Highly migratory shark fisheries research by the National Shark Research Consortium (NSRC), 2002-2007 Item Type monograph Authors Hueter, Robert E.; Cailliet, Gregor M.; Ebert, David A.; Musick, John A.; Burgess, George H. Publisher Mote Marine Laboratory Download date 04/10/2021 20:20:49 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/1834/31121 HIGHLY MIGRATORY SHARK FISHERIES RESEARCH BY THE NATIONAL SHARK RESEARCH CONSORTIUM 2002-2007 FIVE-YEAR TECHNICAL REPORT TO NOAA/NMFS MOTE MARINE LABORATORY MOSS LANDING MARINE LABORATORIES VIRGINIA INSTITUTE OF MARINE SCIENCE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA MOTE MARINE LABORATORY TECHNICAL REPORT NO. 1241 NOAA PROJECT TECHNICAL REPORT Award Number: NA16FL2813 Amount of Award: $ 8,118,351 Project Title: Highly Migratory Shark Fisheries Research by the National Shark Research Consortium (NSRC), 2002-2007 Award Recipient: Mote Marine Laboratory, Sarasota, Florida Award Distributed to: Mote Marine Laboratory, Sarasota, Florida Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, Moss Landing, California Virginia Institute of Marine Science, Gloucester Point, Virginia University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida Award Period: July 1, 2002 to June 30, 2007 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The National Shark Research Consortium (NSRC) is a scientific collaboration comprising four leading shark research organizations in the U.S.: the Center for Shark Research (CSR) at Mote Marine Laboratory (MML), Sarasota, Florida; the Pacific Shark Research Center (PSCR) at Moss Landing Marine Laboratories (MLML), Moss Landing, California; the Shark Research Program (SRP) at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS), Gloucester Point, Virginia; and the Florida Program for Shark Research (FPSR) at the University of Florida, Florida Museum of Natural History (UF/FMNH), Gainesville, Florida. Consortium projects involve NOAA/NMFS-related research and educational activities required for assessing the status of shark stocks, managing U.S. shark fisheries, and helping the U.S. take the leading role in worldwide conservation and management of shark populations. Fisheries-relevant multi-regional research is conducted on shark and ray populations in the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, including collaborations with independent, academic and government institutions located along the U.S. Gulf, Atlantic and Pacific coasts and in many foreign nations. The primary objectives and service to the public of projects conducted by the NSRC are to: 1) conduct and advance basic and applied scientific research on sharks and their relatives, the skates and rays; 2) communicate scientific research and educational information about sharks, skates, and rays; 3) provide scientific information on sharks, skates, and rays to public policy makers; 4) expand scientific cooperation in national and international issues involving sharks, skates, and rays; and 5) increase public understanding of the biology and importance of sharks, skates, and rays. In its first five years of operation (2002-2007), the NSRC conducted more than 120 projects, produced more than 360 publications, theses and reports, organized or participated in more than 100 conferences and workshops, trained more than 100 graduate and undergraduate students, pioneered innovative research techniques and technology, and provided critical data for U.S. stock assessments and worldwide surveys of the status of shark, skate, and ray species. 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY........................................................................................................... 1 NARRATIVE REPORT ............................................................................................................... 6 1. MOTE MARINE LABORATORY....................................................................................... 6 1a. Relative Abundance.................................................................................................................. 6 1a1. Large Coastal Shark Surveys and Associated Data Analysis........................................... 6 1a2. Blacktip Shark Relative Abundance Surveys................................................................... 8 1a3. Relative Abundance of Shark Populations in the Florida Keys ..................................... 10 1a4. Analysis of Large Coastal Shark Survey Data for SEDAR Workshops ........................ 11 1b. Life History, Migration and Stock Structure .......................................................................... 11 1b1. Conventional Tagging Studies of Shark Movement and Migration Patterns.................. 11 1b2. Satellite Telemetry Studies of Migration of Large Coastal Sharks................................ 12 1b3. Archival Tagging of Blacktip Sharks off South Carolina.............................................. 13 1b4. Analysis of Juvenile Blacktip Tag Recapture Data........................................................ 14 1c. Essential Fish Habitat ............................................................................................................. 15 1c1. OCP and PCB Exposure.................................................................................................. 16 1c2. PPCP Exposure .............................................................................................................. 19 1c3. Biomarkers for Cytochrome P450 1A1-Inducing Pollutants ......................................... 19 1c4. Biomarkers for Ecoestrogens ......................................................................................... 20 1c5. Biomarkers for Organometals ........................................................................................ 22 1c6. Gene Chip Analysis........................................................................................................ 23 1c7. Egg Infertility in S. tiburo .............................................................................................. 23 1d. Ecosystem and Population Modeling...................................................................................... 24 1d1. Shark Population Modeling in Charlotte Harbor, Florida.............................................. 24 1d2. Evaluation of Localized Population Declines off Durban, South Africa....................... 25 1d3. Status of Batoid Populations off the Florida Gulf Coast................................................ 26 1e. Advances in Shark Distribution and Abundance Assessment Methodology.......................... 26 1e1. Use of Baited Underwater Video Cameras .................................................................... 26 1e2. Experimental Use of Aerial Surveys.............................................................................. 27 1f. Reproduction of Shortfin Mako and Pelagic Thresher Sharks................................................ 27 1g. Nursery Population Assessment ............................................................................................. 28 1h. Elasmobranch Freshwater Habitat Use................................................................................... 29 1i. Population Genetics................................................................................................................ 30 1j. Elemental Analysis ................................................................................................................. 32 1k. Satellite Tag Testing and Development.................................................................................. 32 1k1. Experimental PAT Tag Attachment Methods................................................................ 32 1k2. SPOT Tag Attachment Development ............................................................................ 33 1k3. Field Testing of New PAT Tag Attachment Methods ................................................... 34 1l. Satellite Tag Workshop........................................................................................................... 34 1m. Mortality Rates of Sharks within a Coastal Nursery Area...................................................... 35 1n. Nurse Shark Reproduction, Life History, Genetics and Habitat Studies ................................ 36 1o. Whale Shark Research in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea ......................................... 37 1p. Shark Navigation and Orientation Experiments ..................................................................... 38 1p1. Translocation Studies in Terra Ceia Bay, Florida........................................................... 38 1p2. Sensory Capabilities of Captive Sharks.......................................................................... 39 1q. Habitat Utilzation by Large Predatory Sharks ........................................................................ 40 1r. Publications and Conferences................................................................................................. 40 2 2. MOSS LANDING MARINE LABORATORIES............................................................... 41 2a. Eastern North Pacific Chondrichthyan Life History Data Matrix .......................................... 41 2b. Age, Growth, and Demographic Studies ................................................................................ 42 2c. Age Validation Studies............................................................................................................ 43 2d. Reproductive Biology............................................................................................................. 45 2e. Feeding Ecology .....................................................................................................................