of LPBF.

For more information on the reef program call the LPBF at (504) 836-2215 or visit its Web site, www.saveourlake.org. To learn more about The Reef Ball Foundation go to www.reefball.org.