Texas

Three more ships from Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet approved for dismantling

January 6, 2010
www.timesheraldonline.com

As a ship recycling company eyeing Vallejo continues to wade through red tape on environmental regulations, three more World War II era-ships have been targeted for dismantling in Texas.

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No one is buying decommissioned U.S. ships due to poor economy

October 2, 2009
www.mesotheliomanews.com

Decommissioned merchant ships being stored at the Reserve Fleet in Newport News, Virginia have no buyers.

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Ghost fleet trimmed by one

June 08, 2009
www.dailypress.com

The government has sold another ship in its James River Reserve Fleet.The Suribachi, a ship built in 1956, was sold for scrap metal recycling to a company in Texas for $20,001. The ship is tentatively to leave the fleet on July 2. It will be the 79th ship to leave the ghost fleet since 2001.State and local officials have been pushing the U.S. Maritime Administration to reduce the fleet of obsolete ships, which contain waste oil, lead, asbestos and other toxic materials, because of fears about environmental hazards. Several localities have passed resolutions asking Congress to fund the fleet's removal.

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Maritime Administration News Release

May 20, 2009
www.marad.dot.gov

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration has sold a ship for recycling to All Star Metals, LLC of Brownsville, Texas. The American Osprey, an off-shore petroleum discharge tanker, built in 1958 at Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard, Sparrows Point, Md., brought a purchase price of $12,227.70

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CCA Texas Funds Offshore Reef Project

May 06, 2009
www.ccatexas.org

Houston, TX – The Coastal Conservation Association Texas (CCA Texas) Executive Board recently approved $25,000 to fund 150 tons of concrete and rock debris to be added to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s (TPWD) Vancouver reefing area in the near-shore waters off of Freeport. The project will provide crucial habitat for many recreationally important species including red snapper, kingfish and ling. The undertaking will be a joint effort between CCA Texas’ Habitat Today for Fish Tomorrow program (HTFT), TPWD and local and private businesses, which will provide services and expertise for transporting, storing and placing of the reef material.

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TPWC passes sweeping fishing restrictions

March 29, 2009
www.themonitor.com

The Texas Parks & Wildlife Commission made final decisions about proposed regulations at its March 25-26 meeting Austin. The annual gathering of the TPW Commission finalized rules that have been in the works since at least October 2008.

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New Study Confirms RFA's Claims on Red Snapper Abundance

March 4, 2009
www.flyrodreel.com

A new study released by Dr. Robert Shipp and Dr. Steve Bortone reveals that the Gulf of Mexico Red Snapper stock may be at a higher level of abundance than estimated by National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS).

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Last Port of Cal

February 21, 2009
www.brownsvilleherald.com

Hundreds of high school, middle school and college students gathered at the University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College to enjoy a rare treat. On Thursday they were the first audience to view a new documentary on the sinking of the Texas Clipper.

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Archaeologists unearth a graveyard of ancient shipwrecks in the Black Sea

October 27, 2008
www.utexas.edu

In the depths of the Black Sea lies a landscape of eternal darkness. With no light and no oxygen in the sea's anoxic layer, no life can survive, except perhaps the ghosts of ancient mariners whose ships foundered thousands of years ago.

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Artificial Reef Program Web Sites

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/landwater/water/habitats/artificial_reef/overview.phtml