Noema reports on the history and scale of Alabama's artificial reef zones, where private builders and state programs have changed large areas of otherwise open Gulf bottom. The story follows Walter Marine from David Walter's first hauling work to Stewart Walter's precision deployments of manufactured reef modules.
The report also examines questions scientists continue to study, including fish production, aggregation and invasive species. It places Walter Marine's work within the broader ecological and economic debate over how artificial reefs affect fisheries and marine habitat.
