Mesophotic coral ecosystems research strategy: international workshop to prioritize research and management needs for mesophotic coral ecosystems, Jupiter, Florida, 12-15 July 2008

On July 12-15, 2008, researchers and resource managers met in Jupiter, Florida to discuss and review the state of knowledge regarding mesophotic coral ecosystems, develop a working definition for these ecosystems, identify critical resource management information needs, and develop a Mesophotic Coral Ecosystems Research Strategy to assist the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and other agencies and institutions in their research prioritization and strategic planning for mesophotic coral ecosystems. Workshop participants included representatives from international, Federal, and state governments; academia; and nongovernmental organizations. The Mesophotic Coral Ecosystems Workshop was hosted by the Perry Institute for Marine Science (PIMS) and organized by NOAA and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The workshop goals, objectives, schedule, and products were governed by a Steering Committee consisting of members from NOAA (National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science’s Center for Sponsored Coastal Ocean Research, the Office of Ocean Exploration and Research’s NOAA Undersea Research Program, and the National Marine Fisheries Service), USGS, PIMS, the Caribbean Coral Reef Institute, and the Bishop Museum.

Atlas of the shallow-water benthic habitats of American Samoa, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Ocean Service (NOS) initiated a coral reef research program in 1999 to map, assess, inventory, and monitor U.S. coral reef ecosystems (Monaco et al. 2001). These activities were implemented in response to requirements outlined in the Mapping Implementation Plan developed by the Mapping and Information Synthesis Working Group (MISWG) of the Coral Reef Task Force (CRTF) (MISWG 1999). As part of the MISWG of the CRTF, NOS' Biogeography Branch has been charged with the development and implementation of a plan to produce comprehensive digital coral-reef ecosystem maps for all U.S. States, Territories, and Commonwealths within five to seven years. Joint activities between Federal agencies are particularly important to map, research, monitor, manage, and restore coral reef ecosystems. In response to the Executive Order 13089 and the Coral Reef Conservation Act of 2000, NOS is conducting research to digitally map biotic resources and coordinate a long-term monitoring program that can detect and predict change in U.S. coral reefs, and their associated habitats and biological communities. Most U.S. coral reef resources have not been digitally mapped at a scale or resolution sufficient for assessment, monitoring, and/or research to support resource management. Thus, a large portion of NOS' coral reef research activities has focused on mapping of U.S. coral reef ecosystems. The map products will provide the fundamental spatial organizing framework to implement and integrate research programs and provide the capability to effectively communicate information and results to coral reef ecosystem managers. Although the NOS coral program is relatively young, it has had tremendous success in advancing towards the goal to protect, conserve, and enhance the health of U.S. coral reef ecosystems. One objective of the program was to create benthic habitat maps to support coral reef research to enable development of products that support management needs and questions. Therefore this product was developed in collaboration with many U.S. Pacific Territory partners. An initial step in producing benthic habitat maps was the development of a habitat classification scheme. The purpose of this document is to outline the benthic habitat classification scheme and protocols used to map American Samoa, Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Thirty-two distinct benthic habitat types (i.e., four major and 14 detailed geomorphological structure classes; eight major and 18 detailed biological cover types) within eleven zones were mapped directly into a geographic information system (GIS) using visual interpretation of orthorectified IKONOS satellite imagery. Benthic features were mapped that covered an area of 263 square kilometers. In all, 281 square kilometers of unconsolidated sediment, 122 square kilometers of submerged vegetation, and 82.3 square kilometers of coral reef and colonized hardbottom were mapped.

