[Coral-List] Fwd: Bring Back the Gulf

[DeeVon Quirolo]

Gene--in response to your latest.....
There are no secrets regarding our analysis of the Rigs to Reefs
decommissioning policies.  We encourage you and everyone to go to
www.bringbackthegulf.org where you can download the book*  Bring Back the
Gulf *in PDF or E-book at no cost; in the acknowledgments The Ocean
Foundation and the Herbert W. Hoover Foundation are recognized.  Perhaps
you should at least scan the book before making judgements.

Also, Steve Kolian is incorrect when he states that the rigs are Essential
Fish Habitat; the Gulf and Caribbean Marine Fisheries Council dismissed
that effort last year and they have also concluded that habitat is not
limited in the Gulf.  The rigs were always intended to be temporary
structures removed after their useful life.   The studies reported in the
book show that the rigs attract bio-fouling communities, bivalves, sponges,
barnacles, hydroids and algae, not hermatypic corals.  They do provide a
substrate for the proliferation of non-native invasives such as *tubastrea.
G. toxicus*, associated with ciguatera, has also been found on platforms.
And of course they aggregate fish, leading to overfishing.  But to compare
them to coral reefs in biodiversity is just not factually accurate.

As you noted, there are a lot more rigs in the Gulf than when you were
involved and today they comprise 5% of all habitat in the Gulf of Mexico,
creating the largest de facto artificial underwater system in the world.
And thousands more are coming up for decommissioning in the next few years.
The oil industry has managed to transfer liability for these so-called
"Rigs to Reefs" deployments to the pubic *in perpetuity* for a one time
donation.  This at a time when hurricane damage is leading to expensive
maintenance and creating navigational hazards from lost rigs. Meanwhile,
the oil industry has saved $92 million since 2009 on these "gifts" to the
public. Some of us don't think that is equitable nor consistent with
current efforts underway to restore the Gulf and wanted to bring attention
to the subject.  Our book does just that at a time when Interior is
reassessing this policy.

By the way, our recommendations in the book were endorsed by a list of
respected conservation and public policy organizations, researchers and
stakeholders, also listed at that website.  Gene, I don't expect we'll ever
agree on this, so let's just agree to disagree.

All the best, DeeVon




On Wed, Aug 13, 2014 at 12:11 PM, Eugene Shinn <eugeneshinn at mail.usf.edu>
wrote:

> "This was a six month grant to investigate this
> topic and we've done our work and published our findings." So you are not
> going to reveal who provided the money and the results they wanted to see?
> umm. Gene
>
> On 8/13/14 12:00 PM, coral-list-request at coral.aoml.noaa.gov wrote:
> > This was a six month grant to investigate this
> > > >topic and we've done our work and published our findings.
>
> --
>
>
> No Rocks, No Water, No Ecosystem (EAS)
> ------------------------------------ -----------------------------------
> E. A. Shinn, Courtesy Professor
> University of South Florida
> College of Marine Science Room 221A
> 140 Seventh Avenue South
> St. Petersburg, FL 33701
> <eugeneshinn at mail.usf.edu>
> Tel 727 553-1158
> ---------------------------------- -----------------------------------
>
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>



-- 
DeeVon Quirolo

www.bringbackthegulf.org
www.neighborsagainstmining.org
www.reefrelieffounders.com
www.reefreliefarchive.org
www.sunshinestatecleanenergycoalition.org

You must be the change you want to see in the world.
Mahatma Gandhi

We can do no great things; only small things with great love.
Mother Theresa

The problems of the world cannot possibly be solved by skeptics or cynics
whose horizons are limited by the obvious realities. We need men who can
dream of things that never were.
John Fitzgerald Kennedy



-- 
DeeVon Quirolo

www.bringbackthegulf.org
www.neighborsagainstmining.org
www.reefrelieffounders.com
www.reefreliefarchive.org
www.sunshinestatecleanenergycoalition.org

You must be the change you want to see in the world.
Mahatma Gandhi

We can do no great things; only small things with great love.
Mother Theresa

The problems of the world cannot possibly be solved by skeptics or cynics
whose horizons are limited by the obvious realities. We need men who can
dream of things that never were.
John Fitzgerald Kennedy