The Ecological Basis of Fishery Yield of the Puerto Rico-Virgin Islands Insular Shelf: 1987 Assessment
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The ecological basis of fishery yield of the Puerto Rico-Virgin Islands Insular Shelf: 1987 Assessment Item Type monograph Authors Jacobsen, Terri; Browder, Joan A. Publisher NOAA/National Ocean Service/National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science Download date 11/10/2021 10:42:04 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/1834/20010 NOAA Technical Memorandum NCCOS 26 Coastal and Estuarine Data Archaeology and Rescue Program THE ECOLOGICAL BASIS OF FISHERY YIELD OF THE PUERTO RICO - VIRGIN ISLANDS INSULAR SHELF 1987 Assessment April 2006 US Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Silver Spring, MD NOAA Technical Memorandum NCCOS 26 THE ECOLOGICAL BASIS OF FISHERY YIELD OF THE PUERTO RICO-VIRGIN ISLANDS INSULAR SHELF 1987 Assessment by Terri Jacobsen and Joan A. Browder NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service Southeast Fisheries Science Center Miami, FL A. Y. Cantillo (Editor, 2006) April 2006 United States National Oceanic and Department of Commerce Atmospheric Administration National Ocean Service Carlos M. Gutierrez Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Jr. Jack Dunnigan Secretary Vice-Admiral (Ret.), Assistant Administrator Administrator For further information please call or write: Dr. Joan Browder NOAA/NMFS/Southeast Fisheries Science Center 75 Virginia Beach Dr. Miami, FL 33149 305 361 4270 Cover photograph: Red mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) prop roots with gray snapper (Lutjanus griseus), seagrass, and attached fire sponge (Tedania ignis). (Credit: Jiangang Luo, Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Science, Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL. Disclaimer This report has been reviewed by the National Ocean Service of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and approved for publication. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for their use by the United States Government. PREFACE [PREPARED IN 2006] There are a significant number of documents and data related to the marine environment of South Florida that have never been published, and are thus not used by scientific community and academia. These documents and data are important because they can help characterize the state of the coastal environment in the past, and thus are essential when evaluating the current state of degradation and setting restoration goals. Due to the nature of the paper and electronic media on which they exist, and in some cases the conditions in which they are housed, the data and documents are in jeopardy of being irretrievably lost. These materials cannot be located using electronic and manual bibliographic searches because they have not been catalogued or archived in libraries. The purpose of the Coastal and Estuarine Data Document Archeology and Rescue (CEDAR) for South Florida is to collect unpublished data and documents on the South Florida coastal and estuarine ecosystem; convert and restore information judged valuable to the South Florida restoration effort into electronic and printed form, and distribute it electronically to the scientific community, academia and the public. "Data Archaeology" is used to describe the process of seeking out, restoring, evaluating, correcting, and interpreting historical data sets. "Data Rescue" refers to the effort to save data at risk of being lost to the science community. This report was originally prepared for the NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service to support development of an ecosystem model for use in preparation of Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands Ecosystem Plan. NOAA/National Ocean Service/National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) is not responsible for the accuracy of the findings or the quality of the data in rescued documents. TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES .....................................................................................................................................i LIST OF TABLES........................................................................................................................................iii LIST OF PLATES........................................................................................................................................ix ABSTRACT.................................................................................................................................................1 1. INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................2 2. THE PUERTO RICO - VIRGIN ISLAND INSULAR SHELF ....................................................................4 3. MANGROVE ESTUARIES......................................................................................................................6 3.1. Species Occurrence ..............................................................................................................6 3.2. Biomass and Primary Productivity .........................................................................................8 3.3. Trophic Relations...................................................................................................................8 3.4. Areal Extent ...........................................................................................................................9 4. SEAGRASS BEDS .................................................................................................................................11 4.1. Species Occurrence ..............................................................................................................11 4.2. Biomass and Primary Productivity .........................................................................................12 4.2. Trophic relations ....................................................................................................................13 4.3. Areal Extent ...........................................................................................................................13 5. CORAL REEFS.......................................................................................................................................14 5.1. Species Occurrence ..............................................................................................................14 5.2. Biomass and Primary Productivity .........................................................................................15 5.3. Trophic Relations...................................................................................................................17 5.4. Areal Extent ...........................................................................................................................18 6. ALGAL PLAINS.......................................................................................................................................20 6.1. Species Occurrence ..............................................................................................................20 6.2. Biomass and Primary Productivity .........................................................................................20 6.3. Trophic Relations...................................................................................................................21 6.4. Areal Extent ...........................................................................................................................21 7. SAND/MUD.............................................................................................................................................22 7.1. Species Occurrence ..............................................................................................................22 7.2. Biomass and Primary Productivity .........................................................................................23 7.3. Trophic Relations...................................................................................................................24 7.4. Areal Extent ...........................................................................................................................24 8. SHELF BREAK .......................................................................................................................................26 8.1. Species Occurrence ..............................................................................................................26 8.2. Biomass and Primary Productivity .........................................................................................27 8.3. Trophic Relations...................................................................................................................27 8.4. Areal Extent ...........................................................................................................................27 9. PELAGIC ZONE .....................................................................................................................................28 9.1. Species Occurrence ..............................................................................................................28 9.2. Biomass and Primary Productivity .........................................................................................29 9.3. Trophic Relations...................................................................................................................29 9.4. Areal Extent ...........................................................................................................................30 10. DISCUSSION........................................................................................................................................31