In 2007, Texas sank the retired 473-foot Texas Clipper off South Padre Island; it now brings in over $1 million from anglers and up to $2 million from divers

In November 2007, Texas transformed the retired 473-foot USTS Texas Clipper from a former passenger liner and maritime training ship into an artificial reef in the Gulf of Mexico. The vessel was deployed about 17 miles off South Padre Island, where its steel hull and multiple decks provided hard surfaces for marine organisms and shelter for fish after it was sunk. Nearly two decades later, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) says that the Texas Clipper reef generatesmore than $1 million from anglers and approximately $1.4 million to $2 million from divers.

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