PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS A DEVELOPMENT SITE, AND THE CONTENT DOES NOT REFLECT THE MOST CURRENT INFORMATION.
The goal of this guide is to provide the framework for park managers and researchers to create or enhance a reef fish monitoring program within areas monitored by the SFCN. The framework is expected to be applicable to other areas as well, including the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary and Virgin Islands Coral Reef National … Read more
As a Federal trust species, the well-being of the striped bass (Morone saxatilis) population along the Eastern Seaboard is of major concern to resource users. Striped bass are an extremely valuable commercial and recreational resource. As a principal piscivore in Chesapeake Bay, striped bass directly or indirectly interact with multiple trophic levels within the ecosystem … Read more
This ecological characterization represents the continuation of an ongoing partnership between the National Marine Sanctuary Program (NMSP) and the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS), Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment (CCMA). The purpose of this collaboration is to apply a biogeographical approach to the management of marine resources within the National Marine Sanctuaries … Read more
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), in cooperation with the New Jersey Marine Sciences Consortium (NJMSC), hosted a workshop at Rutgers University on 19-21 September 2005 to explore ways to link the U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) to the emerging infrastructure of the National Water Quality Monitoring Network (NWQMN). Participating partners included the … Read more
Baseline characterization of resources is an essential part of marine protected area (MPA) management and is critical to inform adaptive management. Grays Reef National Marine Sanctuary (GRNMS) currently lacks adequate characterization of several key resources as identified in the 2006 Final Management Plan. The objectives of this characterization were to fulfill this need by characterizing … Read more
This report is the first product from a collaborative effort to implement an ‘ecosystem approach’ to assess coral reef health. Through the concurrent development and analysis of data on chemical contaminants, reef biogeography, coral pathogens, biomarkers and land use, cause and effect linkages between stressors and coral condition can be established. The project is in … Read more
This cruise report is a summary of a field survey conducted in coastal-ocean waters of the Mid-Atlantic Bight from Nags Head, North Carolina to Cape Cod, Massachusetts and from approximately 1 nautical mile (nm) of shore seaward to the shelf break (100 m). The survey was conducted May 12 – May 21, 2006 on NOAA … Read more
The health and continued existence of coral reef ecosystems are threatened by an increasing array of environmental and anthropogenic impacts. Coral disease is one of the prominent causes of increased mortality among reefs globally, particularly in the Caribbean. Although over 40 different coral diseases and syndromes have been reported worldwide, only a few etiological agents … Read more
The purpose of this document is to provide a guide for sanctuary managers interested in developing fisheries acoustic surveys in support of National Marine Sanctuary Program (NMSP) goals and objectives, using GRNMS as an example. Recently, a partnership between the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries (ONMS) and the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) … Read more
A study was conducted in October 2006 in the Charleston, South Carolina area to test the movements of three different buoy line types to determine which produced a preferred profile that could reduce the risk of dolphin entanglement. Tests on diamond-braided nylon commonly used in the crab pot fishery were compared with stiffened line of … Read more