Southeast Fisheries Science Center Coral Reef Program Fiscal Year 2012 Project Accomplishments Report

"The NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP) is a matrix program operating across four NOAA line offices: National Ocean Service (NOS), National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS), and Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR) and is administered by NOS. The program supports coral reef regions of the United States (U.S.), has an international component, and is integrated with other federal agencies, states, territories and commonwealths, and local governments. Recommendations from a 2007 external program review, along with the subsequent planning process (the 'roadmap') and a change in leadership in 2011, have shaped the recent history of the CRCP, including the genesis of the National Coral Reef Monitoring Plan (NCRMP), the Coral Program's 'national status and trends' monitoring program. The Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC) has been a leader in coral reef conservation science since 1978. Congress passed the Coral Reef Conservation Act in 2000 and SEFSC dovetailed its management-relevant coral reef science with the fledgling NOAA CRCP. SEFSC maintains a strong coral reef science program and continues to deliver high-caliber, peer-reviewed science in support of coral reef conservation and management and other NMFS mandates to conserve the nation's fisheries, essential fish habitat, and protected species. The reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (2006) puts a heavier burden on data quality in many coral reef ecosystems. Additionally, the listing of two Atlantic corals as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in 2006, and a petition to list an additional 83 species of coral in 2009, underscores the importance of NMFS as a critical regulatory authority to effect change in coral reefs"--Introduction. (doi:10.7289/V5HD7SKP (http://dx.doi.org/10.7289/V5HD7SKP))

"The NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP) is a matrix program operating across four NOAA line offices: National Ocean Service (NOS), National Marine Fisheries Service, National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service, and Oceanic and Atmospheric Research and is administered by NOS. The program supports conservation of coral reef regions of the United States, has an international component, and is integrated with other federal agencies, states, territories and commonwealths, and local governments. The program has been operating under the still-in-use strategic guidance of the CRCP's 2010-2015 'goals and objectives'. The Southeast Fisheries Science Center has been a leader in coral reef conservation science since 1978. Congress passed the Coral Reef Conservation Act in 2000 and the SEFSC dovetailed its management-relevant coral reef science with the fledgling NOAA CRCP. SEFSC maintains a strong coral reef science program and continues to deliver high-caliber, peer-reviewed science in support of coral reef conservation and management and other National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) mandates to conserve the nation's fisheries, essential fish habitat, and protected species. Recent activities that have shaped the course of SEFSC's coral reef science program include the reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (2006), which has drawn attention to data deficiencies for coral reef fisheries; the listing of 7 Atlantic corals (2 in 2006, 5 in 2014) as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA); and the advent of the CRCP's National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP) in 2013. NMFS plays a critical regulatory role to effect change on coral reefs"--Introduction. [doi:10.7289/V5X63JXD (http://dx.doi.org/10.7289/V5X63JXD)]

"This annual accomplishments report provides information on the activities and accomplishments of SEFSC's projects funded by the CRCP in FY12, organized by the program's newly refined and narrower goals and objectives. SEFSC gratefully acknowledges funding from NOAA's CRCP"--Introduction.

Annual report providing details on the accomplishments, products, publications and partnerships of the NOAA Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC) Coral Reef Program for FY2008. The accomplishments are presented by Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP) theme category and by project. Includes a chapter on improving effectiveness of MPAs, which explains how various projects support the CRCP goal of improving the management of coral reef resources through strengthened networks of MPAs, and developing comprehensive digital maps of shallow coral reef ecosystems in the U.S., reducing the impacts of fishing, and other goals.

"The NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP) is a matrix program operating across four NOAA line offices: National Ocean Service (NOS), National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS), and Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR) and is administered by NOS. The program works with other federal agencies, states, territories and commonwealths, and local governments to conserve, protect and restore coral reefs across the United States (US) and internationally. The program has been operating under the strategic guidance of the CRCP’s 2010-2015 “goals and objectives” to address three main threats: fishing impacts, land-based sources of pollution, and climate change. The Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC) has been a leader in coral reef conservation science since 1978. Congress passed the Coral Reef Conservation Act in 2000 and the SEFSC dovetailed its management-relevant coral reef science with the newly formed CRCP program. SEFSC maintains a strong coral reef science program and continues to deliver high-caliber, peer-reviewed science in support of coral reef conservation and management and other mandates to conserve the nation’s fisheries, protect essential fish habitat, and recover protected species. Recent activities that have shaped the course of SEFSC’s coral reef science program include the reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (2006), which drew attention to data deficiencies for coral reef fisheries; the listing of 7 Atlantic corals (2 in 2006, 5 in 2014) as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA); and the advent of the CRCP’s National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP) in 2013. NMFS plays a critical regulatory role to effect change on coral reefs, and in 2015 NMFS took a more coordinated approach to organizing its coral reef ecosystem research and management both within and external to CRCP"--Introduction. [doi:10.7289/V5/TM-SEFSC-704 (https://doi.org/10.7289/V5/TM-SEFSC-704)]

Annual report providing details on the accomplishments, products, publications and partnerships of the NOAA Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC) Coral Reef Program for FY2007. The accomplishments are presented by Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP) theme category and by project. Includes a chapter on improving effectiveness of MPAs, which explains how various projects support the CRCP goal of improving the management of coral reef resources through strengthened networks of MPAs, and developing comprehensive digital maps of shallow coral reef ecosystems in the U.S., reducing the impacts of fishing, and other goals.

"This annual accomplishments report provides information on the activities that were undertaken, results and products produced, leverage and partnerships, management relevance, summaries of issues related to implementation of the projects, and notes on future directions. The accomplishments are organized by FY09 CRCP theme category"--Page 1.

This annual accomplishments report provides information on the activities and accomplishments of our coral reef projects funded by the CRCP, organized by FY10 CRCP theme category. This will be the last year this report is organized as such, as FY11 will usher in the new CRCP programmatic categories"--Introduction, paragraph 5.

"This annual accomplishments report provides information on the activities and accomplishments of our coral reef projects funded by the CRCP in FY11, organized by the program's newly refined and narrower goals and objectives. SEFSC gratefully acknowledges funding from NOAA's Coral Reef Conservation Program"--Introduction.

"Reef fishes are important biologic, ecologic, and economic resources of the marine ecosystem which must be managed for sustainability. Until recently, there was no long-term monitoring program in place to assess the condition of reef fish resources of the northern Florida Reef Tract (FRT) (northern Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, and Martin counties). An assessment/monitoring plan for the northern portion of the Florida reef tract was designed through a joint cooperative effort by scientists at the University of Miami, Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science (RSMAS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)-Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC) and Nova Southeastern University Oceanographic Center (NSUOC). This report is a synoptic compilation of a three-year data collection from all partner agencies, and includes data from the 232, 324, and 308 sites or Primary Sampling Units (PSUs) sampled in 2012, 2013, and 2014, respectively. The majority of the field work was accomplished through funding provided to NSUOC by the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP), with supplementary funding provided by FDEP-CRCP. Significant amounts of data were also collected by multiple Southeast Florida Coral Reef Initiative (SEFCRI) partner agencies that were able to dedicate their time and resources to the project. Field sampling for each year began in May and ran through October"--Executive summary.