Synopsis of researcher meeting -- Bottlenose Dolphin Health & Risk Assessment Project, February 22-24, 2005

A meeting was convened on February 22-24, 2005 in Charleston, South Carolina to bring together researchers collaborating on the Bottlenose Dolphin Health and Risk Assessment (HERA) Project to review and discuss preliminary health-related findings from captured dolphins during 2003 and 2004 in the Indian River Lagoon (IRL), FL and Charleston (CHS), SC. Over 30 researchers with diverse research expertise representing government, academic and marine institutions participated in the 2-1/2 day meeting. The Bottlenose Dolphin HERA Project is a comprehensive, integrated, multi-disciplinary research program designed to assess environmental and anthropogenic stressors, as well as the health and long-term viability of Atlantic bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus). Standardized and comprehensive protocols are being used to evaluate dolphin health in the coastal ecosystems in the IRL and CHS. The Bottlenose Dolphin Health and Risk Assessment (HERA) Project was initiated in 2003 by Dr. Patricia Fair at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/National Ocean Service/Center for Coastal Environmental Health and Biomolecular Research and Dr. Gregory Bossart at the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution under NMFS Scientific Research Permit No. 998-1678-00 issued to Dr. Bossart. Towards this end, this study focuses on developing tools and techniques to better identify health threats to these dolphins, and to develop links to possible environmental stressors. Thus, the primary objective of the Dolphin HERA Project is to measure the overall health and as well as the potential health hazards for dolphin populations in the two sites by performing screening-level risk assessments using standardized methods. The screening-level assessment involves capture, sampling and release activities during which physical examinations are performed on dolphins and a suite of nonlethal morphologic and clinicopathologic parameters, to be used to develop indices of dolphin health, are collected. Thus far, standardized health assessments have been performed on 155 dolphins during capture-release studies conducted in Years 2003 and 2004 at the two sites. A major collaboration has been established involving numerous individuals and institutions, which provide the project with a broad assessment capability toward accomplishing the goals and objectives of this project.

Hydrogen, carbon monoxide, and methane in the marine environment

EXTRACT (SEE PDF FOR FULL ABSTRACT): The horizontal and vertical distribution of three dissolved trace gases, namely molecular hydrogen, carbon monoxide, and methane, was measured in coastal and oceanic areas. Atmospheric concentrations of these gases were measured both at locations influenced by nearby human activity, and in areas far removed from these inputs.

Climate impacts on U. S. living marine resources: National Marine Fisheries Services concerns, activities and needs

With the increasing recognition that climate change is occurring and having large impacts on living marine resources, a sound ecosystem approach to management of those resources requires both understanding how climate affects ecosystems and integration of that understanding into management processes. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) must identify how changing climatic conditions will impact its mission and must be prepared to adapt to these changes. This document identifies the climate related ecosystem concerns in the regional marine ecosystems for which NMFS has living marine resource management responsibilities, what NMFS is currently doing to address these concerns, what NMFS must do going forward to address these concerns, and what climate information is needed to integrate climate into resource management. The regional ecosystems included in this analysis are: the Northeast U.S. Continental Shelf; the Southeast U.S. Continental Shelf, Gulf of Mexico, and U.S. Caribbean; the California Current Ecosystem; the Alaskan Ecosystem Complex; the Pacific Island Ecosystem Complex; the Eastern Tropical Pacific; North Pacific Highly Migratory Species; and the Antarctic.

An approach to estimating rockfish biomass based on larval production, with application to Sebastes jordani

An assessment of the total biomass of shortbelly rockfish (Sebastes jordani) off the central California coast is presented that is based on a spatially extensive but temporally restricted ichthyoplankton survey conducted during the 1991 spawning season. Contemporaneous samples of adults were obtained by trawl sampling in the study region. Daily larval production (7.56 × 1010 larvae/d) and the larval mortality rate (Z=0.11/d) during the cruise were estimated from a larval “catch curve,” wherein the logarithm of total age-specific larval abundance was regressed against larval age. For this analysis, larval age compositions at each of the 150 sample sites were determined by examination of otolith microstructure from subsampled larvae (n=2203), which were weighted by the polygonal Sette-Ahlstrom area surrounding each station. Female population weight-specific fecundity was estimated through a life table analysis that incorporated sex-specific differences in adult growth rate, female maturity, fecundity, and natural mortality (M). The resulting statistic (102.17 larvae/g) was insensitive to errors in estimating M and to the pattern of recruitment. Together, the two analyses indicated that a total biomass equal to 1366 metric tons (t)/d of age-1+ shortbelly rockfish (sexes combined) was needed to account for the observed level of spawning output during the cruise. Given the long-term seasonal distribution of spawning activity in the study area, as elucidated from a retrospective examination of California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigation (CalCOFI) ichthyoplankton samples from 1952 to 1984, the “daily” total biomass was expanded to an annual total of 67,392 t. An attempt to account for all sources of error in the derivation of this estimate was made by application of the delta-method, which yielded a coefficient of variation of 19%. The relatively high precision of this larval production method, and the rapidity with which an absolute biomass estimate can be obtained, establishes that, for some species of rockfish (Sebastes spp.), it is an attractive alternative to traditional age-structured stock assessments.

