Oct. 4, 2002 – The Fish and Wildlife Division of the Planning and Natural Resources Department recently installed two fish aggregation devices north of St. Thomas, according to a DPNR release. Efforts to learn more about the project were unsuccessful because DPNR's public relations person, Annette Morales, did not return several phone calls left over the space of two days.
Small orange buoys floating on the water mark the locations of the devices, which were installed, respectively, 3 three miles and 13 miles north of Hans Lollick. The devices are used to attract fish. A year ago, Fish and Wildlife installed three of them off St. Thomas and four off St. Croix. (See "Damaged fish-attracting devices pose danger".)
In other Fish and Wildlife news, the commissioner announced that the agency recently surveyed the artificial reef southeast of Saba Island off St. Thomas as part of its efforts to get the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to renew its permit for the artificial site. The reefs attract fish, which are caught by commercial and recreational fishermen.
As with the fish-attracting devices, further information was not available because Morales did not return phone calls. Except for Morales, all Planning and Natural Resources employees are prohibited from talking to the media without permission.
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