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Caribbean Essential Fish Habitat:
Overview of NOS Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) Products

NOAA/NOS Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment's Biogeography Branch (CCMA-Biogeo) completed these four tasks to support EFH requirements in the Caribbean in 1998.

  • Task 1. Identify EFH Data Requirements.
  • Task 2. Provide existing biological and habitat databases.
  • Task 3. Provide Digital Spatial Framework for EFH Mapping.
  • Task 4. Accelerate development of ArcView species mapping tool.

CCMA-Biogeo developed the EFH products listed below to support NMFS and the Council in their program to meet EFH requirements for the Caribbean Region. Similar product suites were also developed for the South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico Regions. However, in addition to maps and life history tables of representative species, it was determined that identification of existing habitat databases and future habitat mapping projects was considered as important a task for development of Caribbean EFH products.

  • Item 1. Assessment of EFH Data Requirements
  • Item 2. Life History Tables for Priority Species
  • Item 3. Catch Distribution of Priority Species from Fisheries Independent Data (SEAMAP)
  • Item 4. Tabulation and Description of Existing Shoreline and Insular Shelf Habitat Data
  • Item 5. Habitat Suitability Models for Priority Species
  • Item 6. Tabulation and Description of Future Databases that will support defining EFH

Areas and Species Covered

Information and maps were developed for the region for which the Caribbean Fishery Management Council has jurisdiction. This region includes the insular shelf area around Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The Reef Fish Fishery Management Plan includes 139 species in 37 families. Because of the time constraints and limited availability of data, 15 representative species of high priority were selected by the Council (Table 1). EFH products including life history tables, plots of catch distribution, and habitat suitability models were produced for priority species. Future efforts may address additional species, life stages, habitats, as well as threats to EFH.

Listed below are the summary descriptions of EFH products and tasks completed for the Council.

Item 1. Assessment of EFH Data Requirements. Meetings and telephone calls were conducted to determine the types of EFH products to be developed for the Caribbean Fishery Management Council (CFMC), and to determine how NOS would support their development. COMPLETED July 1998

Item 2. Life History Tables for Priority Species. Habitat preferences for 44 species in the Reef Fish Fisheries Management Plan (plus Queen Conch and Spiny Lobster) were recorded into Life History Tables by the CFMC. NOS converted 15 of the CFMCs Life History Tables to a GIS format to facilitate linkage with habitat maps and analysis across and within species (see Tables 2-16). Analysis of the converted LHTs was conducted: 1) within each species to assess distribution by life stage across habitats (Tables 2-16), and 2) among species to determine the number of species utilizing each habitat (Table 17) COMPLETED July 1998

Item 3. Catch Distribution of Priority Species from Fisheries Independent Data (SEAMAP Data 1991-1995). SEAMAP is a cooperative program between NMFS and the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER) in Puerto Rico. Sampling was conducted on the west coast of Puerto Rico from Rincon to Cabo Rojo (Figure 1). The shelf area was stratified based on depth (0-18, 19-36, 37-90 m) and divided into 0.25 nmi2 quadrats for sampling purposes. Sampling frequency was assigned equally to each depth stratum.

Sampling quadrats were then selected randomly within each depth stratum. Sampling was carried out using hook and line (size #6, baited with squid) and fish traps (1-1/4" hexagonal mesh). Data were recorded for date, time, location, depth, bottom type, gear, species, fork length, and maturity status. Since catch rate for each species was highly variable, eleven priority species were selected by the council (Table 1). Where possible, this list included a representative from each family in the Reef Fish Fisheries Management Unit that was well represented in the SEAMAP catch data. Finally, plots of catch distribution were generated including: juvenile and adult distribution of the 11 priority species (Table 1; SEAMAP Figures), habitat indicator species (red hind, coral reefs; trunkfish, seagrass; sand tilefish, sand; Figure 14), and the distribution of ripe red hind in relation to areas closed to fishing (Figure 13). COMPLETED July 1998

Item 4. Tabulation and Description of Existing Shoreline and Insular Shelf Habitat Data (Table 18).

