East Coochiemudlo Reef Deployed  Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS) deployed 36 Pallet Balls and 42 Bay Balls just east of Coochiemudlo Island to create additional recreational fishing spots. This is the second Reef Ball reef in the Marine Park and part of the government's program to create recreational fishing areas to compensate for reef closures. The East Coochiemudlo artificial reef area is bounded by the following positions:  • latitude 27° 33.974' S, longitude 153° 21.135' E • latitude 27° 34.050' S, longitude 153° 21.256' E • latitude 27° 34.293' S, longitude 153° 21.082' E • latitude 27° 34.310' S, longitude 153° 20.970' E • latitude 27° 34.297' S, longitude 153° 20.911' E Courier Mail Article on Artificial Reef Coochiemudlo Island 
FISHY BUSINESS: Deck hand Adam
Bowden jockeys one of 78 reef balls into position in southern Moreton
Bay in a project aimed at anglers. Picture: Mark Calleja Source: The Courier-Mail
LIKE great blocks of Swiss cheese, 78 reef balls were lowered carefully into southern Moreton Bay this week to create an artificial reef between Coochiemudlo and Macleay islands. The balls have a patchwork of holes to make them more attractive to fish and range from about wheelbarrow size to 700kg. Dome-shaped, they have a flat side to allow them to sit on the sea floor. Environment Department district manager Miles Yeates said the balls were placed in groups spread over about 15ha in about 12m of water. "Spreading them out makes for plenty of room for fishermen and the reef is nice and accessible for guys with a tinny," Mr Yeates said. The reefs were a State Government promise to recreational fishers when 16 per cent of the bay was put into green zones in 2009. But conservationists have attacked the program as a sop to amateur fishermen because the reefs tend to aggregate fish, making them easier to catch. Environment Minister Kate Jones said the Coochie reef marked the halfway point in the ongoing program. "Recreational fishing in the bay has been tough since the floods so the completion of this new reef in healthy waters near Coochie is good news," she said. Two reefs were completed last year and three more are due by June.
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