Both fishermen and fish species have benefited from “no-take” protections at a marine reserve in the Florida Keys, according to a government report. The report found that overfished species — including red and black grouper, yellowtail and mutton snapper — have increased in abundance and size inside the reserve and throughout the area, according to [...]
A new NOAA research report finds that both fish populations and commercial and recreational anglers have benefited from “no-take” protections in the Tortugas Ecological Reserve in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. The report, “An Integrated Biogeographic Assessment of Reef Fish Populations and Fisheries in Dry Tortugas: Effects of No-take Reserves,” is the first to [...]
The U.S. benefits from a wealth of resources and activities that depend on healthy coastal habitats. However, these habitats are being degraded by extensive hardening of shorelines due to climate-driven sea level rise, increasing shoreline development, land use changes in coastal watersheds, pollution, and invasions of non-native species. In the Mid-Atlantic region alone, coastal development [...]
The threat of sea level rise and storminess poses many management challenges in North Carolina due to low elevation, extensive barrier islands and vulnerability to coastal storms. The long-term North Carolina Sea Level Rise Project, part of the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science’s Ecological Effects of Sea Level Rise (EESLR) program, has developed modeling and [...]
Since 2000, the National Ocean Service and its partners have mapped more than 3 million acres (12,100 km2) of shallow-water (0-30 meters) coral reef habitats spanning the Pacific, Atlantic and Caribbean. The results of this body of work are summarized in a new report released by the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS), National Summary [...]
NOAA researchers recently published An Integrated Biogeographic Assessment of Reef Fish Populations and Fisheries in Dry Tortugas: Effects of No-take Reserves, an analysis of both biological and socioeconomic changes resulting from the remote Florida marine reserve during its first five years. The report indicates that there seemed to be an early increase in certain fish species within [...]
Staff from the Connecticut Congressional delegation requested a visit from NOAA researchers from the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) to discuss recent seafloor mapping efforts and how they can be used in marine spatial planning, as well as general resource management, in Long Island Sound. They provided the delegation with details about NCCOS’s [...]
Maps and geospatial data are now available for the St. Thomas East End Reserve (STEER) Coastal Use Mapping Project. The maps, created using a participatory GIS mapping method that involves local users of the area, stakeholders, and resource managers, showcase the dominant and general use patterns for the marine reserves, also known as the STEER. The maps and [...]