Shorelines and Shoreline Habitats. Vector shorelines at a scale of 1-10K have been developed for both Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands by the Coastal Services Center (CSC) from the NOS topographic sheets (T-sheets). While this shoreline differentiates between natural and manmade structures, we suppliented this information with existing NOS/HAZMAT Environment Sensitivity Index (ESI) map data to delineate additional shoreline attributes (1:20K), such as exposed and sheltered mangroves, rocky shores, seawalls, sand, and gravel beaches (Table 18, Figures 34-40). Since the Caribbean digital ESI data are not readily available, shoreline attributes from ESI maps were visually matched to the new vector shoreline. Therefore, to avoid the inevitable inaccuracies associated with georeferencing during such visual transfers, only the primary (most common) and secondary shoreline types for a given stretch of coast were recorded. In most cases, two shoreline types dominated a region. An exception to this methodology occurred when mangroves were present on a stretch of coastline but were not the primary or secondary shoreline type. Because of the importance of mangrove shoreline as EFH, mangroves were always considered at least the secondary shoreline type when present. The 1984 ESI maps used in this report will be replaced in 1999 by the updated NOS/HAZMAT ESI project currently underway in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Note: Black and white maps only include protected and exposed mangrove distribution (Table 18, Figures 29-33).

Bathymetry and shallow coral reefs. Bathymetry contours (18, 30, 60, 600 foot isobaths) were digitized from the most recent NOS nautical charts for both Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands (Figures 41-48). Where applicable, benthic habitats (e.g., coral reefs) were identified and digitized although the charts do not provide a comprehensive database from which to map benthic habitats.

Marine Habitats in Puerto Rico. Marine Geology maps for selected portions of the Puerto Rico coastline have been developed by the United States Geological Survey (USGS). USGS Marine Geology maps vary by region but generally include substrate features such as bathymetry, shallow and submerged coral reefs, hard bottom, and several types of sand and mud sediment. NOAA's Coastal Services Center (CSC) scanned 48 mylar map layers and hard copy maps (2555 MB) to develop digital coverages of these selected habitats and areas. Scans were completed at 400 and 250 dpi for black and white mylars and color maps respectively. Digital images were then georeferenced (when adequate tick marks were available) and loaded into ArcView for viewing and printing. For a complete list of the digital USGS Marine Benthic maps and their extent on Puerto Rico's coast see Table 18. Figure 49 provides an example of a scanned USGS Marine Geologic map from Puerto Rico.

Marine Habitats in the Virgin Islands. Marine Habitat maps for St. John were produced in 1983 by the National Park Service at St. John at a scale of 1:5.3K. Marine habitats were identified from aerial photographs to a depth of 20 m. Habitat attributes including several shelf zones (leeward, windward, and crest relative to reefs, and shorelines; Figure 51) and structural habitats (e.g. reefs, sand, seagrass, etc.; Figure 52) were mapped. Hard copy maps were later converted into a GIS and made available to the public by the Conservation Data Center(CDC) at the University of the Virgin Islands.

Several old benthic habitat maps are available for the Virgin Islands, but they were not included in this report due to: the generally poor condition of these maps (unsuitable for digitizing or scanning), the age of the data (1978), and the production of new benthic habitat maps scheduled to be completed in 1998 by the CDC (see Item 6: Future Databases Supporting EFH). COMPLETED July 1998

Item 5. Habitat Suitability Models (HSM) for Priority Species: Combining Habitat Data with Life History Tables. A prototype process that integrates the distribution of habitats with species habitat affinities via GIS technology was developed to aid defining EFH. Draft HSM maps were produced for 11 priority species selected by the Council plus Gray Snapper, Queen Conch, and Spiny Lobster (Table 1, Figures 15-28). The potential distribution of each species was modeled by combining the Benthic Habitat data from St. John with the LHTs converted to GIS format. Depth, shelf zone and substrate type are the three most important determinants of species distribution in the tropical insular shelf system. However, since bathymetric data coverages could not be linked within an acceptable degree of accuracy to the habitat data, bathymetry was not included in this analysis. Therefore, each species habitat preferences were linked to only the spatial habitat data (shelf zone and structure) to produce example HSM maps. Bathymetry will be added to future Habitat Suitability Model products.

