NCCOS Project Explorer (NPE)

Grays Reef National Marine Sanctuary Habitat Mapping and Fish Habitat Utilizationization Studies(2005)

Project Description:
I. Baseline characterization of GRNMS benthic fish and sessile invertebrates has not been conducted comprehensively throughout the Sanctuary. This project quantifies those resources through a robust, statistically defensible sampling design. The project builds upon the previously completed benthic maps for the sanctuary (completed in 2003 by CCMA Biogeography Team). NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries (ONMS) and specifically the Gray's Reef NMS have expressed interest in obtaining a baseline characterization of the benthic resources in the Gray's Reef area. Such an assessment is needed to support the many activities and responsibilities of Sanctuary Staff including natural resources management, education, research, and even for promoting responsible recreational use by fishermen and divers. An understanding of the distribution of benthic resources provides the spatial framework within which to conduct Sanctuary monitoring activities, identify and protect essential fish habitat, and properly address other spatially explicit research and management goals. This baseline characterization is also the first step in monitoring temporal changes in the Gray's Reef landscape and understanding more about the dynamic nature of this region of the continental shelf. To meet this need, the NCCOS Biogeography Team mapped benthic habitats of the Sanctuary using sonar imagery. Completed maps include ledges, flat live bottom, flat sand, and rippled sand. These maps are used to stratify sampling design of fish and benthic cover. Fish communities, fishing gear, marine debris, and cover of sessile invertebrates are surveyed along transects. II. A tangent project also underway in FY05 at GRNMS is an analysis of alternative sites for a research zone within the sanctuary. The study examines ways to site a research zone that has appropriate habitat characteristics, maximizes inclusion of previous research sites, and minimizes displacement of fishers.

Expected Outcome:
I. Quantitative inventory within GRNMS, stratified by major bottom type, of: 1. benthic fish communities (species composition, abundance, size class structure) 2. sessile invertebrates (percent cover, density, height of colonizers) 3. fishing gear (density, type, impacts to bottom) 4. marine debris (density, type) Data, summary analyses, technical report to the sanctuary, and peer reviewed publications are expected project deliverables. The methods and results can be used in the implementation of the long term monitoring of the sanctuary. II. The analysis of optimal research zone sites will be a GIS and associated database of site options. The results of the GIS analysis will be provided to GRNMS, presented to the GRNMS Working Group on Research Zone Potential, and further modified for use by the Sanctuary Advisory Council as requested.