1. Critical Reef Fish Habitats, Fishing Regulations, and Active Drilling Leases in the Gulf of Mexico by Tierney Dodge ’14
Introduction
Human activities have been increasingly impacting the Gulf of Mexico negatively. The Gulf of Mexico is a biologically rich ecosystem, with coral reefs providing a unique habitat for a diverse array of fish and other marine wildlife, including turtles. However, the increasing use of nutrient rich fertilizers in the Mississippi River Valley have created a growing dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico: a large area where there is no available oxygen due to extreme eutrophication.
Overfishing has also depleted the stocks of many fish in the Gulf, further impacting the ecological health of the area. However, The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency has been creating Marine Protected Areas and gear restrictions for certain fisheries in order to allow these fish stocks to rebuild and restore the ecological integrity of the reefs along with the stability of these highly valued fisheries.
Discussion
Due to a variety of anthropogenic threats, the Gulf of Mexico’s reef fish are in danger with 28% of essential reef fish habitat considered stressed. One common method of fish and coral protection is to completely close the area to fishing. However, this will only have a limited impact in the Gulf because less than 2% of coral and reef fish habitat is currently protected under closures. Gear restrictions appear to be a much more inclusive mode of regulation, as they protect about 62% of coral habitat and 52% of reef fish habitat. Gear regulations can force fishermen to use more selective gear types, reducing the amount of fish taken and wildlife damaged.
Although gear regulations could help improve and protect the Gulf’s fisheries, it is concerning that there are active oil lease sites across coral and reef fish essential habitats, including 13% of the reef fish stressed areas.
Figure 1: Essential coral and reef fish habitat areas and active oil drilling lease sites in the Gulf of Mexico.
Methods
The following GIS data were downloaded from NOAA’s Southeast Regional Office’s website: essential coral and reef fish habitat, reef fish stressed areas, area closures to protect corals, and gear restricted areas to protect reef fish. GIS data of active oil drilling lease sites was downloaded from BOEM’s website. These layers were overlaid using ArcGIS’ Intersect tool for subsequent analysis. The analysis converted the intersection of habitat with fishery protection and active lease sites into percentages demonstrating the protection and degradation of Southeast fisheries.
Conclusion
Gear restrictions are a first step in protecting the extremely valuable Gulf fisheries; however, more extreme measures need to be taken to protect these fisheries from overfishing, nutrient pollution, and oil drilling. Closed areas could be expanded over the most vulnerable habitats, and oil lease sites must be better regulated to prevent habitat damage and potential spills.
Figure 2: Essential coral and reef fish habitat areas, reef fish stressed areas, and gear restricted areas in the Gulf of Mexico.
Table 1: The percentage of different habitat types covered by fisheries restrictions (closures or gear regulations) or active oil drilling leases.
Seasonal area
closures
Gear restricted
areas
Active oil
lease sites
Essential coral
habitat
1.65%
62.08%
1.02%
Essential reef fish
0.57%
51.90%
8.96%
Reef fish
stressed areas 0%
100%
12.85%
References