67944 Cruise Report NF-10-01 and NF-10-02 - DOS-2009-107 Document Published / External 67943 2010 USVI Larval Reef Fish Distribution and Supply Study Data Set PRELIMINARY CRUISE REPORT NOAA CRUISE ID: NF-10-01 and NF-10-02 US STATE DEPARTMENT CRUISE ID: DOS-2009-107 SHIP NAME: NOAA Ship Nancy Foster OPERATING AGENCY: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) PROJECT TITLE: Coral Reef Ecosystem Research / Reef Fish Resources CRUISE DATES: 16 February 2010 - 2 March 2010 (NF-10-01) 5 March 2010 - 15 March 15 2010 (NF-10-02) CHIEF SCIENTIST: Ryan H. Smith NOAA/AOML/PhOD 4301 Rickenbacker Causeway Miami, FL 33149 USA 305-361-4328 (tel) 305-361-4392 (fax) CLEARANCE COUNTRIES: Antigua and Barbuda Guadeloupe/France, for Guadeloupe, Saint Martin, and Saint Barthelemy Netherlands Antilles, for Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Sint Maarten United Kingdom, for Anguilla, British Virgin Islands, and Montserrat Saint Kitts and Nevis PORT OF EMBARKATION: Charleston, South Carolina (USA) PORT OF DISEMBARKATION: Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, USVI (USA) The United States Virgin Islands (USVI) Grammanik Bank, located to the south of St. Thomas, is the site of a multi-species spawning aggregation for economically important fish including yellowfin grouper, Nassau grouper, tiger grouper, and dog snapper. Fishing pressure at this suspected source of larval recruits prompted the US Caribbean Fishery Management Council (CFMC) in 2005 to close the bank yearly from February to April. A series of banks south of the USVI (St. Thomas and St. John) and the British Virgin Islands (BVI) provide similar habitats and spawning aggregation sites. Prior to the inception of this study, the biological and physical processes which drive production on these banks, the circulation connecting these banks, and the flows across these banks had not been quantified. As the 2005 management decisions were made in the absence of these data, regional Marine Protected Area (MPA) designations and temporary closures are presently based on professional judgment rather than quantifiable, defensible scientific information. In addition, meeting new annual catch limit (ACL) requirements of the Magnuson-Stevens reauthorization has become a priority of the CFMC. However, data limitations preclude comprehensive stock assessments for most fisheries in the region. To address these data gaps, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) scientists from the Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC) and the Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) in Miami, Florida, working with scientists from the University of the Virgin Islands (UVI) and Department of Planning and Natural Resources (DPNR) in St. Thomas, are presently conducting a multi-year, interdisciplinary research project titled the USVI Larval Reef Fish Distribution and Supply Study. This collaborative endeavor utilizes the NOAA Ship Nancy Foster to perform biological and physical oceanographic surveys of the Virgin Islands (VI) bank ecosystems and surrounding regional waters, and to service oceanographic moorings deployed across Vieques Sound and Virgin Passage (US). The long-term sustainability 0f fisheries in the VI and surrounding regions will depend on a comprehensive understanding of regional spawning aggregations, larval transport, and overall larval recruitment in the study area. Platform Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Platform Keywords Nancy Foster > NOAA Ship Nancy Foster Theme US STATE DEPARTMENT CRUISE ID DOS-2009-107 Theme NF-10-01 Theme NF-10-02 Temporal 2010 Author 2010 Person Smith, Ryan H ryan.smith@noaa.gov 4301 Rickenbacker Cswy Miami FL 33149-1026 United States (305) 361-4328 (305) 361-4392 Distributor 2022 Organization NOAA Institutional Repository REPOS noaa.repository@noaa.gov https://repository.library.noaa.gov/ NOAA Institutional Repository Home Page Online Resource https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/46445 2022 Organization NOAA Institutional Repository PDF PDF - Adobe Portable Document Format Uncompressed gov.noaa.nmfs.inport:67944 Lee Weinberger 2022-09-29T10:51:48 SysAdmin InPortAdmin 2023-10-17T16:12:37 2023-01-12 Southeast Fisheries Science Center SEFSC 75 Virginia Beach Drive Miami FL 33149 USA (305)361-5761 www.sefsc.noaa.gov 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. EST 1001 Public No 1 Year