Browsing by Subject "NOAA Fisheries"

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Open Access
GIS Project to Categorize and Map Smalltooth Sawfish (Pristis pectinata) Shoreline and Nearshore Habitat Features in Southwest Florida
(2022-04-22) Dar, Rabiya
This project was conducted in cooperation with NOAA Fisheries to support the management of smalltooth sawfish (Pristis pectinata) in Charlotte Harbor, Florida. Smalltooth sawfish have experienced a serious decline in their range due to commercial and recreational fishing, entanglement, illegal trade, and coastal development. In the United States, they once ranged from Texas to North Carolina, but are now only found in parts of southern Florida. NOAA Fisheries manages smalltooth sawfish under the purview of the Endangered Species Act and has designated Charlotte Harbor and the Ten Thousand Islands/Everglades as critical habitat units for the U.S. distinct population of this species. These areas were chosen as they have an abundance of mangroves in shallow, euryhaline water which is prime nursery habitat for sawfish. This project focuses on the Charlotte Harbor unit of critical habitat and utilizes ArcGIS to categorize the shoreline with emphasis on classifying and analyzing mangroves to identify priority sawfish habitat. A supervised classification using the maximum likelihood classification method is used to categorize the shoreline into three classes: mangrove, other vegetation, and non-vegetation. Classified mangroves are then analyzed to identify contiguous mangrove patches, mangrove distance to shoreline, and mangrove neighborhood density. The products from this project will be combined with other datasets to develop a sawfish distribution model. Such a model could be useful in predicting sawfish abundance across seascapes to promote better management of this endangered species.
Open Access
Striving Toward Responsible Viewing: An Evaluation of Dolphin-Watch Ecotour Operations in Clearwater, Florida
(2004) Whitt, Amy
In the past decade, marine mammal tourism has increased dramatically in the United States. To promote sustainability of this industry while minimizing harassment, NOAA Fisheries has developed guidelines to encourage appropriate viewing practices among boaters. In Clearwater, Florida, NOAA Fisheries is developing a workshop to train commercial tour operators in responsible marine mammal viewing and effective interpretation. To assist in the development process, I evaluated the dolphin-watch tour operations to determine the operators’ compliance with the viewing guidelines, the structure of the interpretation programs of the tours, and dolphin behavior during interactions with tour vessels. During June 2003, I accompanied the tour vessels and recorded a total of 45 interactions between bottlenose dolphins and operators. During these interactions, operators adhered to all the guidelines approximately 60% of the time. The operators maintained complete compliance with the viewing time limit but failed to end encounters when dolphins exhibited possible disturbance behaviors. Operators frequently approached dolphins within 50 yards and used inappropriate techniques to maneuver around dolphins. Many of the operators presented information about basic dolphin biology, but very few included the MMPA regulations, the NOAA viewing guidelines, or other critical components of an effective interpretation program. These results indicate a strong need for the ecotour training workshop in Clearwater. In addition to attendance at the workshop, the development of a code of conduct specific to Clearwater operators would address possible cumulative impacts of the industry and promote self-enforcement. A monitoring program is also needed to manage tour operations and examine the long-term effects of ecotourism on the local bottlenose dolphin population.