Barge to Dump Concrete Into Pacific, Create Reef : Fishing: Formation on 220 acres of ocean bottom will provide breeding ground for fish, sport for fishermen, divers.

A long-sought artificial reef for sport fishing is to become a reality next week--just a few days after the city’s new $10.8-million pier opens Saturday, officials disclosed Wednesday.

The new artificial reef will be created Wednesday when a barge dumps 680 tons of concrete waste into the Pacific Ocean, about three miles west of the new pier, officials said.

The subsurface reef will cover 220 acres of the ocean bottom, in about 90 feet of water.

Officials scheduled a Friday press conference to announce details of the new offshore reef, but they confirmed Wednesday that the reef is already fully approved by governmental agencies and is all set for launching.

“It’s been a long, hard effort, but the reef is going to come to pass,” said Jim Paulk, director of the United Anglers of Southern California, a private organization of fishing enthusiasts that coordinated public and private efforts for the reef.

Paulk said the United Anglers had raised $10,000 to pay for moving donated concrete from Long Beach to the ocean site near the pier.

Beaming city officials on Wednesday praised the new reef as yet another attraction in Huntington Beach’s efforts to lure more tourists--including fishermen--to the community.

“This (reef) project is an excellent example of what can be done when volunteers, industry and government all work together for the good of the environment,” said Mayor Jim Silva.

Former Mayor Wes Bannister said Wednesday that he began working with fishing groups in 1988 to build the reef. “This is going to be a wonderful thing for the city,” Bannister said. “Not only will it help tourism, but it’s also going to be very good for the environment because it’ll promote new growth of sea life.”

Fishing enthusiasts have for years sought more offshore reefs in Southern California. Two years ago, plans for a man-made reef near here were first announced. That proposal, however, called for the reef to be made with the concrete remains of the old Huntington Beach pier.

But when construction workers started demolishing the 76-year-old pier in the fall of 1990, they found its concrete was too old to use as a reef. The setback appeared to have killed the prospects for an artificial reef, and little has been publicly said about it since 1990.

The announcement Wednesday that the reef was about to materialize thus came as a surprise to many people, Paulk said.

“The problem was that we had to go find some new material, and we did that,” Paulk said. He said a company that manufactures concrete items donated most of the material. Another major source of reef material is illegally imported coral that was seized by the state Department of Fish and Game.

“The Department of Fish and Game is giving us about six truckloads of confiscated coral, and that is very good material for a reef,” said Paulk.

Assemblyman Tom Mays (R-Huntington Beach), a former mayor here, said the artificial reef will “enhance our underwater environment.”

“This will provide a breeding place for several species of fish and provide new fishing and diving opportunities for everyone,” he said.