Fish assemblages and benthic habitats of Buck Island Reef National Monument (St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands) and the surrounding seascape: A characterization of spatial and temporal patterns

Since 1999, NOAA’s Biogeography Branch of the Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment (CCMA-BB) has been working with federal and territorial partners to characterize, monitor, and assess the status of the marine environment around northeastern St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. This effort is part of the broader NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program’s (CRCP) National Coral Reef Ecosystem Monitoring Program (NCREMP). With support from CRCP’s NCREMP, CCMA conducts the “Caribbean Coral Reef Ecosystem Monitoring project” (CREM) with goals to: (1) spatially characterize and monitor the distribution, abundance, and size of marine fauna associated with shallow water coral reef seascapes (mosaics of coral reefs, seagrasses, sand and mangroves); (2) relate this information to in situ fine-scale habitat data and the spatial distribution and diversity of habitat types using benthic habitat maps; (3) use this information to establish the knowledge base necessary for enacting management decisions in a spatial setting; (4) establish the efficacy of those management decisions; and (5) develop data collection and data management protocols. The monitoring effort in northeastern St. Croix was conducted through partnerships with the National Park Service (NPS) and the Virgin Islands Department of Planning and Natural Resources (VI-DPNR). The geographical focal point of the research is Buck Island Reef National Monument (BIRNM), a protected area originally established in 1961 and greatly expanded in 2001; however, the work also encompassed a large portion of the recently created St. Croix East End Marine Park (EEMP). Project funding is primarily provided by NOAA CRCP, CCMA and NPS. In recent decades, scientific and non-scientific observations have indicated that the structure and function of the coral reef ecosystem around northeastern St. Croix have been adversely impacted by a wide range of environmental stressors. The major stressors have included the mass Diadema die off in the early 1980s, a series of hurricanes beginning with Hurricane Hugo in 1989, overfishing, mass mortality of Acropora corals due to disease and several coral bleaching events, with the most severe mass bleaching episode in 2005. The area is also an important recreational resource supporting boating, snorkeling, diving and other water based activities. With so many potential threats to the marine ecosystem and a dramatic change in management strategy in 2003 when the park’s Interim Regulations (Presidential Proclamation No. 7392) established BIRNM as one of the first fully protected marine areas in NPS system, it became critical to identify existing marine fauna and their spatial distributions and temporal dynamics. This provides ecologically meaningful data to assess ecosystem condition, support decision making in spatial planning (including the evaluation of efficacy of current management strategies) and determine future information needs. The ultimate goal of the work is to better understand the coral reef ecosystems and to provide information toward protecting and enhancing coral reef ecosystems for the benefit of the system itself and to sustain the many goods and services that it offers society. This Technical Memorandum contains analysis of the first six years of fish survey data (2001-2006) and associated characterization of the benthos (1999-2006). The primary objectives were to quantify changes in fish species and assemblage diversity, abundance, biomass and size structure and to provide spatially explicit information on the distribution of key species or groups of species and to compare community structure inside (protected) versus outside (fished) areas of BIRNM. (PDF contains 100 pages).

Alau reservoir: a multi-dimensional resource base in Borno State

Aspects of the fishery resources of Alau Reservoir in Maiduguri are reported upon in this paper. It focuses attention on the fishery in terms of fish abundance and potential. It also discusses other resources associated with the fish production. Various other possible uses of the reservoir are discussed too. The reservoir is thus revealed to be a most useful and versatile one in terms of fishery resources and fund generation

Land-sea characterization of the St. Croix East End Marine Park, U.S. Virgin Islands

The St. Croix East End Marine Park (STXEEMP) was established in 2003 as the first multi-use marine park managed by the U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Planning and Natural Resources. It encompasses an area of approximately 155 km2 and is entirely within Territorial waters which extend up to 3 nautical miles from shore. As stated in the 2002 management plan, the original goals were to: protect and maintain the biological diversity and other natural values of the area; promote sound management practices for sustainable production purposes; protect the natural resource base from being alienated for other land use purposes that would be detrimental to the area’s biological diversity; and to contribute to regional and national development (The Nature Conservancy, 2002). At the time of its establishment, there were substantial data gaps in knowledge about living marine resources in the St. Croix, and existing data were inadequate for establishing baselines from which to measure the future performance of the various management zones within the park. In response to these data gaps, National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS), Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment, Biogeography Branch (CCMA-BB) worked with territorial partners to characterize and assess the status of the marine environment in and around the STXEEMP and land-based stressors that affect them. This project collected and analyzed data on the distribution, diversity and landscape condition of marine communities across the STXEEMP. Specifically, this project characterized (1) landscape and adjacent seascape condition relevant to threats to coral reef ecosystem health, and (2) the marine communities within STXEEMP zones to increase local knowledge of resources exposed to different regulations and stressors.

