Coastal Alabama Research Articles

The external cost of asbestos in the housing market

ABSTRACTThis study uses a Generalized Method of Moments spatial error hedonic model to estimate the potential impact of asbestos on residential property prices. The analysis examines a large sample of 32,403 housing sales occurring between 2008 and 2015 in a fast-growing Coastal Alabama region. Results indicate the presence of asbestos depreciates house values by 13.44%, translating into an external cost of approximately $25,300 per property.

Communication, information seeking, and evacuation plans for a disaster using Community Assessment for Public Health Emergency Response in the Gulf Coast counties of Alabama and Mississippi, 2011

To determine communication, information seeking, and evacuation behaviors of coastal residents in a disaster-prone area. A two-stage, probability sampling design to select 210 households in each assessment area was used. Data were analyzed using a weighted cluster analysis to report projected households for each assessment area. Public health services areas of coastal Alabama and Mississippi. Eligible respondents were 18 years of age or older, had lived in the community for at least 30 days, and were residents of the selected household. Evacuation propensity, primary communication forms, primary information forms, and special needs. Most coastal residents would evacuate if recommended by public health authorities. Fewer residents had landlines (45.9-58.8 percent) compared to residents using cellular or mobile phone service only (84.3-95.8 percent), and these residents were significantly older compared to non-landline owning residents. Most residents own pets (61.9-70.1 percent). Our assessment suggests that the majority of Alabama and Mississippi coastal residents plan to evacuate during a disaster if recommended by public health authorities. However, public health authorities should strive to evaluate multiple forms of communication to disseminate disaster preparedness and response messages to reach all vulnerable residents, especially in situations where electric services might be compromised. Emergency preparedness personnel should also be prepared for a large pet population in the event of an evacuation.

A Comparison of Red Snapper Reproductive Potential in the Northwestern Gulf of Mexico: Natural versus Artificial Habitats

AbstractThe majority of the research on adult Red Snapper Lutjanus campechanus in the Gulf of Mexico has been conducted at artificial habitats (in particular, low‐relief artificial reefs off the coast of Alabama) and more recently on oil and gas platforms off the coast of Louisiana. However, previous studies indicate that there are differences in Red Snapper demographics and reproductive biology between habitats and regions within the Gulf. Despite the lack of study of natural reefs and banks in the Gulf, these areas are believed to be the historical centers of Red Snapper abundance. This study sampled Red Snapper from habitats that include reefs located more than 125 km offshore, making them difficult to reach for routine sampling. The results indicate significant differences in Red Snapper reproductive biology between females collected on adjacent artificial and natural habitats. Annual fecundity estimates were almost 20‐fold higher in fish collected from natural habitats. Due to the high number of artificial habitats in the Gulf, these results suggest that accounting for metapopulation differences in reproductive potential is important in evaluating the status of this resource.

Red Snapper Distribution on Natural Habitats and Artificial Structures in the Northern Gulf of Mexico

AbstractIn 2011, an intensive, multiple‐gear, fishery‐independent survey was carried out in the northern Gulf of Mexico (GOM) to collect comprehensive age and length information on Red Snapper Lutjanus campechanus. Based on this synoptic survey, we produced a spatial map of Red Snapper relative abundance that integrates both gear selectivity effects and ontogenetically varying habitat usage. Our methodology generated a spatial map of Red Snapper at a 10‐km2 grid resolution that is consistent with existing knowledge of the species: Red Snapper occurred in relatively high abundances at depths of 50–90 m along the coasts of Texas and Louisiana and in smaller, patchy “hot spots” at a variety of depths along the Alabama coast and the west Florida shelf. Red Snapper biomass and fecundity estimates were higher for the northwestern GOM than for the northeastern GOM, as the latter area contained mostly smaller, younger individuals. The existence of similar surveys on petroleum platforms and artificial reefs also enabled us to calculate their relative contribution to Red Snapper distribution compared with that of natural habitats. We estimated that for the youngest age‐classes, catch rates were approximately 20 times higher on artificial structures than on natural reefs. Despite the high catch rates observed on artificial structures, they represent only a small fraction of the total area in the northern GOM; thus, we estimated that they held less than 14% of Red Snapper abundance. Because artificial structures—particularly petroleum platforms—attract mostly the youngest individuals, their contribution was even lower in terms of total population biomass (7.8%) or spawning potential (6.4%). Our estimates of Red Snapper relative abundance, biomass, and spawning potential can be used to design spatial management strategies or as inputs to spatial modeling techniques.

