BATON ROUGE, La. -- Damage to offshore oil and gas platforms
from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita has tripled the number of requests
to convert rigs into artificial reefs in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries usually gets
10 to 12 requests each year to use abandoned rigs to create fish
habitat. But that number has soared to 40 requests this year, Rick
Kasprzak, program manager of the Louisiana Artificial Reef Program,
told The Advocate of Baton Rouge for a story in Monday's editions.

Oil and gas platforms in the program are located in federal
waters, more than three miles off the Louisiana shore, with most
between 35 and 75 miles out, clustered in nine approved planning
areas. To date, 144 have been used as reefs.

This year's hurricanes damaged another 166 rigs.

The Louisiana Artificial Reef Council will soon decide
evaluation criteria for which rigs are suitable to serve as
artificial reefs, Kasprzak said. The assessments include potential
effects on the environment, navigation and fishing interests.

Hurricane Ivan in 2004 didn't hit the Gulf of Mexico nearly as
hard, passing over about 150 platforms, said Larry Wall, a
spokesman for the Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association. Hurricane
Katrina swept over 1,500 platforms, and Hurricane Rita passed over
1,600, he said.