Reimagining Marine Conservation through Rigs-to-Reefs

Globally, the offshore energy industry has become spatially intertwined into the marine landscape, resulting in the installation of thousands of oil and gas platforms throughout the world's oceans. Overtime, many of these oil and gas platforms transformed into thriving reef ecosystems that have been described as some of the most productive marine habitats found in our oceans. These de-facto reefs, located away from point source pollution and excluded from destructive fishing practices, have the potential to compensate for nearshore reef habitat loss by providing a restorative habitat for marine life. Yet, as the world shifts away from fossil fuels and towards offshore renewable energy resources, most oil and gas platforms will be removed, resulting in a significant carbon footprint and the loss of the marine life that these structures support. Removal, however, is not the only decommissioning option. Rigs-to-Reefs is an alternative to traditional decommissioning whereby the undersea platform infrastructure is modified so that it can continue to function as an artificial reef. Preserving reef habitat is more important today than it has ever been as the need to build resiliency of reef ecosystems increases in the face of changing ocean conditions - and Rigs-to-Reefs can be a part of the solution for reef loss. This presentation will explore how the implementation of Rigs-to-Reefs has been used as a successful conservation practice around the world by promoting a sustainable end to oil and gas extraction and by creating an innovative pathway to combat habitat loss using the aging infrastructure left behind.