‘We must protect and we must understand’: using shipwrecks to rebuild fish populations

<p>Research by marine scientists in Thailand is revealing how shipwrecks can benefit the undersea environment</p><p>Sitting at the bottom of the Gulf of Thailand about 20 metres below the ocean surface is the HTMS Hanhak Sattru. Snappers, yellowtail fusiliers and bannerfish swim through the ship’s corridors,while barnacles, algae and young coral cling to the iron ladders and machine-gun on deck. Nearby is another wreck, the HTMS SuphairinBoth were intentionally submerged by the Royal Thai Navy in 2023 to create artificial reefs and dive sites. Their planned scuttling has enabled marine scientists to produce some of the first research on how much shipwrecks change the marine environment.</p><p>There is already plenty of existing <a href="https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/artificial-reef.html">research</a> that shows that shipwrecks create a new ecosystem. But whether they pull fish from natural reefs or promote production of new fish (known as the <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/239794713_Resolving_the_Attraction-Production_Dilemma_in_Artificial_Reef_Research_Some_Yeas_and_Nays">attraction-pollution hypothesis</a>) has historically been hard to say.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/oct/31/we-must-protect-and-we-must-understand-using-shipwrecks-to-rebuild-fishing-populations">Continue reading...</a>