Reconsidering the Role of Music in Worship: A Tale From the Vineyard

In 2002 I was a year into my first full-time job serving as a music minister in a church plant on the Gulf Coast of Alabama. As part of my attempt to keep tabs on the increasing amount of new worsh...

Condition of larval Spanish mackerel Scomberomorus maculatus in relation to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill

MEPS Marine Ecology Progress Series Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsTheme Sections MEPS 558:143-152 (2016) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/meps11880 Condition of larval Spanish mackerel Scomberomorus maculatus in relation to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill J. T. Ransom1,2, J. E. Filbrun1,3, F. J. Hernandez Jr.1,* 1Division of Coastal Sciences, University of Southern Mississippi, 703 East Beach Road, Ocean Springs, Mississippi 39564, USA 2Benzie Conservation District, 280 South Benzie Blvd, Beulah, Michigan 49517, USA 3Department of Biology, 100 East University, Southern Arkansas University, Magnolia, Arkansas 71753, USA *Corresponding author: frank.hernandez@usm.edu ABSTRACT: The Deepwater Horizon oil spill (DWHOS) coincided with the pelagic larval stages of many valued commercial and recreational fishes in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Larval fish survival and eventual recruitment into adult populations may have been impacted directly through toxicity or indirectly through changes in the planktonic food web caused by the release of oil and chemical dispersants during the DWHOS event. Using samples from a long-term ichthyoplankton survey off the coast of Alabama, USA, in a region impacted by the DWHOS, the abundance and condition of larval Spanish mackerel Scomberomorus maculatus were compared during summer months in years before (2007-2009), during (2010) and after (2011) the DWHOS. Changes in larval quality were examined using morphometric and weight-based body condition indices, whereas potential trophic impacts were quantified using stable C and N isotopes. Larval abundance did not differ across years. However, larvae were in better body condition during the DWHOS period relative to before the spill. Larvae had generally similar isotopic values through time. Thus, larval Spanish mackerel body condition was largely resilient to the harmful effects of the DWHOS. Responses to the DWHOS are likely taxon-specific, as the resiliency of larval Spanish mackerel starkly contrast the response of another managed species (red snapper) during the same period. KEY WORDS: Deepwater Horizon · Gulf of Mexico · Spanish mackerel · Larval condition Full text in pdf format PreviousNextCite this article as: Ransom JT, Filbrun JE, Hernandez FJ Jr (2016) Condition of larval Spanish mackerel Scomberomorus maculatus in relation to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 558:143-152. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps11880 Export citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in MEPS Vol. 558. Online publication date: October 25, 2016 Print ISSN: 0171-8630; Online ISSN: 1616-1599 Copyright © 2016 Inter-Research.

Estimating Recreational Effort in the Gulf of Mexico Red Snapper Fishery Using Boat Ramp Cameras: Reduction in Federal Season Length Does Not Proportionally Reduce Catch

AbstractEstimating fishing effort is of critical importance in assessing population trends of exploited species. We used video camera footage collected by surveillance cameras to estimate effort during the federal recreational seasons for Red Snapper Lutjanus campechanus during 2012–2015 in coastal Alabama. For 2012 (40 d in duration) and 2013 (28 d in duration), we randomly sampled 20% of days within the season and counted the number of boats launched and number of potential anglers (total number of people) on each vessel during randomly chosen 5‐min blocks of time during each daylight or dusk hour. For 2014 and 2015, the seasons were considerably shorter, 9 and 10 d, respectively, and we were able to count the number of boats launched and potential anglers during randomly chosen 5‐min intervals every daylight or dusk hour of each day. Using hourly weather observations (wind and precipitation), day of the week (weekend versus weekday), boat launch site, and year, general linear models were constructed to predict potential Red Snapper anglers per hour. For all years combined, the model had an R2 of 0.62, with a higher R2 (0.71) for the same variables using just 2014 and 2015 data. Applying the model, we were able to predict total offshore anglers by summing the hourly predictions over the season. We then estimated total number and weight of Red Snapper harvested for this group of anglers. Reductions in season length were not proportional to catch reductions due to changes in angler behavior. Red Snapper catch (in pounds) were reduced by 26% with a 75% reduction in season length. Our findings demonstrate the utility of dockside cameras for estimating marine recreational fishing effort and demonstrate the nonstatic response of anglers to management changes.Received October 28, 2015; accepted May 25, 2016

