Former Coast Guard cutter to be sunk off coast as part of artificial reef

155
Advertisement

Delaware’s Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) and New Jersey’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) announced that the Zuni/Tamaroa , has been cleared by the US Environmental Protection Agency and the US Coast Guard for sinking onto the Del-Jersey-Land Inshore Artificial Reef.

The ship was commissioned during World War II and saw service in the U.S. Navy and as a Coast Guard cutter. 

Zuni/Tamaroa will be jointly sunk by the two states in the near future approximately 26 nautical miles from both Lewes and Cape May, N.J. 

Both the EPA and Coast Guard recently inspected Zuni/Tamaroa at the Norfolk, Va. shipyard of contractor Coleen Marine. Extensive environmental preparation for reefing the 74-year-old vessel included removing interior paneling and insulation, and emptying and cleaning the vessel of all fuel and fluids.

The Coast Guard  approved the ship as fit for reefing on the Del-Jersey-Land site, which includes  the destroyerUSS Arthur W. Radford, the longest ship reefed on the Atlantic Coast; the minesweeper Gregory Poole, and the Shearwater, which was in service for both the US Army as a freighter and the Navy as a support ship.

Advertisement

Jeff Tinsman, DNREC Division of Fish & Wildlife reef program coordinator, said plans call for Zuni/Tamaroa to be reefed when a weather window of 48-72 hours for calmer seas allows for the ship to be towed up the coast and to the reef site. “We are certain that it will happen sooner rather than later,” he said. “Optimally, it would be right after the Easter holiday weekend. If that scheduling holds, anglers and divers should be working theZuni/Tamaroa for recreational opportunities that she presents almost immediately.”

DNREC is the lead agency on the Zuni/Tamaroa reefing project, providing 75 percent of the funding from The Federal Aid in Sports Fish Restoration program administered by the US Fish & Wildlife Service. New Jersey is providing 25 percent matching funds from The Fisherman Magazine’s Sportfishing Fund.

 

Advertisement
Advertisement