Swimming depth, ambient water temperature preference, and feeding frequency of young Pacific bluefin tuna (Thunnus orientalis) determined with archival tags

We investigated the migration and behavior of young Pacific Bluefin tuna (Thunnus orientalis) using archival tags. The archival tag measures environmental variables, records them in its memory, and estimates daily geographical locations based on measured light levels. Of 166 archival tags implanted in Pacific bluefin tuna that were released at the northeastern end of the East China Sea from 1995 to 1997, 30 tags were recovered, including one from a fish that migrated across the Pacific. This article describes swimming depth, ambient water temperature, and feeding frequency of young Pacific bluefin tuna based on retrieved data. Tag performance, effect of the tag on the fish, and horizontal movements of the species are described in another paper. Young Pacific bluefin tuna swim mainly in the mixed layer, usually near the sea surface, and swim in deeper water in daytime than at nighttime. They also exhibit a pattern of depth changes, corresponding to sunrise and sunset, apparently to avoid a specific low light level. The archival tags recorded temperature changes in viscera that appear to be caused by feeding, and those changes indicate that young Pacific bluefin tuna commonly feed at dawn and in the daytime, but rarely at dusk or at night. Water temperature restricts their distribution, as indicated by changes in their vertical distribution with the seasonal change in depth of the thermocline and by the fact that their horizontal distribution is in most cases confined to water in the temperature range of 14−20°C.

Diets of thornback ray (Raja clavata) and tope shark (Galeorhinus galeus) in the bottom longline fishery of the Azores, northeastern Atlantic

Tope shark (Galeorhinus galeus) and thornback ray (Raja clavata) are the two most captured elasmobranch species by the Azorean bottom longline fishery. In order to better understand the trophic dynamics of these species in the Azores, the diets of thornback ray and tope shark caught in this area during 1996 and 1997 were analyzed to describe feeding patterns and to investigate the effect of sex, size, and depth and area of capture on diet. Thornback rays fed mainly upon fishes and reptants, but also upon polychaetes, mysids, natant crustaceans, isopods, and cephalopods. In the Azores, this species preyed more heavily upon fish compared with the predation patterns described in other areas. Differences in the diet may be due to differences in the environments (e.g. in the Azores, seamounts and oceanic islands are the major topographic features, whereas in all other studies, continental shelves have been the major topographic feature). No differences were observed in the major prey consumed between the sexes or between size classes (49−60, 61−70, 71−80, and 81−93 cm TL). Our study indicates that rays inhabiting different depths and areas (coastal or offshore banks) prey upon different resources. This appears to be related to the relative abundance of prey with habitat. Tope sharks were found to prey almost exclusively upon teleost fish: small shoaling fish, mainly boarfish (Capros aper) and snipefish (Macroramphosus scolopax), were the most frequent prey. This study illustrates that thornback rays and tope sharks are top predators in waters off the Azores.

