Oculina Habitat Area of Concern Assessment

32995

Data Set

Published / External

3835

Oculina Habitat Area of Concern Assessment

Project

Completed

2002-12-31

Scientists and students will be exploring the deepwater coral reefs of the Oculina Banks, which stretch 30 miles offshore from Ft. Pierce to Cape Canaveral. This remote area includes the East Coast's first Marine Protected Area (MPA) which is a model for efforts underway to create new MPAs throughout southeast U.S. waters and the Gulf of Mexico. The team will use a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) to study the current health of coral on the banks, which has been decimated in places by commercial trawling. They will also test an acoustic monitoring system that could one day be used to not only monitor fish behavior but also to detect illegal fishing activity on the reefsscientists and students will be exploring the deepwater coral reefs of the Oculina Banks, which stretch 30 miles offshore from Ft. Pierce to Cape Canaveral. This remote area includes the East Coast's first Marine Protected Area (MPA) which is a model for efforts underway to create new MPAs throughout southeast U.S. waters and the Gulf of Mexico. The team will use a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) to study the current health of coral on the banks, which has been decimated in places by commercial trawling. They will also test an acoustic monitoring system that could one day be used to not only monitor fish behavior but also to detect illegal fishing activity on the reefs Scientists on the Oculina cruise will also be deploying a Passive Acoustic Monitoring System (PAMS) developed by NASA to monitor the impacts of rocket launches on wildlife refuge lagoons at the Kennedy Space Center. Led by Dr. Grant Gilmore, Dynamac Corporation, they will test the system's suitability for detecting offshore fish populations and vessel traffic. PAMS uses technology similar to that which allows the Navy to detect ships and submarines. Scientists from NASA Kennedy Space Center and NOAA Fisheries will join Dr. Gilmore specifically to see if the unit can be used to detect the presence of specific fish species and behaviors such as courtship and spawning aggregation. If so, the system could dramatically increase monitoring capabilities at the remote reefs. To understand the condition of the Oculina habitat and fish populations and to establish a baseline from which to gauge the success of the Oculina MPA in restoring them. Data collected will be integrated with past work into a Geographic Information System. This meta data on this data set should be edited

The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (SAFMC), the governing body that establishes fishing regulations, is currently considering establishing new MPAs throughout the southeast U.S and the Gulf of Mexico to help sustain declining reef fisheries, particularly snapper and grouper. Research at the Oculina Banks will provide crucial information to aid managers in making decisions about the new MPAs, including whether to extend the closure of the Oculina MPA beyond its current end date in 2004.

Spatial

Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Location Keywords OCEAN > ATLANTIC OCEAN > NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN

Theme

Grouper

Theme

Reef Fish

Theme

abundance

Theme

coral reef

Theme

distribution

Theme

finss

Theme

snapper

Temporal

2001-2004

Spatial

Atlantic Ocean

Spatial

Oculina Banks

Stratum

NOAA Fisheries Glossary species

Data Set

GIS Files

As Needed

GIS Files

None

Originator University of North Carolina at Wilmington . Publisher NOAA Undersea Research Center at UNCW

multi-beam Divers

ROV

46108

Dive Video images directory

Published / External

This landing page allows navigation to download video image files for this project. Generally they are jpeg files

Other

Yes

This landing page allows navigation to download video image files for this project. Generally they are jpeg files

GIS