Coral reef ecosystems of Reserva Natural de La Parguera (Puerto Rico): spatial and temporal patterns in fish and benthic communities (2001-2007)

Since 1999, NOAA’s Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment, Biogeography Branch (CCMA-BB) has been working with federal and territorial partners to characterize monitor and assess the status of the marine environment in southwestern Puerto Rico. This effort is part of the broader NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program’s (CRCP) National Coral Reef Ecosystem Monitoring Program (NCREMP). With support from CRCP’s NCREMP, CCMA conducts the “Caribbean Coral Reef Ecosystem Monitoring project” (CREM) with goals to: (1) spatially characterize and monitor the distribution, abundance and size of marine fauna associated with shallow water coral reef seascapes (mosaics of coral reefs, seagrasses, sand and mangroves); (2) relate this information to in situ fine-scale habitat data and the spatial distribution and diversity of habitat types using benthic habitat maps; (3) use this information to establish the knowledge base necessary for enacting management decisions in a spatial setting; (4) establish the efficacy of those management decisions; and (5) develop data collection and data management protocols. The monitoring effort of the La Parguera region in southwestern Puerto Rico was conducted through partnerships with the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) and the Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER). Project funding was primarily provided by NOAA CRCP and CCMA. In recent decades, scientific and non-scientific observations have indicated that the structure and function of the coral reef ecosystem in the La Parguera region have been adversely impacted by a wide range of environmental stressors. The major stressors have included the mass Diadema die off in the early 1980s, a suite of hurricanes, overfishing, mass mortality of Acropora corals due to disease and several coral bleaching events, with the most severe mass bleaching episode in 2005. The area is also an important recreational resource supporting boating, snorkeling, diving and other water based activities. With so many potential threats to the marine ecosystem several activities are underway or have been implemented to manage the marine resources. These efforts have been supported by the CREM project by identifying marine fauna and their spatial distributions and temporal dynamics. This provides ecologically meaningful data to assess ecosystem condition, support decision making in spatial planning (including the evaluation of efficacy of current management strategies) and determine future information needs. The ultimate goal of the work is to better understand the coral reef ecosystems and to provide information toward protecting and enhancing coral reef ecosystems for the benefit of the system itself and to sustain the many goods and services that it offers society. This Technical Memorandum contains analysis of the first seven years of fish survey data (2001-2007) and associated characterization of the benthos. The primary objectives were to quantify changes in fish species and assemblage diversity, abundance, biomass and size structure and to provide spatially explicit information on the distribution of key species or groups of species and to compare community structure across the seascape including fringing mangroves, inner, middle, and outer reef areas, and open ocean shelf bank areas.

The state of coral reef ecosystems of the United States and Pacific Freely Associated States: 2008

In the past decade, increased awareness regarding the declining condition of U.S. coral reefs has prompted various actions by governmental and non-governmental organizations. Presidential Executive Order 13089 created the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force (USCRTF) in 1998 to coordinate federal and state/territorial activities (Clinton, 1998), and the Coral Reef Conservation Act of 2000 provided Congressional funding for activities to conserve these important ecosystems, including mapping, monitoring and assessment projects carried out through the support of NOAA’s CRCP. Numerous collaborations forged among federal agencies and state, local, non-governmental, academic and private partners now support a variety of monitoring activities. This report shares the results of many of these monitoring activities, relying heavily on quantitative, spatially-explicit data that has been collected in the recent past and comparisons with historical data where possible. The success of this effort can be attributed to the dedication of over 270 report contributors who comprised the expert writing teams in the jurisdictions and contributed to the National Level Activities and National Summary chapters. The scope and content of this report are the result of their dedication to this considerable collaborative effort. Ultimately, the goal of this report is to answer the difficult but vital question: what is the condition of U.S. coral reef ecosystems? The report attempts to base a response on the best available science emerging from coral reef ecosystem monitoring programs in 15 jurisdictions across the country. However, few monitoring programs have been in place for longer than a decade, and many have been initiated only within the past two to five years. A few jurisdictions are just beginning to implement monitoring programs and face challenges stemming from a lack of basic habitat maps and other ecosystem data in addition to adequate training, capacity building, and technical support. There is also a general paucity of historical data describing the condition of ecosystem resources before major human impacts occurred, which limits any attempt to present the current conditions within an historical context and contributes to the phenomenon of shifting baselines (Jackson, 1997; Jackson et al., 2001; Pandolfi et al., 2005).

Avaliaçāo preliminar do estado da exploraçāo de Kapenta (Limnothrissa miodon, Boulenger 1906), em cahora bassa com base em dados históricos de captura e esforço de 1995-2000

The fishing of kapenta (Limnothrissa miodon, Boulenger 1906) on the Cahora Bassa Dam started around 1992, when considerable stocks of this species were discovered in the lake. The species is believed to have successful established in the Dam following a natural introduction through a downstream movement from Kariba dam where it was introduced in 1967/68. Fisheries statistics on the kapenta fishery have been collected since 1993 by the Ministry of Fisheries through the Provincial Offices for Fisheries Administration of Tete (SPAP - Tete) but only data from 1995 onward are available on the database of the Ministry of Fisheries and these are the data that was used for compiling the present report on which trends of fishing effort, catch and CPUE are analyzed. Catch and effort have increased with time, from a minimum of the 4 thousand metric tons for an annual fishing effort of 36 fishing rigs in 1995 to a maximum of 12 tons for a fishing effort of 135 rigs while CPUE followed a decreasing trend during the same period. Correlation analysis between catch and effort suggests that probably environmental factors may have influence on catch variation than the increase on fishing effort. Two models were applied for calculating MSY and FMSY resulting in two pairs of roof leading to two scenario of fisheries management. 10137 tons and a FMSY of 177 fishing rigs were computed using Schaefer model while 11690 tons and a FMSY of 278 were obtained using Fox model. Considering the differences between the two results and considering the fact that the two models have no differences in terms of precision and the fact that their determination coefficient are not different it is suggested, using the precautionary principle that result from Schaefer model be a adopted for fisheries management purpose.