[Coral-List] Seminar Tomorrow: Are deep-sea corals and sponges protected from commercial bottom fishing by the marine protected area network in Southern California?

Tracy Gill - NOAA Federal tracy.gill at noaa.gov
Wed May 7 15:13:10 EDT 2014


NOAA/NOS Science Seminar Series  - please forward to folks who might be
interested; thanks.

*Title: Are deep-sea corals and sponges protected from commercial bottom
fishing by the marine protected area network in Southern California?*

Speaker/Project Team: Peter Etnoyer, Enrique Salgado, Kevin Stierhoff,
Stephanie Nehasil
Where: NOAA SSMC4, Rm 8150, and remote access login info below.
When: Thursday, May 8, 2014, 12-1pm ET
Sponsor: NOS Science Seminar Series; point of contact is tracy.gill at noaa.gov

REMOTE ACCESS:  Mymeeting webinars use PHONE & INTERNET. You may need to
download MyMeetings files; you may need your system admin to do this for
you, so do it well before the seminar.
FOR AUDIO: Dial toll-free (U.S.) 1-877-708-1667. Enter passcode 7028688#
FOR WEBCAST: go to mymeetings.com Under Participant Join, click "Join an
Event",
then add conference meeting number: 744925156  NO PASSCODE is required.

ABSTRACT: Deep-sea corals and sponges thrive between 45-500 meters depth in
the cold, upwelling waters and complex benthic topography of the Southern
California Bight (SCB). Corals and sponges are vulnerable to bottom-contact
fishing, so there is a need to understand the spatial overlap of commercial
fishing activities with these deep-water coral habitats. This study
characterized fishing intensity, marine debris, corals, and sponges on 25
deep-water banks in SCB. Fishing intensity was estimated using commercial
fisheries landings (2007-2011) from California Department of Fish and Game
with observations of marine debris, corals, and sponges in images from 350
remotely operate vehicle dives conducted by NOAA since 2003. Survey sites
were ranked using a novel algorithm that weighs richness, abundance,
frequency, and fishing intensity (RAFFi) to prioritize sites for
conservation. Priorities were compared to protections offered by existing
essential fish habitat (EFH) and other marine protected areas in Southern
California.


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