Abundance of cetatceans in the southern U.S. North Atlantic Ocean during summer 1998

The U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act requires that the abundance of marine mammals in U.S. waters be assessed. Because this requirement had not been met for a large portion of the North Atlantic Ocean (U.S. waters south of Maryland), a ship-based, line-transect survey was conducted with a 68 m research ship between Maryland (38.00°N) and central Florida (28.00°N) from the 10-m isobath to the boundary of the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone. The study area (573,000 km2) was surveyed between 8 July and 17 August 1998. Minimum abundance estimates were based on 4163 km of effort and 217 sightings of at least 13 cetacean species and other taxonomic categories. The most commonly sighted species (number of groups) were bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops truncatus (38); sperm whales, Physeter macrocephalus (29); Atlantic spotted dolphins, Stenella frontalis (28); and Risso’s dolphins, Grampus griseus (22). The most abundant species (abundance; coeffi cient of variation) were Atlantic spotted dolphins (14,438; 0.63); bottlenose dolphins (13,085; 0.40); pantropical spotted dolphins, S. attenuate (12,747; 0.56); striped dolphins, S. coeruleoalba (10,225; 0.91); and Risso’s dolphins (9533; 0.50). The abundance estimate for the Clymene dolphin, S. clymene (6086; 0.93), is the first for the U.S. Atlantic Ocean. Sperm whales were the most abundant large whale (1181; 0.51). Abundances for other species or taxonomic categories ranged from 20 to 5109. There were an estimated 77,139 (0.23) cetaceans in the study area. Bottlenose dolphins and Atlantic spotted dolphins were encountered primarily in continental shelf (<200 m) and continental slope waters (200−2000 m). All other species were generally sighted in oceanic waters (>200 m). The distribution of some species varied north to south. Striped dolphins, Clymene dolphins, and sperm whales were sighted primarily in the northern part of the study area; whereas pantropical spotted dolphins were sighted primarily in the southern portion.

The effects of docks on seagrasses, with particular emphasis on the threatened seagrass, Halophila johnsonii

In March of 2005, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Special Projects Office released "Population Trends along the Coastal United States: 1980-2008." This report includes population changes and trends between 1980 and 2003 and projected changes in coastal populations by 2008. Given the findings, pressure on coastal resources around the country will continue to rise, particularly in Florida. ... One of our most valuable coastal resources is seagrass, but human desire and need to live on the coast means that our habitat overlaps with suitable seagrass habitat. Seagrasses can be found in coastal areas around the world but are limited to relatively shallow, relatively clear water because of their reliance on light for photosynthesis. Seagrasses provide food for both small and large marine organisms, larval and adult stage. They provide shelter and habitat to a variety of commercially important fish and invertebrates. They baffle the water column and inhibit the resuspension of sediments. They prevent erosion and fix and recycle nutrients. The physical and ecological benefits of seagrasses make them very important to human welfare, but their light-limited coastal distribution makes them highly susceptible to anthropogenic influences.

Bycatch in the tuna purse-seine fisheries of the western Indian Ocean

Bycatch taken by the tuna purse-seine fishery from the Indian Ocean pelagic ecosystem was estimated from data collected by scientific observers aboard Soviet purse seiners in the western Indian Ocean (WIO) during 1986–92. A total of 494 sets on free-swimming schools, whale-shark-associated schools, whale-associated schools, and log-associated schools were analyzed. More than 40 fish species and other marine animals were recorded. Among them only two species, yellow-fin and skipjack tunas, were target species. Average levels of bycatch were 0.518 metric tons (t) per set, and 27.1 t per 1000 t of target species. The total annual purse-seine catch of yellowfin and skipjack tunas by principal fishing nations in the WIO during 1985–94 was 118,000–277,000 t. Nonrecorded annual bycatch for this period was estimated at 944–2270 t of pelagic oceanic sharks, 720–1877 t of rainbow runners, 705–1836 t of dolphinfishes, 507–1322 t of triggerfishes, 113–294 t of wahoo, 104–251 t of billfishes, 53–112 t of mobulas and mantas, 35–89 t of mackerel scad, 9–24 t of barracudas, and 67–174 t of other fishes. In addition, turtle bycatch and whale mortalities may have occurred. Because the bycatches were not recorded by some purse-seine vessels, it was not possible to assess the full impact of the fisheries on the pelagic ecosystem of the Indian Ocean. The first step to solving this problem is for the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission to establish a pro-gram in which scientific observers are placed on board tuna purse-seine and longline vessels fishing in the WIO.

