The project occurred in two stages. The objectives of the first stage were to establish an up-to-date list of offshore charter dive boats and to identify the extent they make use TPWD offshore artificial reef sites. Reef use was broken down to include the percentage of operators that used reefs, frequency of reef use, number of offshore reef trips, and the temporal and spatial patterns of reef use. These data were useful for understanding why some operators use artificial reefs and others do not. Boat operators were asked their opinions regarding several aspects of the artificial reef program. See the Executive Summary for this project.

The objectives of the second stage include collecting data from individual divers who use dive boats to access artificial reefs. These data include:

1) Demographic Characteristics
2) Participation and Experience
3) Diving Experience Preferences (or Benefits sought)
4) Diver Attitudes and Management Preferences
5) Diver Expenditures and Economic Impacts
6) Economic Value of Recreational Diving at Offshore TPWD Artificial Reefs.

Dive charter boat operators were asked to provide names and addresses for a representative sample of their diving customers. A random sample of 1,059 sport divers was selected: 614 divers took trips to the Flower Gardens National Marine Sanctuary and 445 divers in proportion to the known number of non-Flower Gardens trips by region of the Texas coast. An 11-page mail questionnaire was used to collect data from divers. Of the 1,059 questionnaires mailed, 528 were returned usable for an overall response rate of 56.2%.

About 256 respondents (56% of those who went diving in Texas marine waters in the previous year) indicated they took one or more trips in the previous 12 months to artificial reefs in Texas offshore waters. Artificial reefs included man-made materials deployed as bottom reefs, wrecks, and standing oil and gas platforms. About 55% of respondents who reported they took one or more trips involving artificial reefs in the previous 12 months used reefs managed by the TPWD; this group of divers constituted 31% of respondents who went diving in Texas offshore waters in the previous 12 months.

Most divers who accessed artificial reefs using a dive charter boat were white males between 21- 39 years of age. Most (64%) had four or more years of college education. The median household income category of divers before taxes was $60,000 - $69,000. Most divers participated in night diving (81%), underwater photography (53%), wreck diving (52%), and marine identification (52%); only 25% participated in spear fishing. The most preferred diving depths in Texas offshore waters were 70 - 79 feet (25%), 80 - 89 feet (21%), and 90 - 99 feet (15%). When divers were asked to indicate their preferences for reef materials in order "to develop a new artificial reef in the area you dive most often", most indicated a preference for large Naval ships (89%); rig jackets, decks, and other oil production structures (67%); small boats and barges (60%); and surplus Army tanks (54%). Using two estimates of sport diver offshore trip days, estimated total expenditures (direct economic impact) by Texas residents in coastal communities ranged from $261,439 to $784,106. Of the total $322,256 to $966,533 spent in Texas coastal communities, $320,323 to $960,713, respectively, was spent by Texas resident and non-resident reef divers residing outside of these communities. The estimated $320,323 to $960,713 in direct expenditures made by non-coastal communitydivers for local goods and services generated an additional $259,738 to $779,026 in economic output, resulting in a total output of $581,994 to $1,745,559 with 12 to 35 jobs in this sport diving sector.

A technical report entitled "Demographics, Attitudes, Management preferences, and economic Impacts of Sport Divers Using Artificial Reefs in Offshore Texas Waters" is now available online in PDF format. Copies of the project executive summary, technical report, and technical report color cover (in PDF format) can be downloaded separately. You will need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader to be able to open the report (This can be downloaded below).