California Ships to Reefs' vision is to establish a regional system of artificial reefs along the California coast to improve and enhance the California fish, plant and marine ecosystem, and to enhance the tourism industry centered on fishing and diving.

"I think reefing ships is a fantastic win/win/win scenario for sport divers, sport fishermen and the environment. Natural wrecks break down into rubble piles over time and though they will continue to attract fish, the bigger the structure the bigger the attraction and the bigger the ecosystem it will hold and or attract." -- Richie Kohler, Advisory Board, Ships to Reefs International
Quoted from California Diver Magazine

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News

February 22, 2013	Former transport dock ship makes cameo
The former USS Vancouver, launched in 1962 as an amphibious transport dock vessel and decommissioned in 1992, was brought in to dry dock for hull cleaning and repair on Mare Island Thursday afternoon. Read more here.

January 6, 2013	Plans to Build an Artificial Reef Along Belmont Pier Benefits Local Anglers
MSRP proposes to build seven artificial reef modules covering a quarter of a ten acre area along Belmont Pier in Long Beach, California. Read more here.

November 13, 2012	Vietnam War-era oiler to depart from Benicia on final voyage
A Mare Island company has secured two upcoming mothballed ship cleaning contracts, before the vessels take their final voyages for scrapping in Texas. The former USS Wabash is scheduled to be tugged from the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet early Wednesday morning to Allied Defense Recycling on Mare Island. Read more here.

October 12, 2012

Maritime Administration ahead of schedule in scrapping Suisun Bay mothball fleet

Aged and crumbling ships may be leaving the Suisun Bay "mothball" Reserve Fleet at a steady pace, but some of their value is being left behind. Vallejo's California Maritime Academy, one of six state maritime schools nationwide, soon will see a nearly $400,000 funding influx, proceeds from the sale of the obsolete vessels. The new funding, $2.2 million overall, is due to a federal mandate requiring federal reinvestment into maritime schools. Read more here.

September 7, 2012	U.S. Government Ends The Sinking Of Old Ships as Artificial Reefs
The U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD) has adopted a new policy that effectively terminates the federal artificial reefing program that allowed the scuttling of old ships for so-called "artificial reefs" Read more here.

July 26, 2012	Artificial Reef Project Moves Forward Despite Controversy
Roughly five weeks ago, with the hope of jump-starting a plan to install a fish — and fishermen — friendly artificial reef offshore of Santa Barbara, Chris Goldblatt and some colleagues dropped two 1,300-pound hollow concrete igloos into the ocean offshore of Hendry’s Beach. Read more here.

July 9, 2012	Oil Rigs Great for Marine Environment

July 2, 2012	Navy to resume sinking old ships in US waters
The U.S. Navy is resuming its practice of using old warships for target practice and sinking them in U.S. coastal waters after a nearly two-year moratorium spurred by environmental and cost concerns. Read more here.

June 19, 2012	Fish Reefs Nurture New Life
The Fish Reef Project is the next great ocean environmental movement. Starting in 1958, the California Department of Fish and Game created more than 50 man-made reefs, most of which now are home to amazing amounts of marine life. Read more here.

June 18, 2012	Non-Profit Builds "Reef Balls" to Create More Sea Life
The non-profit group, Fish Reef Project is building large cement balls to use as artificial reefs. The balls are designed to sit on the sea floor and collectively act as a reef. The group hopes the reefs will attract sea life, including fish and crabs. Read more here.

June 7, 2012	Calif approves new marine protected areas off north coast, finishing statewide network
With the designation of another group of ocean protection zones, California has put the finishing touches on a vast network of protected areas that dot the sea from Mexico to the Oregon border. Read more here.

April 10, 2012	San Onofre artificial reef not meeting state standards
For the third year in a row, a 156-acre artificial reef built in 2008 to help offset environmental impacts on marine life from San Onofre's undersea intake pipes is not meeting state performance standards. Read more here.

March 16, 2012	EPA Guide On PCB Ship Waste May Not Quell Concerns On MARAD Policy
EPA is crafting guidance to advise ship owners on how to comply with its rules governing polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) before exporting ships for scrapping but the guide may not quell concerns that a 2011 Maritime Administration (MARAD) policy allowing owners to self-certify removal of PCBs circumvents EPA's toxics law authority. Read more here.

March 18, 2012	Supervisors Approve $7.4 Million for Dana Point Harbor Design
The Orange County Board of Supervisors signed off on a $7.4 million contract agreement between Dana Point Harbor and MVE Institutional Inc. to design, plan and analyze the first phase of the long-awaited Dana Point Harbor Revitalization Plan, covering the harbor’s commercial core and dry boat storage options. Read more here.

February 21, 2012	Horizon Charters San Diego Wins Defense Verdict in Lawsuit
In a major breakthrough decision at the 10th Conference of the Parties of the Basel Convention, 178 Parties agreed to allow an early entry into force of law of the Basel Ban Amendment which prohibits all exports of hazardous wastes, including electronic wastes and old obsolete ships from developed to developing countries. Read more here.

