The grand re-opening of Galveston Bay's Redfish Island was celebrated in March of 2003. Redfish Island, once a popular boater destination that disappeared more than a decade ago because of subsidence and erosion, is officially ready to host both boaters and wildlife. Construction of Redfish Island was a substantial task. The restoration involved carting 140 barge loads of stone to the middle of the bay, placing more than 206,000 tons of limestone on the bay bottom to create the island. The entire process, which began in June 2002, took just three months.
The "hook" in the right foreground is what we call the boater's hook, it provides a sheltered anchorage from the south, and south east. The rock contractor is filling in the narrow section to the right by hauling the rock from the off loading area. The north end of the island (to the left side of the photo), when constructed will have a necked down and shorter area to allow circulation, but not ship wakes and then a large bird nesting island. It's a unique restoration that provides for endangered bird nesting and human recreation. In the background you can see the Weeks Marine bucket dredge loading material from the Houston Ship channel widening and deepening project. This material is being placed offshore in mounds to create fish habitat. We are already seeing better fishing there from a previous effort with the outer bar material.