To accomplish the linkage between life history tables and habitat data, coverages of habitat zones (leeward, windward, and crest relative to reefs, and shorelines) and structures (seagrass, reefs, mangroves, algae, sand, and mud) were converted to individual grids (grid cells are 4624m2). Each square in the grids was assigned a value of "0" or "1"; "0" was assigned if the species of interest did not utilize the habitat in the grid cell, "1" was assigned to the cell if the species did use that particular habitat. The presence or absence of a species in a particular zone and a particular structure was determined by multiplying the values of each grid cell together. In cases where the Presence/Absence of an animal in a particular habitat type or zone was unknown, grids were assigned a value of "0". Therefore, HSM maps are conservative estimates of a species distribution across habitats and should be used in conjunction with LHTs (Presence/Absence unknown=9) to obtain the most accurate depiction of potential distribution. COMPLETED July 1998

Item 6. Tabulation and Description of Future Databases that will support EFH (Table 19). Several habitat mapping projects are currently underway within CFMCs jurisdiction that will greatly enhance the Councils ability to define EFH. A variety of governmental and private agencies are working toward completion of digital mapping projects in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. In the next year, much of the near shore marine habitat will be mapped from aerial photography and available in digital format. Brief descriptions of these projects are given below. COMPLETED July 1998

Environmental Sensitivity Index Mapping NOS/HAZMAT is updating the Environmental Sensitivity Index maps for Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands in 1999. Shoreline attributes will include exposed and sheltered rocky shores, exposed and sheltered solid man-made structures, exposed and sheltered wave-cut platforms in bedrock or mud/clay, exposed and sheltered scarps and steep slopes in clay, fine- to medium-grained sand beaches, scarps and steep slopes in sand, coarse-grained sand beaches, mixed sand and gravel beaches, riprap, exposed and sheltered tidal flats, salt- and brackish-water marshes, fresh-water marshes, swamps, and wetlands including sheltered and exposed mangroves. In addition to identifying these shoreline attributes, the ESI project is obtaining accurate information on critical non-shoreline attributes such as coral reefs and submerged aquatic vegetation along with terrestrial parameters island wide.

Rapid Ecological Assessment (REA) of U.S. Virgin Islands The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and the Conservation Data Center at the University of the Virgin Islands are mapping benthic habitats from aerial photographs to produce a comprehensive digital database of the near shore (<60 ft.) marine environment in the US Virgin Islands. REA habitat attributes include rock and sand beaches, carbonate pavement, reefs, patch reefs, sand/rubble, sand, sand/sparse seagrass, medium to dense seagrass, and seagrass on dense rubble. Mapping is nearly complete in St. Croix (see draft map, Figure 53) and St. Thomas with St. John projected to be completed by January 1999. Once mapping is completed, TNC plans to combine the spatial habitat information with a database similar to the LHTs developed by NOS (the Biological Conservation Database) in an effort to identify habitats utilized by particular species of interest.

Side Scan Sonar NMFS, Mayaguez has mapped marine habitats in San Juan Bay, Puerto Rico with high frequency side scan sonar. This technology is capable of identifying many of the same marine habitat attributes (reefs, seagrass of varying densities, etc.) that are interpreted from aerial photography but is not subject to the same depth constraints. NMFS, Mayaguez is currently in the planning stages for a larger scale mapping effort in the U.S. Virgin Islands as well as more extensive regions of the insular shelf of Puerto Rico.