Condition of larval red snapper (Lutjanus campechanus) relative to environmental variability and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill

The Deepwater Horizon oil spill (DWHOS) spatially and temporally overlapped with the spawning of many fish species, including Red Snapper, one of the most economically important reef fish in the Gulf of Mexico. To investigate potential impacts of the DWHOS on larval Red Snapper, data from a long-term ichthyoplankton survey off the coast of Alabama were used to examine: (1) larval abundances among pre-impact (2007–2009), impact (2010), and post-impact (2011, 2013) periods; (2) proxies for larval condition (size-adjusted morphometric relationships and dry weight) among the same periods; and (3) the effects of background environmental variation on larval condition. We found that larval Red Snapper were in poorer body condition during 2010, 2011, and 2013 as compared to the 2007–2009 period, a trend that was strongly (and negatively) related to variation in Mobile Bay freshwater discharge. However, larvae collected during and after 2010 were in relatively poor condition even after accounting for variation in freshwater discharge and other environmental variables. By contrast, no differences in larval abundance were detected during these survey years. Taken together, larval supply did not change relative to the timing of the DWHOS, but larval condition was negatively impacted. Even small changes in condition can affect larval survival, so these trends may have consequences for recruitment of larvae to juvenile and adult life stages.

Geographic range of Pachycondyla harpax (Fabricius) (Hymenoptera, Formicidae)

Pachycondyla harpax (Fabricius) is a widespread and conspicuous New World ponerine ant (subfamily Ponerinae). To examine the geographic distribution of P. harpax, I compiled and mapped published and unpublished specimen records from >1500 sites. I documented the earliest known P. harpax records for 28 geographic areas (countries, West Indian islands, and US states), including four for which I found no previously published records: the islands of Guadeloupe, Margarita, and Tobago and the US state of Georgia. Pachycondyla harpax has been recorded from every country in South and Central America except Chile and Uruguay. Pachycondyla harpax is also now known from six West Indian islands: Grenada, Guadeloupe, Jamaica, Margarita, Trinidad, and Tobago. The known continental range of P. harpax appears to be essentially continuous, extending from Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil in the south (31.8°S) to Wood County, Texas in the north (32.8°N), including the continental islands of Margarita, Tobago, and Trinidad. Isolated island populations of P. harpax on Grenada, Guadeloupe, and Jamaica may be exotic, introduced through human commerce. In the US, it is unclear why P. harpax populations are only known from Texas, Louisiana, and Georgia, when there would appear to be suitable habitat for this species all along the Gulf coast of Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida.

Identifying areas sensitive to land use/land cover change for downstream flooding in a coastal Alabama watershed

This paper explored the linkage between historic, current and future land use/land cover (LULC) conditions and peak flow and runoff volumes in a coastal community in Alabama in an effort to identify critical areas for downstream flooding. The study demonstrated that critical areas cannot be determined intuitively without conducting modeling studies. The study watershed, Eightmile Creek, experienced approximately 48 % forest loss between 1966 and 2011 largely due to urbanization. Residential development is expected to continue mostly in the central part of the watershed in the near future. Historic, current and future LULC maps were developed by processing aerial imagery, which were used in the HEC-HMS hydrologic model to study flood risk. An index method was applied to estimate the contribution of different parts of the watershed to downstream peak flows. The model showed a significant increase in peak flow and runoff volume from 1966 to 2011 and from 2011 to 2022 due to urbanization. The sensitivity of peak flows to LULC change decreased with increasing storm return periods, but the order of importance of different parts of the watershed, in terms of flooding, did not change significantly. Results of this study demonstrate the need for sustainable development by targeting areas that can have the least impacts on downstream flooding. The methodology presented in this paper can help decision makers propose land use alternatives to minimize adverse environmental impacts.

