Mi'kmaw conservation group builds artificial reefs to give sea life a new home

This weekend, dozens of hollow concrete blocks that resemble a coral reef will be placed at the bottom of the Northumberland Strait off Nova Scotia to create a habitat for struggling sea life.

Divers are setting up 50 reef balls at the bottom of Merigomish Harbour where invasive species and fishing activities have disrupted the ecosystem that lobster, shellfish and seaweed depend upon.

The plan is to deploy another 150 reef balls in Moodie Cove, just off of Pictou Landing First Nation, this spring.

The locations were chosen because they're culturally significant to the community, said Christian Francis, project coordinator for the Coastal Restoration Fund.

"We place them on the seabed and they just provide a safe area for these animals to sort of come in and grow and rest and live," he said.

Members of the Mi'kmaw Conservation Group, a program run by The Confederacy of Mainland Mi'kmaq, spent the summer building the large concrete reef balls, which weigh between 70 and 90 kilograms. 

It's not easy work and getting the structures to the bottom of the sea is the next challenge. This weekend, Francis and others will load the reef balls onto a boat and travel an hour and 45 minutes to the location they've scouted. 

"We've been using a high-tech system of rebar, wheelbarrows and muscle, but for the deployment we have going on this weekend we've hired out a crane, which will help immensely," he said.

The reef balls are made from a special, environmentally friendly material that won't change the pH levels of the water, he said.

Francis said similar initiatives have taken place in the Halifax harbour, but he believes this project will be one of the largest of its kind in the province.

Artificial reefs provide shelter and protection for aquatic species and also support the growth of algae, an important part of the marine ecosystem, according to the non-profit group Clean Foundation.

To make sure the artificial reefs are doing what they're supposed to, a dive team will check on them over the next few years.

"We'll be recording species that have come in and colonized [the reef balls] and what sort of changes are going on down there," Francis said. 

The unique project has been met with enthusiasm from members of the community, many of whom have been hired over the last several months to be part of it, said Francis. 

"It's been really great for me to be able to do good work like this in my own home community," he said. 

In the future, Francis hopes to use artificial reefs to offset damage done by development projects. Companies would pay to create the habitat if their projects encroach on sensitive ecosystems, he said. 

But first comes the hard work of actually getting the heavy structures to the bottom of the sea. 

"We're expecting to get a little sore this weekend," Francis said.