The design of this field mission is three fold: (1) to spatially characterize the distribution, abundance and size of both reef fishes and macro invertebrates within and around the waters of the Flower Gardens National Marine Sanctuary using, (2) to relate this information to in-situ data collected on associated habitat parameters and (3) to use hydroacoustics technologies for a comprehensive assessment of East and West Bank. This information collected will be used to evaluate the utility of an experimental fishing closure on one of the most pristine reefs under US jurisdiction in the tropical Western Atlantic. Data collected during this mission (pre-closure) will provide baseline information necessary to evaluate closure efficacy and assess whether the closure should become permanent.
1. To design and implement a mobile fisheries sonar survey in concert with multibeam echosounder hydrographic surveys to assess and map fish densities and biomass within and outside proposed management zones.2. To assess distribution of fish densities relative to management and ecological reserve boundaries and other differences that may be associated with management zones and habitat types, particularly as fish distributions relate to movements between habitat types.3. To assess the extent of fish density distributions in comparison with diver visual surveys and fish community assessments.
ground condition
Not for Navigation
101 Pivers Island Road
Not applicable
This data consist of fish densities in the Flower Gardens National Marine Sanctuary. The data was collected using Simrad ES60 GPT and 120kHz transducer.
Acoustic data was collected aboard the NOAA R/V Manta using ES120-7C splitbeam transducer. The Kongsberg ES120-7C tansducer was deployed using a moon pool. Kongsberg ES transceiver and Simard ES60 software was used in the data acquisition. Data was collected during all shifts of multibeam survey.
Echoview 4 was used in this step of the data processing. The .raw file format was edited for erroneous ping returns and acoustic noise. Fish were track using a tracking algorithm and the fish tracks were export in a .csv format.
Microsoft Office Excel 2007 was used to calculate the density and size of fish throughout the water column. Divided fish into 100 meter square area and created a new workbook with the calculated fish sizes and densities.
Arc Catalog was used to convert the .xlsx file format to shapefiles. Set the geographic coordinate system to WGS 84. Then merged the all the .shp file into one .shp file with all the trip data.
Unique Feature Identifier
ERSI
Geometric Shape
Area of the survey divided into 100 meter square sections
Center for Coastal Fisheries and Habitat Research (CCFHR)
The angular distance north or south of the earth's equator, measured in degrees.
The angular distance East or West from the Prime Meridian, measured in deqrees.
Center for Coastal Fisheries and Habitat Research(CCFHR)
Average Size of Small Fish <11cm in a given interval.
Density of Small Fish(<11cm) in a given interval.
Average Size of Medium Fish between 11cm and 29cm in a given interval
Density of Medium Size Fish between 11cm and 29cm in a given interval
Average Size of Large Fish >29cm in a given interval.
Density of Large Fish >29cm in a given interval
Density of all Fish in a given interval
Average Eastern Standard Time of the data during collection for a given interval
Average Date of the data during collection for a given interval
101 Piver Island Road
These data were prepared by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, make any warranty, expressed or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference therein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof. Any views and opinions expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof. Although all data have been used by NOAA, no warranty, expressed or implied, is made by NOAA as to the accuracy of the data and/or related materials. The act of distribution shall not constitute any such warranty, and no responsibility is assumed by NOAA in the use of these data or related materials.NOAA makes no warranty regarding these data, expressed or implied, nor does the fact of distribution constitute such a warranty. NOAA can not assume liability for and damages caused by any errors or omissions in these data, nor as a result of the failure of these data to function on a particular system.
Contact Chris Taylor @ chris.taylor@noaa.gov
