noaa coral reef conservation program ecosystem science...

NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program Ecosystem Science

Evaluation Topical Area: Fishing Impact: Transport, movement and connectivity Presenter: Trika Gerard PhD Team: Beth Dieveney, Mariska Weijerman, Ryan Smith, John Lamkin, Jennifer Doerr

August 25, 2016

Fish Movement, transport and connectivity…….why?

Identify sources and sinks of reef fish species Effectiveness of managed areas Determine recruitment/retention Determine areas of high spawning activity Habitat Linkages

Green et al. (2014)

Fish transport, movement and connectivity • Tracking adult movements • Larval transport and connectivity • Ecosystem modeling

U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | NOAA Fisheries |

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FY10 FY11 FY12 FY13 FY14 FY15

Movement,Transport and Connectivity

Adult Movement- Objectives • Recovery of conch populations/Assessing

performance and connectivity- USVI Objectives- Habitat use, fine-scale and island-wide movements and connectivity between management zones. Numbered and acoustic tagging, and mark and recapture for growth and survival

• Performance Evaluation of Marine Zoning

in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary

Objective- Assess ecological performance of marine reserves in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary by examining benthic and fish parameters U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | NOAA Fisheries |

acoustic tags

juvenile adult

Program Products- Adult Movement


• Data/information – acoustic tracking and mark and

recapture data fine-scale habitat characterization data environmental data Raw and analyzed data (acoustic

receiver detection) • Products – digital maps of conch movement and

migration patterns written reports (describing movement) peer-reviewed publications Presentations

8-12/14

1/3/15

1/13/15

2/15

3-4/15 4-6/15

6/15 7/15

Use of Information- Adult Movement


• Who?- USVI National Park Service, USVI Division of Fish and Wildlife, Caribbean Fishery Management Council, Scientists

• How?- Inform local managers of the status of their

queen conch populations, their distribution and movements and relate to habitat/environmental characteristics.

Support stock assessment efforts and management decisions for fishing regulations (size restrictions, catch limits, and seasonal closures)

Support designation of the VI Coral Reef National Monument as a no-take reserve

Test effectiveness of marine reserve and identify connectivity

Use of Information- Adult Movement


• Who?-managers (FKNMS), public in general and various user groups

• How?- To educate and show how management

action is (or is not) making measureable impact on ecosystem protection.

To ascertain if there is a marine reserve

effect. To assist in management plan reviews and development of Environmental Impact Statements.

Future Directions


• Expand the array and deploy additional acoustic receivers south of Buck Island and East End Marine Park as well as in the FL Keys.

Buck Island Reef National Monument

(federal – no extraction)

East End Marine Park (territorial – mixed zonation)

Lang Bank (federal – seasonal)

Larval transport and connectivity • USVI Distribution and Larval Supply Objective- Abundance and composition of reef fish larvae in space and time to assess distribution and supply around managed areas. • US Caribbean CR Ecosystem Connectivity: Vieques

Sound and Virgin Passage Transport Study Objective- Examine linkages between spawning aggregation sites south of St. Thomas and banks to the north and west, via Vieques Sound and Virgin Passage

• Monitoring Reef Fish Recruitment between

Mesoamerica & Florida Ecosystems: analyses & applications

Objective- Larval dispersal and recruitment connectivity within and amongst the Mesoamerican reef, the Dry Tortugas, and the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary's reserves as well as self-recruitment within these marine reserves?


Program Products- USVI/PR


• USVI Larval- Dataset of fish larvae abundance and composition over space and time Dataset of physical oceanography measurements (temp, salinity, depth, chlorophyll,

currents) Analyses of biological and physical data (report) Monitoring information that documents changes in larval reef fish assemblages during

anomalies (publication) • Vieques Sound/Virgin Passage- In situ water column velocity time series data for moored array (6 sites) Characterized long-term flow and volume transport across sections (report) Larval density potential larval transport (report) Comparison of in-situ measurements to regional ocean modeling system (ROMS) model

(report) • Mesoamerican Connectivity Dataset of fish larvae abundance and composition/physical oceanography measurements Analysis of biological and physical data (peer-reviewed publications) Map of grouper and snapper spawning aggregations along Meso-American Reef

Key Contributions and Strengths


• Fisheries Independent data time series

• Volume and larval transport across sections

• Abundance and distribution of key reef fish species

• Data used for validation of connectivity modeling systems (CMS)

• Data delineates movement and potential spawning locations

St. Croix

St. Thomas

Pre-flexion parrot fish Dist.

