11th ICRS Abstract book - Nova Southeastern University

23-13
Some Hints About The Impacts Of Watershed Management On Mpas in The South
Pacific Islands
Gilbert DAVID 1 , Pascal DUMAS* 2,3 , Marc DESPINOY 3 , Morgan MANGEAS 3 , Jean-
Brice HERRENSCHMIDT 3
1 IRD, St Denis, Reunion, 2 University of New Caledonia, Noumea, New Caledonia, 3 IRD,
Noumea, New Caledonia
The high islands of the Pacific are characterised by short and steeply-sloping watersheds,
where erosive events can generate large sediment material run-off loads that threaten the
adjacent reefs, even when these are protected by a Marine Protected Area (MPA).
Because of the increasing population pressure, industry, land clearance and associated
new agricultural land and other human activities are growing, thus increasing their
negative impacts. To this background, the establishment of MPAs should be
accompanied by an integrated management policy.
Besides, in small islands, the reef and most of the watershed are integral parts of the same
village or chiefdom territory. In a region where place is the very foundation of identity, a
physical bond links people to their territory, i.e. to the space that they have taken
ownership of to perpetuate the social group and to satisfy their vital needs. The right
spatial unit, in which any integrated watershed /coastal zone management initiative must
be implemented, should be first defined.
Our global objective is to foster the emergence of an integrated cross-cutting approach
based on public policy tools, monitoring methodology and local-scale stakeholder
dynamics. The monitoring statement is based on a scientific foundation and indicators
suited to Pacific Island settings coming from remote sensing analysis, environmental risk
mapping, territoriality and socio-economic values assessment, watershed dynamics and
hydrological modelling, gathered in a unique Environmental Information System, a Web
interoperable GIS system. All the relationships between those data are then studied in
order to achieve modelling and adapted integrated management policy.
23-14
The Need To Use A Large-Scale Ecosystem Based Approach To Improve Future
Coral Reef Management
Billy CAUSEY* 1
1 National Marine Sanctuary Program, NOAA, Key West, FL
Scientists and managers have recognized the plummeting health of coral reefs in the
Wider Caribbean for two decades. Decline in living coral cover and coral recruitment
continues to occur both inside intensely managed marine parks and sanctuaries, as well as
remote coral reefs. These changes are affecting the diversity and complexity of coral reef
biota throughout the region. The primary cause of coral decline remains a topic of
scientific debate. While traditional coral reef management practices have had some local
successes, local and regional decline of corals continues. Strategies that reduce direct
impacts to coral and seagrass beds, such as mooring buoys and boating restrictions, have
had positive results. Marine zoning has demonstrated benefits to heavily fished species in
some protected areas. Research, monitoring, and education programs have helped
managers and stakeholders better understand the complexities of coral reefs and their
biological and socioeconomic importance. Yet, coral reefs have continued to decline at
all scales due to the impacts of climate change, land-based sources of pollution, habitat
destruction and overfishing. Traditionally, coral reef managers have focused management
activities within the boundaries of their specific protected areas. However, recent
experience has demonstrated that managers need to be effective at broader spatial scales.
The future success of coral reef management relies on the utilization of remote sensing
technologies applied across broad spatial extents in an ecosystem-based approach. The
global impacts of climate change on coral reefs, coupled with regional and local stressors,
require managers to consider less traditional strategies to protect and conserve coral reefs.
We must work cooperatively and in partnerships across both domestic and international
jurisdictional boundaries, using a large-scale ecosystem-based approach to management.
Such an approach must consider broad-scale watershed influences, physical and
biological connectivity, reef resilience and collaborative interagency and stakeholder
relationships to improve ocean governance.