Cross-Shelf Habitat Assessment Researchers at the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science at the University of Miami and the University of Puerto Rico are developing the Cross-Shelf Habitat Assessment Project in an effort to more precisely define habitat utilization. Habitats are characterized over a wide range of structural categories (e.g. trees, SAV, sediments, etc.), shelf zones (inner shelf, intermediate shelf, and outer shelf), and physiographic cross-shelf strata (relative to bathymetry and emergent structure). Preliminary characterization of the La Parguera region in SW Puerto Rico has identified 550 cross-shelf habitats. Once habitats have been spatially characterized at this level of detail, species and life stages will be assessed for rank abundance within each habitat type. As more precise digital habitat data become available, these cross-shelf habitat matrices can be incorporated into a GIS and used to estimate each species distribution.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

NOAA and the CFMC thank the U.S. National Park Service on St. John for providing 1983 Benthic Habitat data from St. John; The Nature Conservancy and the Conservation Data Center at University of the Virgin Islands for providing Benthic Habitat Data from St. John and draft maps and information concerning the REA Program; Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Protection and the National Marine Fisheries Service - Pascagoula for providing information and data from the SEAMAP Program; U.S. Geological Survey for assistance with Marine Benthic Geologic maps and information; NOS/Coastal Services Center for providing updated digital shorelines of the region and digital USGS Marine Geologic Maps; Ken Lindeman at the University of Miami and Rich Appeldoorn at the University of Puerto Rico - La Parguera for their development and review of Life History Tables and information regarding the Cross-Shelf Habitat Characterization Project; NOS’ HAZMAT Division for ESI shoreline data and information on current ESI projects; and the members of the Biogeography Branch staff including Tim Battista, John Christensen, David Moe Nelson, Brian Sandrik, and Jim Weidemann.

REFERENCES

Caribbean Fishery Management Council (CFMC). 1985. Fishery Management Plan, Final Environmental Impact Statement, and Draft Regulatory Impact Review for the Shallow-Water Reef Fish Fishery of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. San Juan, PR.

Boardman, C., and D. Weiler. 1979. Aspects of the life history of three deepwater snappers around Puerto Rico. Proc. Gulf and Carib. Fish. Inst. 32:158-172.

Claro, R. (ed.). 1994. Ecology of the Marine Fish of Cuba. Inst. of Oceanogr. and Acad. of Sci. of Cuba, and Investigations Center of Quintana Roo (CIQRO), Mexico.

Figuerola, M. 1991. Aspectos reproductivos del chillo Lutjanus vivanus (Cuvier, 1828) (Pisces: Lutjanidae) en el Oeste de Puerto Rico y sus implicaciones para el manejo pesquero. Memorias del XVII Simposio de los Recursos Naturales. Depto. Rec. Nat. de Puerto Rico.

Figuerola Fernández, M. and W. Torres Ruiz (Figuerola and Torres). 1997. Madurez y Estacionalidad Reproductiva de Cuatro Especies de Peces de Arrecife de Importancia Comercial en Puerto Rico. Informe Final Laboratorio de Investigaciones Pesqueras, Puerto Rico Departamento de Recursos Naturales y Ambientales.

Garcia-Cagide, A.R., R. Claro, and B.V. Koshelev. 1994. p. 187-262 in R. Claro (ed.), Ecologia de los peces marinos de Cuba: Reproduccion. Inst. Oceanol. Acad. Cienc. Cuba, and Centro de Investigaciones de Quintana Roo (CIQRO), Mexico.

Jimenez, A.R. 1996. Caribbean/NMFS Cooperative SEAMAP Program. Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources, Fisheries Research Laboratory. 2-108 pp.

National Marine Fisheries Service. 1998. Technical guidance to NMFS for implienting the Essential Fish Habitat requirements for the Magnuson-Stevens Act. (Draft Report, January 8, 1998). National Marine Fisheries Service, Office of Habitat Conservation, Silver Spring, MD. 120 pp.

NOAA/NMFS. 1996. Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act – Public Law 94-265, as amended through October 11, 1996.

Rosario, A. 1997. Size of 50% maturation of marine fishes from Puerto Rico. Proceedings Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute, 50th Meeting, Merida, Mexico.

Sadovy, Y., A. Rosario, and A. Roman. 1994. Reproduction in an aggregating grouper, the red hind, Epinephelus guttatus. Environ Biol. Fishes 41:269-286