South Atlantic MPAs and Oculina HAPC: Characterization of Fish Communities, Benthic Habitat, and Benthic Macrobiota Final Report for 2015-2017 NOAA Ship Pisces Cruises (15-02, 16-20, 17-02) Funding: NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP) South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (SAFMC) NOAA CRCP-Fishery Management Council Coral Reef Conservation Cooperative Agreements Project ID#: NA14NMF4410149 Stacey Harter, Principal Investigator NMFS/Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC) Panama City, FL Email: [email protected] John Reed and Stephanie Farrington Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, Florida Atlantic University Fort Pierce, FL Email: [email protected] Andrew David NMFS/Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC) Panama City, FL Email: [email protected] Citation: Harter, Stacey, John Reed, Stephanie Farrington, Andy David. 2018. South Atlantic MPAs and Oculina HAPC: Characterization of fish communities, benthic habitat, and benthic marcrobiota. Final Report for 2015-2017 NOAA Ship Pisces Cruises (15-02, 16-20, 17-02). NOAA CIOERT Cruise Report, 97 pp. Harbor Branch Oceanographic Technical Report Number 186. June 27, 2018 TABLE OF CONTENTS Executive Summary ........................................................................................................................ 4 Acknowldegements ......................................................................................................................... 4 Deliverables and Data Management ............................................................................................... 5 CIOERT/NOAA Collaboration ...................................................................................................... 5 Project Overview ............................................................................................................................ 6 Goals ............................................................................................................................................... 7 Objectives ....................................................................................................................................... 7 Methods........................................................................................................................................... 8 Multibeam Sonar Mapping.......................................................................................................... 8 CTD Operations .......................................................................................................................... 8 ROV Operations .......................................................................................................................... 8 ROV Video Camera (Mohawk) ............................................................................................... 8 ROV Digital Still Camera (Mohawk) ...................................................................................... 8 ROV Navigation ...................................................................................................................... 9 ROV Survey Protocol .............................................................................................................. 9 Benthic Analyses ....................................................................................................................... 10 Protocol for Benthic Habitat Characterization .......................................................................... 11 Fish Population Analyses .......................................................................................................... 12 Statistical Analyses ................................................................................................................... 12 Results and Discussion ................................................................................................................. 13 Study Areas ............................................................................................................................... 13 Cruise Summary ........................................................................................................................ 14 CTD Operations ........................................................................................................................ 14 Multibeam Sonar ....................................................................................................................... 14 MPA Site Descriptions .............................................................................................................. 22 St Lucie MPA ........................................................................................................................ 22 Oculina OECA ...................................................................................................................... 24 Oculina HAPC ....................................................................................................................... 29 Figure 20. Oculina HAPC; ROV 15-21; 70 m; school of gag grouper under ledge. ............ 33 North Florida MPA ................................................................................................................ 34 Outside Georgia MPA (no dives made within the MPA) ...................................................... 38 Charleston Deep Artificial Reef MPA ................................................................................... 41 Edisto MPA ........................................................................................................................... 44 Devil’s Home SMZ ............................................................................................................... 49 Northern South Carolina MPA .............................................................................................. 53 Snowy Wreck MPA ............................................................................................................... 58 Snowy Wreck MPA (Wreck Site) ......................................................................................... 61 Characterization of Fish Populations, Benthic Macrobiota, and Benthic Habitat .................... 62 Analysis of Fish Video Surveys ................................................................................................ 62 Lionfish Populations ................................................................................................................. 71 Artificial Reefs .......................................................................................................................... 73 Fish Communities and Habitat Relationships ........................................................................... 75 Benthic Habitat and Macrobiota ............................................................................................... 77 Coral Cover............................................................................................................................ 80 2 Benthic Biota and Habitat Relationships .................................................................................. 81 Human Debris ........................................................................................................................... 84 Future Work and Conclusions ...................................................................................................... 85 References ..................................................................................................................................... 85 Appendix 1 - Species list of benthic biota and percent cover for each location………………....88 Appendix 2 - Species list of fish species and their densities for each location………………….93 3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY In 2009, the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (SAFMC) established eight deepwater Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) along the outer continental shelf off the southeastern U.S. from south Florida to North Carolina. This report summarizes three research cruises that were conducted from 2015 to 2017 in support of this NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP) and SAFMC grant. Seven MPA sites were surveyed in this 3-yr project and included St. Lucie Hump MPA, North Florida MPA, Georgia MPA, Edisto MPA, Charleston Deep Artificial MPA, Northern South Carolina MPA, and Snowy Wreck MPA. Also the Devil’s Hole Special Management Zone (SMZ) which was added in July 2017, and the Oculina HAPC and OECA were surveyed. The cruises reported herein include: NOAA Ship Pisces Cruise 15-02, June 18-29, 2015; NOAA Ship Pisces 16-02, July 7-16, 2016; and NOAA Ship Pisces 17-02, June 19- July 5, 2017. Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) surveys, CTD casts, and multibeam sonar mapping were used to document and characterize the benthic habitats, benthic macrobiota, and fish populations within and adjacent to the MPA protected areas which are within the jurisdiction of the SAFMC. The Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (FGBNMS) Mohawk ROV (operated by the Undersea Vehicles Program at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington) was used all three years. Individual cruise reports for each of the three years were submitted previously (Harter et al. 2016; 2017; 2018) and provide detailed quantitative characterization of the benthic habitat, benthic macrobiota, and fish populations for each of the ROV dives conducted during each cruise. During the three cruises, a total of 79 ROV dives surveyed 50 sites within the MPAs and 29 sites to reefs adjacent to the MPAs. The total dive time was 115 hr, covering