Evaluation of Eelgrass Mitigation and Fishery Enhancement Structures in San Diego Bay, California

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Evaluation of Eelgrass Mitigation and Fishery Enhancement Structures in San Diego Bay, California BULLETIN OF MARINE SCIENCE, 78(1): 115–131, 2006 EValuation of EelGrass MitiGation anD FisHerY ENHancement Structures in San DieGO BAY, California Daniel J. Pondella, II, Larry G. Allen, Matthew T. Craig, and Brooke Gintert ABSTRACT To offset habitat loss and increase fishery production, an eelgrass mitigation habi- tat was completed in San Diego Bay, California in 1997. This mitigation effort con- sisted of the transplantation of eelgrass, Zostera marina L., in the western portion of the bay. In addition to the establishment of a new eelgrass bed, four enhancement reefs made of either quarry rock or concrete rubble were created to further enhance fishery stocks and the area’s ecosystem. Two design criteria and a direct comparison between quarry rock and concrete reefs were examined in this 5-yr pilot program. The newly created eelgrass habitat quickly performed at the level of the existing eelgrass bed. The overall analysis found that the mitigation eelgrass habitat was not significantly different from the reference eelgrass habitat in terms of fishes. Neither reef material (quarry rock or concrete rubble) nor original reef design influenced fish utilization. In addition, aspects of fishery enhancement were examined on the enhancement reefs using three target species of Paralabrax (Perciformes: Serra- nidae). Resource utilization differed among these congeners with differing levels of production. Using enhancement reefs and eelgrass transplantation, enhancement and mitigation goals were achieved in San Diego Bay. Mitigation and enhancement to restore and offset habitat loss in estuaries contin- ues at an increasing pace throughout the world. This is necessary due to the world- wide degradation and loss of these habitats and, in particular, the characteristic seagrasses found in estuaries (Short and Wyllie-Echeverria, 1996). This necessity is acute in southern California where approximately 90% of coastal wetlands have been lost (Zedler et al., 2001). This loss is of great concern since these areas act as impor- tant nursery areas for many nearshore fishes (Allen et al., 2002), as they do in other areas of the world (Pollard, 1984). Recently, long-term monitoring programs of fin- fish in southern California have found that offshore artificial reefs can be productive at or above the levels of natural reefs (Pondella et al., 2002; Stephens and Pondella, 2002). While mitigation continues to be a critical component of various artificial reef programs (Ambrose, 1994), the fisheries production aspect of artificial reefs has been used to offset or mitigate for habitat loss in various estuarine systems (Davis, 1985; Feigenbaum et al., 1989; Bortone et al., 1994; Kennish et al., 2002). Here we assess the combination of these two enhancement techniques in San Diego Bay, California. To offset habitat loss and increase fishery production, an eelgrass mitigation habi- tat was completed in San Diego Bay, California in 1997. This mitigation effort con- sisted of the transplantation of eelgrass, Zostera marina L., in the lower portion of the bay. In addition to the establishment of a new eelgrass bed, four enhancement reefs made of either quarry rock or concrete rubble were created as a pilot study for enhancement of fishery stocks and the area’s ecosystem. In this experiment two types of reef material and two design criteria of the reef modules were examined. For the four reef modules there were two shape designs; two reefs had a mixed boulder Bulletin of Marine Science 115 © 2006 Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science of the University of Miami 116 BULLETIN OF MARINE SCIENCE, VOL. 78, NO. 1, 2006 and cobble design (small cobble was placed on the upper perimeter between the reefs and eelgrass) versus reefs with only boulders. The second experiment was a com- parison between concrete materials and quarry rock reefs. Quarry rock has been the artificial reef building material of choice in California due to its environmental acceptability (Lewis and McKee, 1989; Deysher et al., 2002). TheD epartment of Fish and Game in California has strict guidelines for the use of concrete materials in the marine environment due to environmental concerns. This is the first experiment in California that tests these two substrates against each other in a paired design. The first objective of this multifaceted study was the description of the fishes asso- ciated with the eelgrass transplant area, the enhancement structures, and associated habitats. This was necessary not only to understand the dynamics of the target fish species populations on the enhancement reefs and in the eelgrass, but also to ad- dress these dynamics on a larger spatial scale, in particular the assemblage structure among the reefs, the eelgrass bed, and surrounding soft bottom habitats. Beginning in September 1997, immediately following reef construction and eelgrass planting, the fish enhancement structures, eelgrass transplant area, and surrounding soft bot- tom