Work

‘Creative environmental engineering’ and the cost of environmental claims: legitimisation of tire artificial reefs by US federal scientists in 1960s–1970s

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Between 1966 and 1974, the US Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife carried out research on the possibilities of using waste materials for constructing artificial reefs. One of the main outcomes was the recommendation to construct reefs from waste tires. With the encouragement of the findings, more than 700 reefs containing tens of millions of tires were built along the US Atlantic seaboard. This article investigates the artificial reef study at Sandy Hook Marine Laboratory and analyses environmental claims built on its results. The results show that fisheries scientists involved in artificial reef research framed tire artificial reefs as a solution to two problems: recreational fishing enhancement and waste disposal. Their claims about the appropriateness of tire reefs became a driving force of their construction in the US.

Source: History & Philosophy of the Life Sciences

DOI: 10.1007/s40656-025-00700-7

Author: D. Porsnovs

Institution: University of Stavanger

Language: English

Topic: American Environmental and Regional History

Subfield: Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law

Field: Environmental Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDGs: Responsible consumption and production, Life below water

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $2,190