Use of Information- Larval Transport and Connectivity


• Who?- Scientists and Federal Fishery Managers-sustainable fisheries

• How?- Data to validate Connectivity

Modeling System (CMS) for identifying spawning areas

Complement biological data to determine potential regions of connectivity across USVI/PR shelf

Creation of larval index for stock assessments of economically important species

Determine life history information- Ex. age, growth, spawning

Future Directions


• Genetic ID to species, age and growth • Larval traits associated with increased

survival to settlement on the reef • Effects of eddies on larval retention/export • Trophic position of reef fish larvae change

across regions of US Caribbean • Larval assemblage comparisons with an

“unfished” area (Cuba)

Objectives-Pacific

• Habitat Blueprint: an integrated coral reef ecosystem model to support adaptive management and decision making in Guam Objective- Develop an ecosystem model for the CR ecosystems around Guam


Program Products- Pacific (Guam)


• Habitat Blueprint- This work produced a complex ecosystem model that synthesized data from various organizations and in turn used to develop, tune and validate the Integrated Guam Atlantis Coral Reef Ecosystem Model

Biological environment Primary production Trophic interactions Recruitment relationships Age structure Size structure Life History Refuge Habitat

Fisheries Multiple sectors Gears Seasons Spatially explicit

Physical environment Geology Chemistry Circulation & currents Temperature Salinity Water clarity Climate variability

Nutrient Inputs Currency is Nitrogen Oxygen Silica 3 forms of detritus Bacteria-mediated recycling

Key Contributions and Strengths- Pacific (Guam)


• The model can be used to show tradeoffs for each of the ecosystem users (managers, fishers, tourists).

Goals defined by decision-makers Performance Indicators Criteria (best performance

outcome)

1. Improved habitat Calcifiers:non-calcifiers ratio 1.15 2. Increased reef resilience Biomass of parrot fish 2,399 t

3. Enhanced fish biomass Total reef-fish biomass 5,447 t 4. Maintain or improved fishery landings

Biomass of reef-fish landings caught by shore-based fishers

130 t

Use of Information- Pacific (Guam)


• Who?- Resource Managers • How?- Management Decision Support

• Ex. Informed decisions for improved coral reef

ecosystems status or improve the landing of reef fish.

Future Directions- Pacific (Guam)


• Improve the model for use as a management decision-support tool.

• Add hydrological model- offshore ocean

currents, tides and waves (Delft3D model).

Information Dissemination


• All products available via CoRIS • Data available via PARR • Peer reviewed publications • Science conferences • FMCs, Local Managers

Challenges


• Paucity of time series data on biomass • Lack of good physical oceanographic model • Consistency in staff of local management agencies (ex. Bureau

of Statistics and Planning and the Coastal Zone Management Program).

• Mis-match of complementary projects • Consistency with ship time schedule • Travel for dissemination of information • Human capital resources to do work/ operational vessels (boats,

etc.) • Lag in data being analyzed and made available to managers,

with some PI's lack of giving the data up for use • Public understanding and perception about the research - who

is funding it, collecting it, how it is collected, etc.