An Update on DWH-Related Restoration Projects in Coastal Alabama

An Update on DWH-Related Restoration Projects in Coastal Alabama

Gertie’s Leap to Greatness by Kate Beasley

Reviewed by: Gertie’s Leap to Greatness by Kate Beasley Elizabeth Bush Beasley, Kate Gertie’s Leap to Greatness; illus. by Jillian Tamaki. Farrar, 2016 [256p] ISBN 978-0-374-30261-0 $16.99 Reviewed from galleys R Gr. 3-5 Mary Sue Spivey’s arrival in Ms. Simms’ fifth-grade class has disturbed the social order in general and Gertie Foy’s current life mission in particular. Gertie has decided to up her academic game, become the star student of the fifth grade, and thus send the mother who abandoned Gertie years ago a final stinging message that she’s missing out on one fabulous daughter. Mary Sue, however, promptly insinuates herself into that star student slot, inching past hardworking Gertie on assignments and tests. The new girl is sly and catty, not above dropping her father’s career as a movie producer into conversations, mentioning her own close acquaintance with a teen movie star, and slipping effortlessly into alpha mode among her classmates. Things get worse when the slimy newcomer uses her mother’s credentials as an environmental lobbyist to organize an anti-oil-drilling campaign, a harsh slap at Gertie, whose father works on a gulf rig off the Alabama coast. Gertie’s now battling on too many fronts, and although the struggle for her mother’s recognition doesn’t play out the way she hoped, she does come away with a new appreciation for the family she has, an understanding of how teachers’ brains work, and grudging but heartfelt insight into what makes the class tyrant tick. Tamaki’s black and white illustrations focus on the humorous side of Gertie’s drama queen antics, while Beasley balances the humor of classroom situation comedy with raw realism about how much change smarts for kids entering their double digits, how herculean effort sometimes comes up short, and how lonely and utterly normal it is to feel passed over. Copyright © 2016 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

LA-ICP-MS chemical analysis of archaeological otoliths as a tool for seasonality and site catchment studies

Analysis of the trace element chemistry of otoliths via Laser Ablation-Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) has become common in fisheries-related work, allowing biologists to trace connectivity between habitats over the life cycles of fish. For archaeological specimens, elements from the outer edges of archaeological otoliths have the potential to provide information on site seasonality complementary to oxygen isotope data; they also may inform on place of capture of fish, thus elucidating exploited ranges and/or social and economic links between settlements. Adopting this method will require careful consideration of a number of complicating factors related to metabolic processes affecting otolith production, analytical procedures peculiar to LA-ICP-MS, and diagenesis, in addition to the usual complications of species identification and assessment of sample adequacy. Here, we review such factors as they affect the utility of the method for sourcing and seasonality research with archaeological otoliths, using the results of a pilot study of specimens from two Woodland-period sites in coastal Alabama, southeastern USA, to illustrate the potential and the current limitations of the method for archaeological research.

Fat, weather, and date affect migratory songbirds’ departure decisions, routes, and time it takes to cross the Gulf of Mexico

Approximately two thirds of migratory songbirds in eastern North America negotiate the Gulf of Mexico (GOM), where inclement weather coupled with no refueling or resting opportunities can be lethal. However, decisions made when navigating such features and their consequences remain largely unknown due to technological limitations of tracking small animals over large areas. We used automated radio telemetry to track three songbird species (Red-eyed Vireo, Swainson's Thrush, Wood Thrush) from coastal Alabama to the northern Yucatan Peninsula (YP) during fall migration. Detecting songbirds after crossing ∼1,000 km of open water allowed us to examine intrinsic (age, wing length, fat) and extrinsic (weather, date) variables shaping departure decisions, arrival at the YP, and crossing times. Large fat reserves and low humidity, indicative of beneficial synoptic weather patterns, favored southward departure across the Gulf. Individuals detected in the YP departed with large fat reserves and later in the fall with profitable winds, and flight durations (mean = 22.4 h) were positively related to wind profit. Age was not related to departure behavior, arrival, or travel time. However, vireos negotiated the GOM differently than thrushes, including different departure decisions, lower probability of detection in the YP, and longer crossing times. Defense of winter territories by thrushes but not vireos and species-specific foraging habits may explain the divergent migratory behaviors. Fat reserves appear extremely important to departure decisions and arrival in the YP. As habitat along the GOM is degraded, birds may be limited in their ability to acquire fat to cross the Gulf.

