Mayor, Philippe A.

Grouper population assessment within bank hardbottom habitats of St. Croix, US Virgin Islands [electronic resource] / prepared by Philippe A. Mayor.

Christiansted, V.I. : Ocean Conservancy U.S. Virgin Islands Regional Office, 2006.

1 electronic document (81 p.) : PDF file, col. ill., col. maps ; 7.72 MB.

Title from title screen (viewed on Oct. 13, 2010).

"December 2006."

NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program, Projects to Improve or Amend Coral Reef Fishery Management Plan. Project ID: 1226-02. Principal Investigator: Andy Bruckner.

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

System requirements: Internet browser; Adobe Acrobat Reader.

"Groupers have been an important commercial fish species in the US Virgin Islands. However, within the past decades several of the grouper populations have crashed and consequently there has been a shift in the fish community composition. Using a fisheryindependent method, this study assessed grouper occurrence and density within bank hardbottom habitats of St. Croix to depth of 30 m. Ten species within the genera Cephalopholis, Epinephelus, and Mycteroperca were the groupers of interest. The study area was divided into eight strata. Benthic cover and other data were also collected within the survey transects and are described in this report. Only one species, the coney, was found regularly within the surveys. Red hind and graysbys were found occasionally and at lower densities than coneys. In only one site yellowfin grouper juveniles were found. The remaining six species were absent in the surveys. Overall adult coney and graysby densities were higher than juvenile densities, whereas juvenile red hind density was higher than that of adults. Coney and graysby groupers are both non-migratory species that mature at approximately 15 cm total length. Red hind groupers mature at about 25 cm total length and migrate to spawning aggregations, where they are vulnerable to overfishing. No red hind adults greater than 35 cm total length were seen. Coney, graysby, and red hind groupers were present in all strata, with the exception of graysbys that were not seen within one stratum. Grouper densities appeared to differ among strata, however, the high variances and the low sample sizes within the strata, did not allow for detection of significant differences. If St. Croix's populations of large groupers are to recover, we believe that a moratorium should be placed on the catch of all grouper species within Territorial and Federal waters of St. Grouper population assessment within bank hardbottom habitats of St. Croix 4 Croix, with the exception of coney and graysby groupers. We think it is important to set target densities above which a moratorium on a given species could be lifted. We also believe that all grouper spawning aggregation sites should be closed to fishing, even after a moratorium is lifted. It is critical that all management regulations be evaluated for effectiveness and compliance"--Summary.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 43-45).

Funded by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NA16FZ2959

Groupers Habitat United States Virgin Islands Saint Croix (United States Virgin Islands).

Groupers Conservation United States Virgin Islands Saint Croix (United States Virgin Islands).

Coral reef fishes Conservation United States Virgin Islands Saint Croix (United States Virgin Islands).

Fish populations United States Virgin Islands Saint Croix (United States Virgin Islands).

Bruckner, Andrew W.

Ocean Conservancy.

United States. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.