Marine protected areas (MPAs) can be highly effective tools for conserving habitats, populations, and sustainable fisheries. The National Park Service (NPS) is hosting a collaboration of researchers assessing effectiveness of MPA boundaries, species movements, and identifying gaps in protection for a wide range of shark, turtle, and reef fish species. Building upon our previous work, we're tagging queen conch to examine time spent in protected areas, migrations to open fishing areas, spawning grounds, and nursery habitats.

We compared sediments and benthos of two adjacent zones of the middle Texas coast, one of which was closed to shrimp trawling for 7 months. Findings indicated that the predicted accumulation of fine materials over the 7-month closure did not occur, as we found no sedimentary differences that could not be referenced to sampling design. Data indicate that ambient shrimp trawling effort during winter and spring off the middle Texas coast had little impact on small benthic organisms.

We examined queen conch populations on the northeastern coast of St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, using a radial survey sampling technique with sample sites stratified by depth, habitat type, and management regime, encompassing both open and closed fishing areas. We completed 503 radial surveys and located 4773 conch, representing a cumulative density of approximately 302 conch per hectare. Densities of juvenile conch were highest in 5090 patchy seagrass beds in Buck Island Reef National Monument (BIRNM) due to high numbers of small 79 cm conch.

We used data from 1984 samples taken approximately monthly over 11 yrs (1982 to 1993) with a drop trap sampler that sampled an area of 2.6 m2 to quantify and compare nekton densities along Spartina alterniflora marsh-edge and adjacent shallow nonvegetated bottom in Carancahua Cove, Galveston Bay estuary, Texas, USA. We also used a Geographic Information System (GIS), aerial photography, and population models to track changes in wetland area and trends in fishery populations over time.

We used a quantitative sampling device to compare nekton use among high-relief live oyster reef, vegetated marsh edge Spartina alterniflora, and nonvegetated bottom habitat types.

Densities of juvenile fishery species and other animals (all generally 100 mm total length) were summarized for shallow estuarine areas along coastal Texas and Louisiana. The purpose was to identify where these species live (delineate their habitat) and to analyze density patterns within habitats that would be useful in distinguishing EFH. Analyses were restricted to data collected with enclosure drop sampler techniques that have been shown to provide comparable density estimates among highly diverse shallow-water areas.

Continuing wetland loss in Galveston Bay, Texas (USA) has led to the development of various salt marsh restoration projects. These constructed wetlands often attempt to mimic natural marsh landscape characteristics within the region and incorporate marsh edge, because marsh edge appears important for fishery production. We estimated the value of shrimp production from nine of these constructed wetlands for comparison with project construction costs that ranged between 9,555 and 45,311 ha-1.

We examined the distribution of nekton across the marsh landscape using a 1-m2 drop sampler to compare nekton densities across three different salinity zones (intermediate, brackish, saline), three pond sizes (diameter 40 msmall, 250300 mmedium, 750 mlarge), and two habitat types (pond, adjacent marsh) in the Barataria Bay Estuary, Louisiana. Nekton assemblages of ponds and the adjacent marsh appeared to be structured by the responses of individual species to the estuarine salinity gradient at the landscape scale and to pond habitat attributes locally.

We compared nekton use of prominent habitat types within a lagoonal system of the northeastern Gulf of Mexico (GoM). These habitat types were defined by combinations of structure (cover type) and location (distance from shore) as: Spartina edge (1 m from shore), Spartina (3 m from shore) Juncus edge (1 m from shore) seagrass located 3, 5, and 20 m from shore and shallow nonvegetated bottom at various distances from shore.

This dataset is derived from a Coral Reef Conservation Program-funded project to access effects of trap fishing on coral reefs and associated habitats in Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and the Florida Keys. These data are fishery-dependent and include GPS locations of trap buoys, habitats targeted, and effects on traps on coral reef organisms encountered. Field work was conducted with local partners: FWCC in Florida Keys UPR-M in Puerto Rico and USVI Fish and Wildlife in US Virgin Islands.