habitats were monitored regularly for 5 yrs by SCUBA divers. Concomitant with this monitoring, two reference sites, the closest naturally occurring eelgrass bed and the nearest rocky-reef, were also surveyed. In development of this mitigation effort, these reef designs had the goal of fisheries enhancement. Few studies have demonstrated localized stock enhancement for arti- ficial reefs (Polovina and Sakai, 1989; Pondella et al., 2002) due to the required syn- thesis of multiple life history parameters (Bohnsack, 1989; Polovina, 1991; Carr and Hixon, 1997; Osenberg et al., 2002). However, in southern California various aspects of fish production including gonadal and somatic growth D( e Martini et al., 1994), larval production (Stephens and Pondella, 2002), and the production of juvenile and adult fishes (Pondella et al., 2002) have been demonstrated. It is with this background that the recruitment, utilization, and production of fishery species were addressed. Materials and Methods Description of the Study Area.—San Diego Bay lies a short distance north of the Mex- ican border and is the largest estuary south of San Francisco Bay in California (Fig. 1; Allen et al., 2002). The study site (Fig. 2) is found at the mouth of the bay and consists of four reef modules (reefs 1–4) set on the slope of the channel (dimensions given in Table 1). The shallow reaches of these reefs are at a depth of 4 m and they slope to a depth of 8 m. Reef height is ≤ 1 m with the exception of reef 3 where there is a single 2 m pile of material along the northern portion of the reef. The outer two reefs (reefs 1 and 4) were formed in a “horseshoe design,” which consisted of cobble added along their upper perimeter in the shape of a horseshoe. Reefs 1 and 3 were constructed of quarry rock while reefs 2 and 4 were constructed with re- cycled concrete blocks. Between the channel and the shoreline is the eelgrass transplant area (eelgrass enhancement). Zostera marina was transplanted into this area in fall 1997. Three sand bottom habitats (sands 5–7) that lie between the four reefs were also surveyed. Directly across the bay proximate to Shelter Island there is a shoal on which a persistent eelgrass bed was found and used as a reference (eelgrass reference). Both eelgrass habitats were at an average depth of 2 m. The other reference in the study was the submerged Zuniga Jetty that borders the outer channel of the harbor directly across from Pt. Loma. Zostera marina was successfully transplanted in the mitigation site at the onset of this study and it quickly developed into a lush eelgrass bed that persisted throughout the 5-yr period. Similarly, the four enhancement reefs were quickly colonized by Laminaria farlowii PONDELLA, II ET AL.: EELGRASS AND FISHERY ENHANCEMENT IN SAN DIEGO BAY 117 Figure 1. Locations of the fishery mitigation site, including the eelgrass transplant area and the fishery enhancement structures. The eelgrass control area proximate to Shelter Island and the rocky reef control, Zuniga Jetty, across the channel from Pt. Loma are also depicted. Setch. (Phaeophyta). This alga was the dominant macrophyte in this system and blanketed the reefs. Other important phaeophytes were Sargassum muticum Yendo, present in the win- ters creating dense mats and Macrocystis pyrifera (Linnaeus) Agardh, which was present at low densities throughout the study. Macrocystis pyrifera would also intermittently raft into the study site and become snared upon the reefs. The chlorophyte, Codium fragile (Suringar) Hariot, was also present in low numbers. The reefs were also quickly colonized by Panuli- rus interruptus (J. W. Randall, 1840). Lobsters were the most prevalent macroinvertebrates throughout the study and were routinely observed in high densities on the reefs and they also frequented the eelgrass habitats. Overall, these newly created habitats were quickly colonized and remained healthy for the duration of the study. The location of the study site at the mouth of San Diego Bay precluded sampling during periods of high tidal flow. In addition to having limited visibility during slack tides, there was significant turbidity on numerous occasions, which precluded sampling. The lower bay, including the channel immediately proximate to the study site, was dredged from the fall of 1997 to the beginning of the summer 1998. The upper bay was also dredged during the winter of 2000–01, precluding sampling during this period. Visibility was generally better on flood- ing tides due to the tidal flooding of offshore waters.H owever, the offshore water in SanD iego can be quite turbid during periods of high runoff and large swells, further complicating vis- ibility problems. Finding appropriate conditions for sampling was problematic. Fish Surveys.—The protocols for surveying fishes were modeled after previously described techniques utilized in the southern California bight (Terry and Stephens, 1976; Stephens and Zerba, 1981; Stephens et al., 1984, 1994). Using the belt transect technique fishes observed 1 m to either side of the divers were identified to the lowest taxon possible and counted by age class; adults (A), subadults (S), and young-of-year (YOY).
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