Oral Mini-Symposium 23: Reef Management
23-15
Defining The Biogeography Of An Endangered Reef Fish Spawning Aggregation To
Inform Marine Reserve Planning And Evaluation
Brice SEMMENS* 1 , Phillippe BUSH 2 , Scott HEPPELL 3 , Christy PATTENGILL-
SEMMENS 4 , Bradley JOHNSON 5 , Croy MCCOY 5 , Leslie WHAYLEN 6
1 Northwest Fisheries Science Center, NOAA Fisheries, Seattle, WA, 2 Cayman Islands
Government, Cayman Islands Department of the Environment, Grand Cayman, Cayman
Islands, 3 Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, 4 Reef Environmental Education Foundation
(REEF), Key Largo, FL, 5 Cayman Islands Department of the Environment, Grand Cayman,
Cayman Islands, 6 Islamorada, Village of Isands, Islamorada, FL
Protections on spawning aggregations are critical to the long-term sustainability of many marine
fishes, particularly groupers and snappers. The two biggest stumbling blocks for effective
management of marine fish aggregations are: 1) limited information regarding the spatial and
demographic influence of aggregation sites (i.e.- how many fish, where are they from, what is
their demographic status?), and 2) limited experiences regarding socio-political methods for
implementing conservation strategies. We will present results from an acoustic tagging project
in the Cayman Islands explicitly designed to evaluate the recent decision to establish known
Nassau grouper (Epinephelus striatus) spawning sites as marine reserves. Our study defines the
biogeography of a large spawning aggregation in a group of islands separated by abyssal water,
and demonstrates that aggregations can be exclusively and exhaustively representative of local
(island-specific) stocks of reproductive-aged fish. Our findings will allow the Cayman Islands
government to assess the current and future impacts of protections afforded local spawning
aggregations.
23-16
Inferring The Appropriate Spatial Scale Of Design And Management For Mpa Networks:
An Interdisciplinary Case Study From The Bahamian Archipelago
Daniel BRUMBAUGH* 1,2 , Kenny BROAD 3 , Craig DAHLGREN 4 , Alastair HARBORNE 5 ,
Katherine HOLMES 1 , Carrie KAPPEL 6 , Fiorenza MICHELI 7 , Jessica MINNIS 8 , Peter
MUMBY 5 , Claire PARIS 3 , James SANCHIRICO 9 , Richard STOFFLE 10
1 Center for Biodiversity & Conservation, American Museum of Natural History, New York,
NY, 2 National MPA Center, NOAA, Santa Cruz, 3 Rosenstiel School of Marine and
Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, Miami, FL, 4 Perry Institute for Marine Science,
Jupiter, FL, 5 School of Biosciences, University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom, 6 National
Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, Santa Barbara, CA, 7 Hopkins Marine Station,
Stanford University, Pacific Grove, CA, 8 School of Social Science, College of The Bahamas,
Nassau, Bahamas, 9 Department of Environmental Science and Policy, University of California -
Davis, Davis, CA, 10 Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology, University of Arizona,
Tucson, CA
Designers of MPA networks, both in theory and in practice, typically use biodiversity
representation or population connectivity as criteria for the placement or spacing of individual
MPAs. Rarely, however, do researchers or planners integrate inferences from both of these
criteria with those derived from the study of various human dimensions. The Bahamas
Biocomplexity Project (BBP), a large collaborative project, was initiated to (1) address how
networks of ecologically-connected marine protected areas (MPAs) may function across
realistic seascapes; and (2) respond to recent management directions in The Bahamas. Drawing
on approaches from oceanography, population genetics, ecology, anthropology, and economics,
the BBP is integrating theory and data in statistical and computational models about Bahamian
coastal dynamics. Major areas of interest include the critical seascape dimensions for
conservation planning and the crucial interactions and feedbacks among physical, biological,
and social systems that can influence how MPAs and MPA networks function. Across the
Bahamian archipelago, several lines of evidence, including variation in species-habitat
relationships, simulations of population connectivity, population genetics, and sociopolitical
considerations, suggest that primary conservation planning for coral-reef ecosystems should
occur at the scale of major islands.
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