February 15, 2012	Mothball Fleet helps with disaster response training, fuel conservation
The Novato-based Coast Guard Pacific Strike Team, a national-level contingency response organization, lead fuel-transfer operations at the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet in Benicia, Calif., Wednesday as part of fuel conservation efforts and hands-on training for disaster response. Read more here.

October 24, 2011	Focus of ocean cleanup off Peninsula turns to fish habitat
Some 40 years after polluters were forced to stop dumping toxic pesticides and other noxious chemicals into the ocean off the Palos Verdes Peninsula, plans are still being developed to clean up and restore severe damage to the marine environment. Read more here.

July 6, 2011	A San Diego diver remembered: 'NOAA' Jim Kinane
Many in the diving community were saddened by the sudden death of Jim Kinane, on July 2, 2011, while on a friend's boat, preparing to dive. Read more here.

June 11, 2011	DFG releases Recreational Groundfish Regulations
The Department of Fish and Game (DFG) announces changes to recreational groundfish regulations that apply to state waters 0-3 nautical miles from shore. The new regulations were adopted by the Fish and Game Commission last month and take effect June 9, 2011. Read more here.

June 11, 2011	Ship recycler ready to expand, seeks Dry Dock 4 at Vallejo's Mare Island
Vallejo's ship dismantling company is expanding to a third Mare Island dry dock, which could mean more work and jobs, officials said this week. Read more here.

June 7, 2011	Artificial reef planned for Ventura County beach
Officials are hoping to build an artificial reef to bring back the glory days at Oil Pier beach and potentially use it as a showcase of how to restore and save beaches around the county. Read more here.

April 26, 2011	Mare Island dismantler gets no traction on new contract bids
Four Mothball Fleet ship-dismantling contracts posted Monday shut out a Mare Is-land ship industry newcomer. Read more here.

April 7, 2011	Recycling, not reefs, in store for old aircraft carriers
It's a heave-ho, U.S. Navy style. After several years during which turning old warships into artificial reefs was fashionable, four decommissioned aircraft carriers will instead be dismantled, and recycled, at shipyards. Read more here.

March 10, 2011	Feds to loosen restrictions on salmon fishing
Pacific Coast fishermen are gearing up for what's expected to be the best salmon fishing season in years. Read more here.

March 7, 2011	Mare Island welcomes cargo ship for dismantling
Mare Island will welcome Tuesday the second federally owned cargo ship set for dismantling there. Read more here.

March 6, 2011	The MLPA Initiative does not protect the ocean
Ray Hiemstra, the associate director of Orange County Coastkeeper, has written an article,” MLPA's Public-Private Partnership Protects Oceans During Lean Budget Times,” that includes a number of false claims in his attempt to extol the virtues of the private foundation funding behind Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative. Read more here.

March 4, 2011	Conservationists Push Back Against Desalination in California
California is in the process of building a series of massive ocean desalination plants on a scale not seen before in the United States. While most are at various stages, slowly slogging through bureaucratic red tape, conservationists are pushing back against powerful interests betting California's looming water crisis occurs sooner rather than later. Read more here.

March 2, 2011	Court overturns California rule protecting coast
A Sacramento-based appellate court on Tuesday invalidated a regulation that is one of the state's main tools in guarding the California coast. Read more here.

March 1, 2011

What’s a big oil lobbyist doing chairing a marine protection panel?

During this widely-contested process, Reheis-Boyd and other task force members went out of their way to take water pollution, oil spills and drilling, military testing, wave energy projects, corporate aquaculture, habitat destruction and all other human impacts on the ocean other than fishing and gathering off the table in the so-called marine protected areas created under the privately funded initiative. Read more here.

February 20, 2011	Tribes lead fight against fishing restrictions
Northern California Native American tribes are clashing with state wildlife regulators over plans to restrict fishing off parts of the rugged coastline from the Oregon border south to Point Arena in Mendocino County. Read more here.

February 19, 2011	Man who coined the term 'scuba' dies
The man who developed an underwater breathing device and coined the term "scuba" to describe it has died at his home in Pennsylvania. Read more here.

February 16, 2011	Growth expansion wears out California's coastal ecosystems
On-going economic and population growth had been identified as factors that had put ample stress on the California's coastal ecosystems. Read more here.

February 15, 2011	Ship recycler plans formal opening Friday for Dry Dock 3 at Vallejo's Mare Island
The Mare Island shipyard has been mostly quiet in the weeks since the auspicious arrival of the SS Solon Turman to Dry Dock 3 earlier this month. But buzzing beneath the surface is the ongoing preparation work to dismantle the first "mothball" Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet vessel by November. Read more here.

February 1, 2011	First Suisun Bay Ship To Be Recycled At Vallejo, Calif. Facility
The former steam freighter SS Solon Turman will be towed from the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet (SBRF) on Wednesday, February 2, 2011. Read more here.

January 22, 2011	State fisheries committee hears support for MLPA proposal
Tribes and local fishing and environmental groups on Friday repeated their support of a regional proposal for marine reserves along the North Coast before the Legislature's Joint Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture in Eureka. Read more here.

January 5, 2011	Kittiwake is Cayman’s newest dive site
The U.S.S. Kittiwake is finally underwater. The former US navy submarine rescue ship is now an artificial reef sitting on the ocean floor 60 feet below the surface. Read more here.

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