On Wednesday, May 18, 2022 the longtime University of Southern Mississippi (USM) marine trawler was officially transformed into an artificial reef in the Gulf of Mexico during a special ceremony at sea. A tow ship pulled R/V Hermes to a designated spot called Fishing Haven 2, approximately 15 miles south of Horn Island for the ceremonial sinking.

The Hermes is a 38-foot steel trawler/research vessel, which was built in the late 1940s and christened in 1955. “A normal day on the R/V Hermes would include trawling for fish, shrimp, and other bottom dwelling marine life for observation/collection in the Mississippi Sound; dolphin watching; and a trip to one of the barrier islands when weather permits,” the Gulf Coast Research Laboratory website says.

For more than 60 years, R/V Hermes had been used in a variety of capacities by USM’s Gulf Coast Research Laboratory (GCRL), located in Ocean Springs, Miss. Last year, GCRL officially retired Hermes and transferred the vessel to Mississippi Gulf Fishing Banks under the agreement that the group would turn it into an artificial reef.

This 55′ Steel Hulled Sailboat , Jolly Fisherman, deployed in FH-13 on September 22, 2017. It will be known as the “Johnny Gill Reef”.

Video below of cleaning and deployment process

June 1, 2017 – Culverts Deployed in FH-2 to serve as Red Snapper reefs

  June 15, 2016 – Fish Dice Deployment in FH-3

The Mississippi Department of Marine Resources (MDMR) designed and deployed 160 Juvenile Fish Habitat units last month and this month they deployed 62 more units in FH-3. Reefmakers of Orange Beach, Alabama performed the work at the direction of the MDMR. See last month’s report for more details on the design.

Following the Fish Dice deployment, USM Recording Sensors were deployed in FH-3 and. MGFB has been working cooperatively with a USM/GCRL project headed up by Dr. Scott Milroy. A dozen data loggers were deployed in the Gulf to measure dissolved Oxygen, Temperature, and Salinity, every 15 minutes. FH-3 Sensor #4 was attached to the Chevron Boat on June 15, 2016 @ 12:15pm, water temp of 69°F, 41′ Depth. FH-14 Sensor #5 was attached to the “My Wife II” on June 15, 2016 @ 1:11pm, water temp of 68°F, 30′ Depth. The first video shows the FH-3 deployment and some first time video of the Fish Dice underwater. Water Hypoxia was evident on this site. No fish were seen and a dead crab was the only life seen. The FH-14 deployment was similar although a few juvenile red snapper were seen upon first contact with the reef. Reefmakers also donated one of their ” Eco-Reef” in FH-3.

May 24, 2016 – Juvenile Snapper Houses in FH-13

This was a trip to deploy 88 juvenile red snapper houses that were designed and deployed by the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources.

August 18, 2015 – Culverts Deployed and visit to Corps Barge & 150713A Culverts

This was a trip to deploy culverts in FH-2. Since the Deployment Barge was running late, we stopped on the Corps Barge in the Southwest corner of FH-2. I also made a scuba drop and got some nice feeding video with the GoPro leaving it attached to the barge with it’s clamp mount and returning. We also dropped on the 150713A Culverts which showed some game fish already showing up. We failed to locate any of the 3 carpet FADs deployed here on August 8.

Videos from our visit to the Corps Barge and 150713A Culverts.

July 17, 2015 – Culvert  Deployment in FH-1

A decommissioned Omega Protein fishing vessel, the Barataria Bay, was sunk off the coast of Mississippi on June 10, 2015 to be repurposed as an artificial reef.

Click here to read the international news release on the sinking of the Barataria Bay.

This was a deployment of cages by the DMR in FH-13 on September 17, 2014. They were placed around the last two Pyramid deployments in FH-13 which were deployed on September 25, 2014.

This video shows the deployment of the cages that were placed in FH-13 on Sept 17, 2014. A dive was also made on the material directly after the deployment.

On, August 25, 2014, The “Capt Le” was a shrimp boat that unintentionally sunk in FH-13 and created itself an artificial fish reef.