Vertical and horizontal movements of southern bluefin tuna (Thunnus maccoyii) in the Great Australian Bight observed with ultrasonic telemetry

The vertical and horizontal movements of southern bluefin tuna (SBT), Thunnus maccoyii, in the Great Australian Bight were investigated by ultrasonic telemetry. Between 1992 and 1994, sixteen tuna were tracked for up to 49 h with depth or combined temperature-depth transmitting tags. The average swimming speeds (measured over the ground) over entire tracks ranged from 0.5 to 1.4 m/s or 0.5 to 1.4 body lengths/s. The highest sustained swimming speed recorded was 2.5 m/s for 18 hours. Horizontal movements were often associated with topographical features such as lumps, reefs, islands and the shelf break. They spent long periods of time at the surface during the day (nearly 30%), which would facilitate abundance estimation by aerial survey. At night, they tended to remain just below the surface, but many remained in the upper 10 m throughout the night. SBT were often observed at the thermocline interface or at the surface while travelling. A characteristic feature of many tracks was sudden dives before dawn and after sunset during twilight, followed by a gradual return to their original depth. It is suggested that this is a behavior evolved to locate the scattering layer and its associated prey when SBT are in waters of sufficient depth. SBT maintained a difference between stomach and ambient temperature of up to 9°C.

Fish for the future: Fisheries development and food security for Kiribati in an era of global climate change

The Republic of Kiribati is a vast South Pacific island group with one of the largest exclusive economic zones (EEZs) in the world. Kiribati waters support a wealth of marine fisheries activities. These activities occur in oceanic, coastal and inshore environments and range from large, foreign, industrial-scale oceanic fishing operations to small-scale, domestic, inshore subsistence fisheries, aquaculture and recreational fisheries. Kiribati has developed a framework of domestic and international governance arrangements that are designed to sustainably manage its wealth of marine resources. The report provides background information for fisheries projects in Kiribati that aim to build food security, improve artisanal livelihoods and strengthen community engagement in fisheries governance. It provides information on the current status of Kiribati fishery resources (oceanic and coastal), their current governance and future challenges. Fish and fisher alike pay little heed to maritime boundaries and bureaucratic distinctions. This report covers both sides of the oceanic/coastal boundary because of the I-Kiribati communities’ interest in oceanic fisheries such as tuna and their heavy dependence on its fisheries resources for food security and economic development. The report focuses on two potential pilot sites for community-based fisheries management projects: North Tarawa and Butaritari.

Climate forcing of Pacific herring recruitment and growth in southern British Columbia

Over the last 50 years, much of the variability in ocean climate and herring recruitment has occurred at two dominant periods centered around 5 and 16 years. Herring growth has also exhibited a dominant 5- and 18-year periodicity. A recent analysis of a number of relevant time series suggests that interannual variations in oceanic conditions off the west coast of Vancouver Island affect survival of herring and their principal predator, Pacific hake, which also exhibits a marked 16-year oscillation in abundance. Thus the dynamics of the herring stock are modulated by a combination of climate and predator forcing. Much of the interannual variation in herring growth is centered around the 5-year (moderate ENSO period) and 16-year (strong ENSO period) ocean climate oscillations and the 16-year recruitment oscillation.

The role of direct observation in predicting climatic change

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Center for Ocean Analysis and Prediction (COAP) in Monterey, California, has assembled information to suggest how NOAA's facilities for observing the ocean and atmosphere might be applied to studies of paleoclimate. This effort resulted, indirectly, in several projects that combine direct observations of the ocean/atmosphere system with studies of past climate of the Pacific region. This article considers concepts that link the two kinds of investigations. It defines the thesis that direct observation of systems that generate paleoclimatic information is the nexus upon which understanding of climatic variability begins and upon which prediction of climate and global change depends.