Configuration of coral reef areas managed in the Florida Keys by the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, National Park Service, National Wildlife Refuge, and State of Florida.

Florida Keys Multi-Agency Reef Visual Census (RVC):

Southern Florida coral reefs generated an estimated 71,000 jobs and US$6 billion in
economic activity in 2001. These ecosystem goods and services, however, are threatened
by increased exploitation and environmental changes from a rapidly growing
regional human population. To address these threats, we adopted an ecosystem-based
perspective and developed a systems science analysis framework over the last decade
to better assess and improve sustainable multispecies reef fisheries in the Florida Keys.
Here we describe our progress and provide three example applications. We first built
upon traditional catch and effort stock assessment methodologies by collecting spatially-
explicit, fishery-independent data covering all reef fishes and reef habitats in the
Keys. An optimized sampling strategy and a new length-based assessment framework
provided synoptic spatial estimates of species abundance and size structures. Models
were developed that encompassed the complex biological dynamics of fish stocks and
a broad range of environmental and human impacts, including fisheries, non-target
species, predator-prey interactions, species movements, ontogenetic changes in habitat
associations, and physical processes. We show that the snapper-grouper fishery in
the Florida Keys is experiencing overfishing and that stocks are overfished relative to
established benchmarks for resource sustainability. Spatially explicit models demonstrated
the potential effectiveness of no-take marine reserves to support sustainable
fisheries, and were employed to objectively evaluate marine reserve boundary options
in the Dry Tortugas. We show the importance of considering physical coupling and
regional water quality changes resulting from Everglades restoration. A fishery systems
science framework improves understanding of impacts from fishery extraction,
ecosystem alterations, and natural oceanographic variability on the dynamics of exploited
fish stocks.

To obtain more detailed information please read 'Towards Sustainable Multispecies Fisheries in the Florida, USA, Coral Reef Ecosysmatem' (Ault et al., 2005).

In 2007, researchers with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's Fish and Wildlife Research Institute (FWRI) and NOAA Fisheries Southeast Fisheries Science Center (NOAA), in collaboration with researchers from the University of Miami-Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science (RSMAS), agreed to join efforts to perform annual monitoring of reef fish communities in the FL Keys coral reef ecosystem, with cooperative sampling to begin in 2008. In January 2008, the National Park Service Inventory and Monitoring Program South FL and Caribbean Network (NPS I&M) added cooperative support.

A draft of the sampling protocol has been established that includes: (1) Survey Design and Agency-Specific Sampling, (2) Training, (3) Sampling, and (4) Data Entry, QA/QC and Management associated with multi-agency (FWRI, NOAA and NPS I&M) annual monitoring of reef fish communities in the FL Keys coral reef ecosystem. Monitoring occurs using a scuba-based Reef fish Visual Census (RVC) approach.

Also, a workshop was given to all divers explaining how to fill out the data sheet used for sampling. During the workshop specific methods to collect data were explained for all sections: (1) General site information, (2) Fish data, and (3) Habitat data, including how to identify the different types of benthic organisms that are assessed (corals, sponges, zooanthids, macroalgae, etc.) and how to distinguish some commonly misidentified organisms (e.g., Palythoa mistaken for live coral).

     

    First reef fish sampling multi-agency meeting (March 26th, 2008). Left to right: Rob Waara (NPS), Marilyn Brandt (RSMAS/NPS), David Neal (RSMAS), Nathan Vaughan (RSMAS), Andrea Atkinson (NPS), Tom Jackson (NOAA), Doug Harper (NOAA), Ashey McCrea Strub (RSMAS), Jamie Giganti (FWRI), Jeff Simonds (FWRI), Marie Tellier (FWRI), Michael Feeley (FWRI), Natalia Zurcher (RSMAS), Jennifer Schull (NOAA), Nick Farmer (RSMAS), Karole Ferguson (FWRI), Leah Harman (NOAA), Neil Baertlein (NOAA), Bill Sympson (FWRI), Jerald Ault (RSMAS), Alejandro Acosta (FWRI), Brain Teare (RSMAS), Jiangang Luo (RSMAS), Todd Kellison (NOAA), Mike Judge (NOAA), Steve Smith (RSMAS), Michael Larkin (RSMAS), Guy Davenport (NOAA), Joe Contillo (NOAA), and Matt Peterson (NPS).

     

     

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