Abstract
Artificial reefs are effective measures to improve the marine ecological environment and increase fishery production. However, there are several geometries being investigated nowadays and their setup, including the spacing between groups of them, can provide dissimilar effects on hydrodynamics. To enhance the understanding of this topic, in this paper, the focus is mainly on M-Type artificial reefs that will be adopted in Juehua Island, Liaodong Bay, China. An experimental campaign was carried out in order to simulate the influence that M-Type unit reef groups may have on the local flow field and the Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) technique has been implemented to provide velocity maps. The results showed that with the increase of velocity’s current approaching the artificial reef, the height, length and area of the upwelling and the back vortex rise with the increase of spacing between the artificial reefs. Furthermore, when comparing different geometrical configurations with similar currents approaching the artificial reef, the maximum values of both upwelling and back vortex were obtained when the spacing between unit reefs was 1.25 L. Finally, the entropy method was used to evaluate the effects on the flow field under four kinds of spacing based on the hydrodynamic characteristics and the economic cost. The comprehensive score obtained for all the configurations followed the order 1.25 L > 1.50 L > 0.75 L > 1.00 L. Therefore, it is suggested that the original design spacing should be increased by 25% when the M-type unit reef is put into practice. Additionally, after having completed a comparative analysis, it is recommended to further change the reef group into four reef monocases. By executing this adjustment, the unit reef cost was reduced by 10%, and the influence range on the flow field increased by 10%, and this result can consequently achieve greater ecological benefits with less economic input. The results of this study provide a preliminary reference for the construction of artificial reefs M-Type from the perspective of theory and practice.
Highlights
In recent years, due to the pollution of offshore environments, habitats’ degradation, overfishing and climate change, global marine fishery resources have declined significantly [1,2,3,4]
The distribution of the upwelling and the back vortex around the reefs were mainly considered when analyzing the hydrodynamic characteristics of artificial reefs [56]
M-Type artificial reefs are investigated to determine the benefits of their presence on the hydrodynamics, and more in particular on the upwelling and back vortex characteristics they induced on the flow field
Summary
Due to the pollution of offshore environments, habitats’ degradation, overfishing and climate change, global marine fishery resources have declined significantly [1,2,3,4]. To re-establish a sustainable equilibrium, countries across the world have adopted the use of artificial reefs, which are considered to be an effective measure to reduce the impact of human activities on coastal ecosystems and increase fishery production, and have flourished as a result [5,6]. These are defined as “submerged structure[s] deliberately constructed or placed on the seabed to emulate some functions of a natural reef, such as protecting, regenerating, concentrating, and/or enhancing populations of living marine resources, providing ecological benefits” [7,8]. Due to the presence of the artificial reef, a gentle and stable eddy current characterized by low velocity is generated on the back of the reef, which facilitates the deposition of nutrients, and provides a place for fish and other organisms to live, avoid enemies and feed, enhancing fish gathering
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