Wetland Water-Level Prediction Using ANN in Conjunction with Base-Flow Recession Analysis

AbstractThis study introduces two artificial neural network (ANN)-based methodologies to predict hourly water levels (WLs) in wetlands characterized by water tables at or near the surface that respond rapidly to precipitation. The first method makes use of hourly precipitation data and WL data from nearby sites. The second method is a combination of ANN, recursive digital filter, and recession curve method and does not require any nearby site. The proposed methods were tested at two headwater wetlands in coastal Alabama. Site 17 had two nearby sites whose WLs were highly correlated with Site 17’s. The root-mean-square error and Nash–Sutcliffe efficiencies were 2.9 cm and 0.98, respectively, when the first method was applied to Site 17. The second method was tested at Site 32. For this, the WL time series was separated into quick- and slow-response components. A combination of ANN and base-flow separation methods proved to be very efficient for WL prediction at this site, especially when the duration of qu...

Input of organic matter enhances degradation of weathered diesel fuel in sub-tropical sediments

We investigated different types of biostimulation practices to enhance degradation of weathered conventional diesel fuel in sandy beach sediments from coastal Alabama. Biodegradation rates were measured following the addition of either inorganic nutrients, or organic matter derived from either plant material (Spartina alterniflora) or fish tissue (Chloroscombrus chrysurus) both common to the region. The greatest hydrocarbon degradation rates were observed in the C. chrysurus amended treatments (k=0.0119d−1). Treatment with fish-derived organic matter increased the degradation rates by 104% as compared to control treatments, while inorganic nutrient addition increased the degradation rates by 57%. The addition of plant derived organic matter, however, only marginally enhanced the degradation rates (~7%) during the course of the study. Bacterial 16S rRNA analyses revealed that most sediment microorganisms belonged to the classes; Alphaproteobacteria, Betaproteobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria, and Bacteroidetes. The most frequently abundant hydrocarbon degraders were mostly similar to Achromobater sp., Microbulbifer sp., Ruegeria sp., and Pseudomonas sp.

Host-Fish Identifications for Two Gulf Coast-Drainage Freshwater Mussels,Lampsilis straminea(Southern Fatmucket) andQuadrula succissa(Purple Pigtoe)

Abstract Host-fish requirements are unknown for many freshwater mussels, which impedes conservation efforts. We conducted host-fish trials for 2 mussels, Lampsilis straminea (Southern Fatmucket) and Quadrula succissa (Purple Pigtoe). Our objectives were to verify techniques by successfully transforming glochidia from a long-term—brooding mussel with known hosts (L. straminea) and to identify hosts for a short-term—brooding mussel with no confirmed hosts (Q. succissa). Results of the trials confirmed known hosts for L. straminea, identified 4 new hosts for L. straminea, and identified 3 ictalurid hosts for Q. succissa. Based on results of this research, additional host trials are needed for Q. succissa and should focus on ictalurids. This study provided information necessary for the management and conservation of mussels with previously unknown hosts in southeast Alabama and west Florida Gulf Coast drainages, while confirming available resources and techniques used by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conserva...

The Evolution of the Coastal Economy: The Role of Working Waterfronts in the Alabama Gulf Coast

This article describes the evolution of the coastal economy in Alabama and examines the driving forces of the sustainable economy in a historical context. The input-output model was applied to assess the direct and secondary effects of output and employment in the coastal region. Results suggest that state industries are heavily dependent on waterfront-related activities in this area, which have fueled much of their rapid development in the past few decades. Tourism, ship building and repairing and transportation are the three dominating sources contributing to the coastal economy. There are a few general problems of working waterfronts in the coastal Alabama area, but there are also some unique problems (e.g., Hurricane Katrina, Deepwater Horizon oil spill). Policies for future sustainable development are proposed.

