Fish and habitat community assessments on North Carolina shipwrecks: potential sites for detecting climate change in the graveyard of the Atlantic

The Monitor National Marine Sanctuary (MNMS) was the nation’s first sanctuary, originally established in 1975 to protect the famous civil war ironclad shipwreck, the USS Monitor. Since 2008, sanctuary sponsored archeological research has branched out to include historically significant U-boats and World War II shipwrecks within the larger Graveyard of the Atlantic off the coast of North Carolina. These shipwrecks are not only important for their cultural value, but also as habitat for a wide diversity of fishes, invertebrates and algal species. Additionally, due to their unique location within an important area for biological productivity, the sanctuary and other culturally valuable shipwrecks within the Graveyard of the Atlantic are potential sites for examining community change. For this reason, from June 8-30, 2010, biological and ecological investigations were conducted at four World War II shipwrecks (Keshena, City of Atlanta, Dixie Arrow, EM Clark), as part of the MNMS 2010 Battle of the Atlantic (BOTA) research project. At each shipwreck site, fish community surveys were conducted and benthic photo-quadrats were collected to characterize the mobile conspicuous fish, smaller prey fish, and sessile invertebrate and algal communities. In addition, temperature sensors were placed at all four shipwrecks previously mentioned, as well as an additional shipwreck, the Manuela. The data, which establishes a baseline condition to use in future assessments, suggest strong differences in both the fish and benthic communities among the surveyed shipwrecks based on the oceanographic zone (depth). In order to establish these shipwrecks as sites for detecting community change it is suggested that a subset of locations across the shelf be selected and repeatedly sampled over time. In order to reduce variability within sites for both the benthic and fish communities, a significant number of surveys should be conducted at each location. This sampling strategy will account for the natural differences in community structure that exist across the shelf due to the oceanographic regime, and allow robust statistical analyses of community differences over time.

Financing And Cooperation For Sustainable Development In The Mediterranean, Sophia Antipolis, France, 3-4 June 2004: Volume II: Technical Report of the Workshop

(263 page document)

Report of the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission for the year 1991

ENGLISH: The Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission operates under the authority and direction of a convention originally entered into by Costa Rica and the United States. The convention, which came into force in 1950, is open to adherence by other governments whose nationals fish for tropical tunas in the eastern Pacific Ocean. Under this provision Panama adhered in 1953, Ecuador in 1961, Mexico in 1964, Canada in 1968, Japan in 1970, and France and Nicaragua in 1973. Ecuador withdrew from the Commission in 1968, Mexico in 1978, Costa Rica in 1979, and Canada in 1984. Costa Rica re-adhered to the convention in 1989, and Vanuatu joined the Commission in 1990. A technical meeting was convened in La Jolla, California, USA, on January 14•15, 1991, to elaborate the details of an international program for the conservation of the dolphin populations affected by the fishery for tunas in the eastern Pacific Ocean. SPANISH: La Comisión Interamericana del Atún Tropical funciona bajo la autoridad y dirección de un convenio suscrito originalmente por Costa Rica y los Estados Unidos de América. El convenio, vigente desde 1950, está abierto a la afiliación de cualquier pais cuyos ciudadanos pesquen atunes tropicales en el Oceano Pacífico oriental. Bajo esta estipulación, la República de Panamá se afilió en 1953, Ecuador en 1961, Mexico en 1964, Canadá en 1968, Japón en 1970, Francia y Nicaragua en 1973. Ecuador se retiró de la Comisión en 1968, México en 1978, Costa Rica en 1979 y Canadá en 1984. Costa Rica se adhirió de nuevo al Convenio en 1989, y Vanuatu se hizo miembro de la Comisión en 1990. (PDF contains 273 pages.)