Limestone Pyramids dropped in the Gulf of Mexico.

This was a deployment project by the DMR to MGFB’s FH-13 reef site. “Reef Maker” of Orange Beach Alabama was contracted to deploy 26 Pyramids. They were placed in two groups of 13 units each at the north end of FH-13 creating habitat for Mississippi’s marine life. We also caught a few fish on nearby reefs that shows how productive these reefs are. Then we made a dive on the newly deployed Pyramids to find juvenile Red Snapper and Triggerfish already taking up residency. Afterward we dove some similar Pyramids that were deployed in 2007 to see how they are doing after 6 years. We also dove on the 4-Boys Shrimp Boat, the 110303B Culverts, and the Captain Kevin Shrimp Boat.

Photos of our dive to the pyramids that were placed in 2007

Our video of the Limestone Pyramid Deployment o Sept. 25, 2013, and our visit to the 2007 Pyramids to see how they were dong after 6 years.

Culverts deployed in FH-2 on March 18, 2011

This was an MGFB project accompanied by Bryon Maynard and his crew of 5 who orchestrated the deployment of three NASA tanks in FH-13 on October 26, 2011.

Three large tanks, de-commissioned by NASA, were sunk in the Southwest End of FH-13 in 85 feet of water, to serve as artificial reefs off the coast of Mississippi. The first tank, referred to as BRT (big round thing), is actually a HAT (hydrogen accumulator tank). This tank weighs 100,000 pounds and was used in the Saturn program (stage 2) on the test stand. The other two tanks, the Lox tank and Scotty’s Beer Can, were also used in the space program. Bryon Maynard, of NASA, arranged for the funding and orchestration of the deployment. Read about Bryon’s award from the Stennis Space Center for his work on the artificial reef here.

BRT (Big Round Thing) deployment and dive

The NASA Lox Tank Deployment

Deployment of NASA tank, AKA “Scotty’s Beer Can”

Video of the NASA tanks deployment and subsequent dive on October 11, 2011.

CableOne Antennae & Rubble deployed in FH-10 on September 18, 2012

This was deployment of the CableOne Antennae Tower and miscellaneous Rubble in FH-10 near the Horn Island Middle Ground. This is about mid-way down Horn Island on the North Side a little more than a mile off the shoreline. The Material was deployed between 2 existing buoys the GCRL had in place for fish tag monitoring. The GCRL1 Buoy was near the Southeast corner of FH-10 at 30°15.858’N 88°38.938’W. The GCRL2 Buoy was to the Northwest at 30°15.928’N 88°38.971’W. Water depth was about 16 feet.

Culverts deployed on Casino Magic Barge in FH-1 on March 25, 2011

Culverts deployed in FH-13 on March 15, 2011

Culverts deployed in FH-13 on March 11, 2011

40′ Oyster Boat deployed in FH-14 on March 11, 2011

754 tons of concrete Catch Basins and Man Holes deployed in FH-13 on March 3, 2011

On April 28, the Shrimp Boat “Ole Faithful” was deployed in FH-1

This Steel Hull Shrimp Boat was deployed a little North of the Casino Magic Barge at the Southeast end of FH-1. The Surrounding depth was 68′ with a minimum clearance of 45′ recorded. It appears to have landed on its Starboard Side with the Bow facing South. This appears due to having much larger holes cut in the Bow than in the Stern causing it to fill much more quickly and sink with the Stern floating up. Winds were from the East @ 10 knots, current running 3 knots at 300°. Predicted Tide was 1.7 with a range from -0.5 @ 8:02P to 1.9 @ 9:32A.

Southern Star Shrimp Boat deployed in FH-13 on March 31, 2010 

This 80′ Shrimp Boat was deployed by Walter Marine, east of the Ladnier barge & culverts in about 76′ of water. Water clearance was recorded at about 45′ with the deck showing at about 67′. It appears to have landed upright with the bow facing at about 130°. Winds were South @ 5 knots.

Video of the sinking of the “Southern Star” Shrimp Boat in FH-13