Palos Verdes Reef Restoration Project Begins Again This Week

A project to restore reefs and marine animals off the Palos Verdes Peninsula Coast resumes this week and is expected to be finished in September. A large barge and crane will be seen off Rancho Palos Verdes, near Trump National Golf Course, when work resumes on the Palos Verdes Reef Restoration Project on Thursday, Aug. 27, which will restore the rocky reefs that have been impacted by decades of landslides. The artificial reef is also designed to attract fish and other marine animals, while creating fishing opportunities, decimated by reef loss and contamination from DDT and PCB, according to scientists involved in the project... ...Another issue, according to Pondella and The Bay Foundation is the loss of kelp forests, which has been impacted by landslides over the decades. According to its website, The Bay Foundation estimates the Palos Verdes Peninsula has lost approximately 75 recent of its giant kelp canopy. The causes include sedimentation development, urban runoff, storms slowing kelp growth and overfishing resulting in the loss of urchin predators.“This allowed purple urchins, a dominant kelp herbivore, to overrun the reef and devour the remaining kelp,” reads the website. “If left alone, kelp forest recovery may take decades.” ...