Cruise report: Coral Reef Ecosystem Research and Larval Bluefin Tuna Ecology Survey (2015) NOAA ship Nancy Foster (NF-15-02 and NF-15-03) (US Department of State Cruise ID: F201...

CRUISE REPORT

NOAA CRUISE ID: NF-15-02 and NF-15-03

US STATE DEPARTMENT CRUISE ID: F2015-010

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: 11 April 2015 - 02 June 2015

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:

Anguilla

Bahamas

British Virgin Islands

Cayman Islands

Dominican Republic

Jamaica

Mexico

Turks and Caicos Island

PORT OF EMBARKATION: Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, USVI

PORT OF DISEMBARKATION: Key West, FL

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.

We extended our annual Atlantic Bluefin Tuna (ABT) larval survey to the western Caribbean, the southeastern Gulf of Mexico, and Florida Straits in an effort to determine the extent of ABT spawning in this region. Additionally, we used adaptive sampling methods to further develop a larval habitat model. This was done because Identifying the relationships between ABT larvae and physical oceanographic gradients will greatly enhance current understanding of the early life history dynamics of this species. This work will also provide useful information on larval bluefin abundance and distribution for the entire Gulf of Mexico and western Caribbean. We anticipate that this work will reduce the variance in the calculation of the ABT larval index, which should lead to improved stock assessments across the region.

This report is also available in Spanish .

It seems that the reason why what is essentially the same cruise report has two different Department of State Cruise Numbers is that Ryan Smith of AOML was responsible for reporting results to all countries except Cuba, while John Lamkin of SEFSC was responsible for reporting results to Cuba.