Distribution of Deep-Water Commercial Fisheries Species, Golden Crab
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Distribution of Deep-water Commercial Fisheries Species-Golden Crab, Tilefish, Royal Red Shrimp- in Deep-water Habitats off Eastern Florida from Submersible and ROV Dives by John Reed Research Professor Robertson Coral Reef Research and Conservation Program Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute Florida Atlantic University 5600 U.S. 1, North Fort Pierce, FL 34946 Email: [email protected] Stephanie Farrington Robertson Coral Reef Research and Conservation Program Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute Florida Atlantic University September15, 2010 Distribution of Deep-water Commercial Fisheries Species-Golden Crab, Tilefish, Royal Red Shrimp- in Deep-water Habitats off Eastern Florida from Submersible and ROV Dives Funded by: South Atlantic Fishery Management Council Contract No. SA(08-09)16 NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP), Deep Sea Coral Research and Technology Program Robertson Coral Reef Research and Conservation Fund Submitted to: Roger Pugliese, Senior Fishery Biologist Myra Brouwer, Fishery Scientist South Atlantic Fishery Management Council 4055 Faber Place Drive; Suite 201 N. Charleston, SC 29405 [email protected] [email protected] Jocelyn Karazsia NOAA Fisheries Service 400 North Congress Ave West Palm Beach, FL 33401 [email protected] Jennifer Schull NOAA-Fisheries/Southeast Fisheries Science Center 75 Virginia Beach Drive Miami, FL 33133 [email protected] September15, 2010 2 Images from Johnson-Sea-Link submersible and ROV dives off eastern and southern Florida. From top to bottom, left to right: royal red shrimp; golden crab in coral rubble habitat; golden crab on rocky slope of Miami Terrace escarpment; blueline tilefish on rocky habitat of Pourtalès Terrace; golden tilefish entering rocky burrow; galatheid crab sharing tilefish burrow; pelagic holothurian (Enypniastes sp,) apparently feeding on bottom; blind white lobster (Acanthacaris caeca) in mud burrow; lost military MK 76 practice bomb buried in bottom. 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Executive Summary 5 Introduction 7 Objectives 8 Literature Review- Golden Crab 8 Literature Review- Tilefish 12 Literature Review- Royal Red Shrimp 15 Literature Review- Deep Sea Coral Ecosystems of Southeastern U.S. 17 Potential Overlap of Bottom Fisheries and Deep-water Coral Habitat 18 Methods Source Data: Deep-water Submersible and ROV Surveys 19 Video Analysis 23 Deep-water Habitat Survey Protocol and Terminology 24 ArcGIS Analyses 28 Quality Assurance/Quality Control 30 Results Dive Source Summary 30 Habitat Description- Hard vs Soft Bottom 32 Golden Crab- Habitat Distribution 43 Golden Crab- Distribution by Depth, Latitude, Physical Parameters 49 Tilefish and Royal Red Shrimp Distributions 52 Historical Survey of Tilefish Habitat 55 Discussion Tilefish Distribution 57 Shrimp Distribution 58 Golden Crab Distribution 58 Potential Overlap of Allowable Fishing Areas and Live-Bottom Habitat 60 Conclusions Potential Impact of Bottom Fisheries on Deep-water Coral Ecosystems 72 Acknowledgements 73 Literature Cited 73 Appendix 1- Dive Annotations of Submersible and ROV Surveys 82 4 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY • The purpose of this study is to document the occurrence and distribution of golden crab, blueline tilefish, golden tilefish, and royal red shrimp in deep-water habitats (200 m to 900 m) off eastern and southern Florida, within the jurisdiction of the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (SAFMC). • Videotapes were selected from extensive surveys by the Principal Investigator (P.I.) and colleagues of the deep-water coral ecosystems using Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute’s (HBOI) Johnson-Sea-Link (JSL) and Clelia submersibles. In addition, the P.I. has conducted several deep-water benthic environmental surveys using the JSL submersible and Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) that were also encorporated into this project: the proposed Seafarer liquified natural gas (LNG) pipeline (Reed, 2006 a), Calypso LNG pipeline (Messing et al., 2006 b), Calypso deep-water LNG port (Messing et al., 2006 a), and the CFX telecommunications cable (Reed et al. 2008). • A total of 94 submersible and ROV dives were used for this project, covering a total distance of 203 nmi (376 km). A total of 386 hours of videotapes were reviewed and annotated (Appendix 1). The dives were categorized by type of survey: 1) submersible dives to survey deep-water reef ecosystems, and 2) environmental impact surveys for proposed deep-water LNG pipelines, port and telecommunication cable. • The submersible reef ecosystem surveys ranged over four regions: 1) deep-water Lophelia/Enallopsammia coral mounds extending from North Florida to Miami at depths of 400 to 800 m (Figs. 7, 8, 9); 2) Miami Terrace- rock pavement, escarpments, and ledges, at depths of 300-600 m (Figs. 10-12); 3) Pourtalès Terrace- high relief bioherm mounds and massive deep-water sinkholes at depths of 200-450 m (Fig. 13); and 4) Tortugas and Agassiz Valleys, at