Down South in/of Dixie: Rethinking the Tourist South

Down South in/of Dixie: Rethinking the Tourist South J. Mark Souther (bio) Karen L. Cox, ed. Destination Dixie: Tourism and Southern History. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2012. ix + 315 pp. Illustrations, notes, and index. $74.95 (cloth); $26.95 (paper). Harvey H. Jackson III. The Rise and Decline of the Redneck Riviera: An Insider’s History of the Florida–Alabama Coast. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2012. 334pp. Illustrations, maps, essay on sources, and index. $28.95 (cloth); $19.95 (paper). Henry Knight. Tropic of Hopes: California, Florida, and the Selling of American Paradise, 1869–1929. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2013. xii + 266 pp. Illustrations, tables, notes, bibliography, and index. $74.95. Catherine Cocks. Tropical Whites: The Rise of the Tourist South in the Americas. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2013. ix + 255 pp. Illustrations, plates, notes, and index. $59.95. In the last decade, tourism has matured as a historical subfield. It has expanded geographically, temporally, and thematically and has even marked perhaps its first major historiographical watershed—a seeming sign of maturity—as historians in the last fifteen years have either extended or challenged Hal Rothman’s implication of tourism as an erosive force in Devil’s Bargains (1998). Four recent books consider tourism in various parts of the South as it relates to the region, the nation, and the Americas more broadly. The first two books refine our understanding of how tourism reworked Southern communities and Southern heritage, while the second two recover conceptions held by U.S. citizens more than a century ago to show how these ideas enabled promoters to recast tropical or semitropical places as ideal leisure destinations without abandoning the comfort, safety, and virtue of domestic society. Each of the books in different ways also examines the complex interplay of race, class, and geography. [End Page 116] Destination Dixie, an anthology edited by Karen L. Cox, interprets struggles over meanings of the past at thirteen Southern destinations ranging from individual heritage sites to cities. One might question the need for another collection of essays about Southern tourism and depictions of history at Southern destinations. After all, no fewer than a half dozen such works have appeared since W. Fitzhugh Brundage, Where These Memories Grow (2000). Yet Cox’s essayists rethink the tourist South by showing not only stereotypes purveyed by boosters and consumed by willing tourists but also the varying extents to which social change, evolving historical scholarship, and changing consumer demands supplanted older narratives and imagery with newer ones. In the spirit of James Loewen’s Lies Across America (1999), but with only minimal topical overlap and greater contextualization that comes with examining fewer sites, these essays shed light on a number of important tourist destinations that previously received little if any scholarly attention. Some contributors make huge temporal jumps that leave unanswered questions, but overall, Destination Dixie ably explores the challenges of injecting public history informed by modern scholarship into heritage sites where gatekeepers and visitors do not always embrace it. The anthology includes four sections (“People & Places,” “Race & Slavery,” “War & Remembrance,” and “Landscape & Memory”), but these categories are hardly mutually exclusive. In the first section, essays on the homes and hometowns of four iconic figures explain and critique how their respective communities regarded their legacy. Locals and visitors in Hannibal, Missouri, were slow to abandon the idea of the town as living proxy for Mark Twain’s fictional St. Petersburg. Conversely, Olympian Jesse Owens’ Alabama hometown never fully embraced its most famous son. In between, the Margaret Mitchell House and the Elvis Presley Museum failed to reconcile the presentation of race and class, leaving the former unable to account for how Mitchell could have written a racist novel and demonstrated progressive racial thinking, and the latter too blinded by “The King’s” success to grapple with the impoverished community that produced him. The second section reveals a similar difficulty in contextualizing the past at other Southern destinations. Somerset Place State Historic Site bet its future on a moonlight-and-magnolias version of North Carolina’s antebellum history, only incorporating black history in response to sagging visitation. While Charleston addressed African American history through accretions in its tour...

Depth and Artificial Reef Type Effects on Size and Distribution of Red Snapper in the Northern Gulf of Mexico

AbstractThe Red Snapper Lutjanus campechanus is a highly exploited commercial and recreational species that dominates the artificial reef systems in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Off coastal Alabama there are few natural reefs, but in the last 50 years government programs and private fishers have placed numerous artificial reefs in the northeast Gulf of Mexico with the goal of increasing fisheries production. We examined the effects of artificial reef depth and reef type on Red Snapper densities and size distributions. We used hook‐and‐line, fish trap, and scuba visual surveys to estimate Red Snapper densities on four types of artificial reefs: army tanks, pyramids, small reefs (e.g., metal cages, pipelines), and large reefs (e.g., ships, dry docks, oil platforms). Small Red Snapper (<33 cm TL) were significantly more abundant at shallower depths (<35 m) and on small artificial reefs. Army tanks showed significantly more large fish (>33 cm TL) at shallow sites (<35 m) than at deeper sites (>35 m); in contrast, pyramids showed significantly more large fish at deeper sites. Ontogenetic habitat shift and fishing mortality were the most likely factors that would explain these Red Snapper distributions. Worldwide, artificial reefs are being used to enhance fishery resources and for habitat restoration. We document the importance of reef design and deployment location for Red Snapper, as well as the need for future artificial reef deployments to consider the relevant variables that affect the species that managers are attempting to enhance.Received May 4, 2014; accepted October 20, 2014