Project Publications • E. M. Johns, B.A. Muhling, R.C. Perez, F.E. Muller-Karger, N. Melo, R.H. Smith, J.T. Lamkin, T.L. Gerard, and E. Malca. 2014. Amazon River water in the northeastern

Caribbean Sea and its effects on larval reef fish assemblages during April 2009. Fisheries Oceanography. doi:10.1111/fog.12082 • Muhling, B.A., R. Smith, L. Vásquez-Yeomans, J. Lamkin, E. Johns, L. Carrillo, E. Sosa-Cordero & E. Malca. 2013. Larval fish assemblages and mesoscale

oceanographic structure along the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System. Fisheries Oceanography 22(5): 1-20. • AA Canto-García, JS Goldstein, E Sosa-Cordero, L Carrillo. 2016. Distribution and abundance of Panulirus spp. phyllosomas off the Mexican Caribbean coast. Bull Mar

Sci 92(2): 207-227. • Carrillo, L., E. M. Johns, R. Smith, J. Lamkin, J.L. Largier. 2015. Pathways and hydrography in the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System: Part 1 Circulation. Continental

Shelf Research, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.csr.2015.09.014 • L. Carrillo, E.M. Johns, R.H. Smith, J.T. Lamkin and J.L. Largier, 2016. Pathways and hydrography in the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System Part 2: Water masses and

thermohaline structure. Continental Shelf Research, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.csr.2016.03.014. • E. Leyva-Cruz, L. Vásquez-Yeomans, L. Carrillo, M. Valdez-Moreno, 2016 (In Press).Identifying Pelagic Fish Eggs in the Southeast Yucatan Peninsula using DNA

Barcodes.Genome. • Weijerman, M., E. A. Fulton, and F. A. Parrish. 2013. Comparison of coral reef ecosystems along a fishing pressure gradient. PLoS ONE 8:e63797. • Weijerman, M., I. C. Kaplan, E. A. Fulton, R. Gorton, S. Grafeld, and R. Brainard. 2014. Design and parameterization of a coral reef ecosystem model for Guam. U.S.

Dep. Commer., NOAA Tech. Memo., NOAA-TM-NMFS-PIFSC-43. • Weijerman, M., E. A. Fulton, A. B. Janssen, J. J. Kuiper, R. Leemans, B. J. Robson, I. A. van de Leemput, and W. M. Mooij. 2015. How models can support ecosystem-

based management of coral reefs. Progress In Oceanography 138: 559-570. doi: 10.1016/j.pocean.2014.12.017. • Weijerman, M., E.A.Fulton, I. C. Kaplan, R. Gorton, R. Leemans, W. M. Mooij, R. E. Brainard. 2015. An integrated coral reef ecosystem model to support resource

management under a changing climate. PLoSOne 10:e0144165. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0144165. • Weijerman, M., E. A. Fulton, and R. E. Brainard. 2016. Management Strategy Evaluation Applied to Coral Reef Ecosystems in Support of Ecosystem-Based

Management. PLoSOne 11(3): e0152577. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0152577. • Weijerman, M., C. Grace-McCaskey, S. L. Grafeld, D. M. Kotowicz, K. L. Oleson, and I. E. van Putten. 2016. Towards an ecosystem-based approach of Guam's coral

reefs: The human dimension.Marine Policy 63:8-17. doi: 10.1016/j.mappol.2015.09.028. • Weijerman, M., I. D. Williams, J. Gutierrez, S. Grafeld, B. Tibbats, and G. Davis. 2016 Coral reef-fish biomass trends based on shore-based creel surveys in

Guam. Fisheries bulletin 114: 237-256. doi: 10.7755/FB.114.2.9. • Grafeld, S. L., K. L. L. Oleson, M. Barnes-Mauthe, C. Chan-Halbrendt, M. Peng, and M. Weijerman. 2016. Divers’ Willingness to Pay for Improved Coral Reef Conditions

in Guam: An Untapped Source of Funding for Management and Conservation. Ecological Economics 128: 202-213.doi: 10.10106/j.ecolecon.2016.05.005. • Maxwell, K.E. et al., 2013 Fisheries Research 144: 84-90. • MacDiarmid and Butler. 1999. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. 46: 14-24. • Bertelsen, R.D. 2013. Fisheries Research 144: 91-102.


http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.csr.2015.09.014

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.csr.2016.03.014

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