Marine Debris Survey Manual

Over the last several years, concern has increased about the amount of man-made materials lost or discarded at sea and the potential impacts to the environment. The scope of the problem depends on the amounts and types of debris. One problem in making a regional comparison of debris is the lack of a standard methodology. The objective of this manual is to discuss designs and methodologies for assessment studies of marine debris. This manual has been written for managers, researchers, and others who are just entering this area of study and who seek guidance in designing marine debris surveys. Active researchers will be able to use this manual along with applicable references herein as a source for design improvement. To this end, the authors have synthesized their work and reviewed survey techniques that have been used in the past for assessing marine debris, such as sighting surveys, beach surveys, and trawl surveys, and have considered new methods (e.g., aerial photography). All techniques have been put into a general survey planning framework to assist in developing different marine debris surveys. (PDF file contains 100 pages.)

Panama City Fisheries Resources Office: FY 2006 Annual Report

HIGHLIGHTS FOR FY 2006 1. Captured and tagged 475 Gulf sturgeons in five Florida rivers and one bay. 2. Documented Gulf sturgeon marine movement and habitat use in the Gulf of Mexico. 3. Assisted the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) with the collection of Gulf sturgeon, implantation of acoustic tags, and monitoring of fish in a study to examine movement patterns and habitat use in Pensacola and Choctawhatchee bays post-Hurricane Ivan. 4. Provided technical assistance to Jon “Bo” Sawyer in completing a study – Summer Resting Areas of the Gulf Sturgeon in the Conecuh/Escambia River System, Alabama-Florida – for acquiring a Degree of Master of Science at Troy University, Alabama. 5. Coordinated tagging and data collection with NOAA observers aboard trawlers while collecting Gulf sturgeon during dredging operations in the coastal Gulf of Mexico. 6. Hosted the 7th Annual Gulf Sturgeon Workshop. 7. Implemented Gulf Striped Bass Restoration Plan by coordinating the 23rd Annual Morone Workshop, leading the technical committee, transporting broodfish, coordinating the stocking on the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint (ACF) river system, and evaluating post-stocking success. 8. Continued updating and managing the Freshwater Mussel Survey Database, a Geographic Information System (GIS) database, for over 800 unique sites in the Northeast Gulf (NEG) drainages in Alabama (AL), Georgia (GA), and Florida (FL). 9. Formed a recovery implementation team for listed mussels in the ACF river basin and oversaw grant cooperative agreements for 14 listed and candidate freshwater mussels in the NEG watersheds. 10. Initiated a project in the Apalachicola River to relocate mussels stranded as a result of drought conditions, and calculate river flows at which mussels would be exposed. 11. Initiated a project in Sawhatchee Creek, Georgia to determine the status of threatened and endangered (T&E) freshwater mussels and target restoration projects, population assessments, and potential population augmentation to lead toward recovery of the listed species. 12. Initiated a study to determine the age and growth of the endangered fat threeridge mussel (Amblema neislerii). 13. Provided technical assistance to the Panama City Ecological Services office for a biological opinion on the operations of Jim Woodruff Lock and Dam and its effects on the listed species and designated and proposed critical habitat in the Apalachicola River, Florida. 14. Assisted with a multi-State, inter-agency team to develop a management plan to restore the Alabama shad in the ACF river system. 15. Conducted fishery surveys on Tyndall AFB, Florida and Ft. Benning, Georgia and completed a report with recommendations for future recreational fishery needs. 16. Provided fishery technical assistance to four National Wildlife Refuges (NWR) (i.e., Okefenokee NWR, Banks Lake NWR, St. Vincent NWR, and St. Marks NWR). 17. Initiated an Aquatic Resources and Recreation Fishing Survey on Department of Defense facilities located in Region 4. 18. Identified 130 road-stream crossings on Eglin AFB for rehabilitation and elimination of sediment imputs. 19. Continued the Aquatics Monitoring Program at Eglin AFB to assess techniques that determine current status and sustainability of aquatic habitat and develop a measure to determine quality or degradation of habitat. 20. Assisted Eglin AFB Natural Resource managers in revising the installation’s Integrated Natural Resources Management Plan (INRMP) and its associated component plans. 21. Coordinated recovery efforts for the endangered Okaloosa darter including population/life history surveys, stream restoration, and outreach activities. 22. Initiated a comprehensive status review of the Okaloosa darter with analyses performed to assess available habitat, preferred habitats, range expansions/reductions/fragmentations, population size, and probability of extinction. 23. Assisted the Gulf Coastal Plain Ecosystem Partnership and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) under a Memorandum of Agreement to develop conservation strategies, implement monitoring and assessment programs, and secure funds for aquatic management programs in six watersheds in northwest Florida and southeast Alabama. 24. Entered into a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Air Force to encourage the conservation and rehabilitation of natural resources at Hurlburt Field, Florida. 25. Multiple outreach projects were completed to detail aquatic resources’ conservation needs and opportunities; including National Fishing Week, Earth Day, several festivals, and school outreach.

Spatial and temporal variation in otolith chemistry for tautog (Tautoga onitis) in Narragansett Bay and Rhode Island coastal ponds

The elemental composition of otoliths may provide valuable information for establishing connectivity between fish nursery grounds and adult fish populations. Concentrations of Rb, Mg, Ca, Mn, Sr, Na, K, Sr, Pb, and Ba were determined by using solution-based inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry in otoliths of young-of-the year tautog (Tautoga onitis) captured in nursery areas along the Rhode Island coast during two consecutive years. Stable oxygen (δ18O) and carbon (δ13C) isotopic ratios in young-of-the year otoliths were also analyzed with isotope ratio mass spectrometry. Chemical signatures differed significantly among the distinct nurseries within Narragansett Bay and the coastal ponds across years. Significant differences were also observed within nurseries from year to year. Classification accuracy to each of the five tautog nursery areas ranged from 85% to 92% across years. Because accurate classification of juvenile tautog nursery sites was achieved, otolith chemistry can potentially be used as a natural habitat tag.

Offshore Migratory Corridors and Aerial Photogrammetric Body Length Comparisons of Southbound Gray Whales, Eschrichtius robustus, in the Southern California Bight, 1988–1990

Through most of their annual migration, gray whales, Eschrichtius robustus, remain within 10 km of shore, but in the Southern California Bight many individuals migrate much farther from shore. This paper summarizes aerial survey and photogrammetric efforts to determine body lengths and temporal and spatial distributions of migratory gray whales in the southern portion of the Southern California Bight. Aerial surveys were flown along 13 east–west transects between lat. 32°35′N and 33°30′N during the southbound gray whale migratory seasons of 1988–90 in the Southern California Bight. Photogrammetry was used to obtain body length estimates of animals during some of the surveys. A total of 1,878 whales in 675 groups were sighted along 25,440 km of transect distance flown and 217 body lengths were measured. Using position and heading data, three major migratory pathways or corridors in the southern portion of the bight are defined. Those migrating offshore were split almost evenly between two corridors along the west sides of Santa Catalina and San Clemente Islands. These corridors converge on the mainland coast between San Diego and the United States–Mexico border. No whales larger than 11.5 m were photographed within 30 km of the mainland coast, suggesting that smaller, and presumably younger, whales use the coastal migratory corridor through the California Bight.