depths of 300 to 940 m (Reed 2004, Reed et al., 2005 b, 2006). Of the reef ecosystems surveyed, 59% were the Lophelia/Enallopsammia coral mounds, and 41% were on rock/coral habitat on the Miami Terrace and Pourtalès Terrace. • The pipeline and cable environmental surveys were E-W linear transects from 200 m depths to the EEZ (~900 m) and were mostly on soft-bottom habitat (46-77%; Figs. 4, 6). During the transects which crossed the Miami Terrace, various types of hard-bottom habitat were encountered from rock pavement to high-relief rocky escarpments. • A total of 344 golden crabs were enumerated from all dives and ranged in depths from 247 to 888 m with a peak in numbers between 300 and 500 m (Table 6, Figs. 14-16). The temperature range of the golden crabs in our study was 7-11oC, with peaks in abundance at 9-10oC. From our size estimates, the carapace width of the golden crabs ranged from 58 to 229 mm. For the most part, the observations of golden crab were within or adjacent to the Allowable Golden Crab Fishing Areas designated by the SAFMC off eastern and southern Florida. The northern boundary of the “Northern” Allowable Fishing Area is 29oN, and we observed no crabs north of 28o30’N. • The golden crabs were associated with the following reef zones: East Florida Lophelia/Enallopsammia coral bioherms, Miami Terrace, Pourtalès Terrace, and Tortugas/Agassiz Valleys. They were also common on the Miami Terrace escarpment and on the mud bottom of the Straits of Florida in the central Florida region (Fig. 15). Off south Florida, they were quite common on the southern Miami Terrace sites (Fig. 16). 5 • Of the 344 golden crabs recorded in this survey, 52% were found on soft bottom, 19% on coral habitat, and 29% on rock habitat (Fig 17). It appears that golden crabs in this region are adaptable to all habitat types including: dense live coral thickets, vertical rock walls, rock pavement, rock boulders and slabs, and flat muddy-sand soft bottom (Figs. 18, 19). However, the crab densities were twice as great on soft muddy-sand substrate compared to hard bottom, either coral or rock. • A total of seven blueline tilefish were observed; five were associated with the high-relief bioherms on the Pourtalès Terrace and two were in the Calypso Port region at depths ranging from 186 to 285 m. Only three golden tilefish were observed which were along the Calypso LNG surveys and near a deep-water sinkhole on the Pourtalès Terrace at depths of 257 to 290 m. • Documentation of the royal red shrimp was difficult. Most of the shrimp observations were at relatively long range and very short duration in the video, and size could only be determined for a few. The red shrimp observations were primarily in two regions: at the foot of the Miami Terrace escarpment and the Tortugas/Agassiz escarpment at depths of 240 to 921 m, but mostly >600 m (Figure 28). • Mapping of deep-water reefs remains limited and very few regions of the South Atlantic Bight and Straits of Florida have been mapped with high-resolution bathymetry or multibeam sonar. Without proper maps it is impossible for fishers to avoid deep-water reef habitat. • We have discovered several high-relief, deep-water reef sites off Florida that appear only as a small irregularities in the isobaths of the best available NOAA bathymetric charts. One example is where we discovered deep-water coral reefs with 60-m relief (200 ft) which are covered with pristine thickets of live Lophelia coral (Fig. 30). • The current golden crab fishery off eastern Florida has been granted Allowable Golden Crab Fishing Areas (Northern, Middle [A,B,C], and Southern) by the SAFMC within the newly designated Deep-water Coral Habitat Areas of Particular Concern (CHAPC); however, some of these zones abut and overlap hard-bottom habitat in the following three regions: East Florida Lophelia reefs, Miami Terrace, and Pourtalès Terrace. • Within the Deep-water Coral Habitat Areas of Particular Concern, we have documented at least eight sites that clearly show high-relief bathymetric features and probable coral habitat that are within the Allowable Crab Fishing Areas. (Fig. 31). • We strongly request and recommend that NOAA NMFS and SAFMC remove these sites from the Allowable Crab Fishing Areas as discussed herein in order to protect and preserve vulnerable deep-water coral habitat. 6 INTRODUCTION Recently, five Deep-water Coral Habitat Areas of Particular Concern (CHAPCs) were established off southeastern U.S., covering nearly 23,000 sq. mi, by NOAA Fisheries, Department of Commerce (Federal Register, Vol. 75, No. 119, June 22, 2010). These sites were originally designated in 2009 by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (SAFMC) after nearly six years of extensive research by numerous scientists (Reed, 2004; Ross, 2004). These CHAPCs were established due to the concern for the potential of benthic fisheries in this region to impact coral and hard-bottom habitat. Potential fisheries at these depths are the golden crab (Chaceon fenneri), the blueline tilefish (Caulolatilus microps), the golden tilefish (Lopholatilus chamaeleonticeps), and the various species called the royal red shrimp (Pleoticus robustus).