Marine Resources Assessment for the Marianas Operating ... - SPREP

AUGUST 2005 FINAL REPORT
Table 4-1. Continued
FISH MANAGEMENT UNIT SPECIES (CONTINUED)
Mollusks (Mollusca) 1 (continued)
Trumpetfishes (Autostomidae) (Cephalopods)
Chinese trumpetfish (Aulostomus chinensis) Sea squirts or tunicates (Ascidians)
Cornetfishes (Fistularidae) Moss animals (Bryozoans)
Reef cornetfish (Fistularia commersoni) Mantis shrimps, lobsters, crabs, and shrimps
Flashlightfishes (Anomalopidae) (Crustaceans) 5
Herrings/Sprats/Sardines (Clupeidae) Sea cucumbers and sea urchins (Echinoderms)
Anchovies (Engraulidae)
Gobies (Gobiidae)
Segmented worms (Annelids)
Other snappers (Lutjanidae) 2 SESSILE BENTHOS MANAGEMENT UNIT SPECIES
Other triggerfishes (Balistidae spp.) 1 Algae (Seaweeds)
Filefishes (Monocanthidae spp.) Sponges (Porifera)
Other rabbitfishes (Siganidae) 1 Corals (Cnidaria)
Rudderfishes (Kyphosidae) 1 Hydrozoans
Fusiliers (Caesionidae) Stinging or fire corals (Millepora)
Hawkfishes (Cirrhitidae) 1 Lace corals (Stylasteridae)
Frogfishes (Antennariidae) Hydroid fans (Solanderidae)
Pipefishes/Seahorses (Syngnathidae) Scleractinian Anthozoans
Stony corals (Scleractinia)
INVERTEBRATE MANAGEMENT UNIT SPECIES Ahermatypic corals (Azooxanthellate)
Mollusks (Mollusca) 1 Non-Scleractinian Anthozoans
Sea snails and sea slugs (Gastropods) Anemones (Actinaria)
Trochus (Trochus spp.) Colonial anemones or soft zoanthid corals
Bivalves (Oysters and clams) (Zoanthidae)
Black-lipped pearl oyster (Pinctada margaritifera) Soft corals and gorgonians (Alcyonaria)
Giant clams (Tridacnidae) Blue coral (Heliopora coerulea)
Other clams Organ-pipe corals or star polyps (Tubipora musica)
Nautiluses, cuttlefishes, squids, and octopuses Live Rock
4.2 MANAGEMENT UNITS
4.2.1 Bottomfish Management Unit Species
Status—Seventeen species are currently managed as BMUS by the WPRFMC through the Bottomfish
and Seamount Groundfish Fishery Management Plan (WPRFMC 1986a) and subsequent amendments
(Table 4-1; WPRFMC 1998, 2004a). In the Northern Marianas, Guam, and American Samoa, the BMUS
are divided into a shallow-water complex and a deep-water complex based on depth and species
composition. Under Draft Amendment 8, 30 bottomfish species from both the shallow-water and deepwater
complexes have been proposed by WPRFMC for incorporation into the existing BMUS (NMFS
2003b). All 17 species have viable recreational, subsistence, and commercial fisheries (WPRFMC 2004b)
with none of the BMUS approaching an overfished condition (NMFS 2004a). The BMUS found in the
study area are not listed on the IUCN Red List of threatened species (IUCN 2004).
Distribution—The shallow-water (0 to 100 m) and the deep-water (100 to 400 m) complexes are
distributed throughout the tropical and subtropical waters of the insular and coral reef-bordered coastal
areas of Pacific islands (Myers and Donaldson 2003).
Habitat Preferences—Bottomfish comprising the shallow-water and deep-water complexes concentrate
around the 183 m contour (index of bottomfish habitat) that surrounds Guam and the Northern Marianas
Islands (WPRFMC 1998). Juvenile and adult bottomfish are usually found in habitats characterized by a
mosaic of sandy bottoms and rocky areas of high structural complexity (WPRFMC 1998). Habitats
encompassing the shallow-water complex consist of shelf and slope areas (Spalding et al. 2001). The
shelf area includes various habitats such as mangrove swamps, seagrass beds, shallow lagoons, hard,
flat coarse sandy bottoms, coral and rocky substrate, sandy inshore reef flats, and deep channels.
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