Anglers are critical stakeholders in the management of marine resources. Tax dollars from fishing gear and license sales contributes heavily to fisheries management and research, and anglers are one of the strongest voices in marine conservation issues.
CEI Director Aaron Shultz and Flats Ecology and Conservation Program Manager Zach Zuckerman attended the 5th International Bonefish and Tarpon Trust (BTT) Symposium on Nov. 7th – 8th at the International Game Fish Association Hall of Fame and Museum in Florida. Zuckerman presented findings on movement and growth of bonefish in South Eleuthera, and how development and anthropogenic land use change have resulted in bonefish habitat loss. Shultz moderated a discussion on bonefish management and coastal protection as part of The Bahamas Initiative‘s bonefish management workshop. Workshop attendees included Eric Carey and Vanessa Haley-Benjamin of The Bahamas National Trust, as well as guides, BTT scientists, and conservation-minded anglers. Continue reading →
CEI researchers Claire Thomas and Zach Zuckermen attended the 67th Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute in Barbados the first week of November. This conference focused on small islands and developing nations, and gave Claire and Zach and opportunity to talk about their work in Eleuthera.
An adult queen conch found grazing during summer surveys.
Claire’s talk focused on her recent assessment of essential queen conch habitat in South Eleuthera. Her main findings were that there are low densities of adults and juveniles in shallow water habitat, and that populations of adult breeding conch have declined severely in the past 20 years. Also, she pointed out that the area in South Eleuthera proposed as a marine protected area might be beneficial to shallow water inhabitants, but does not include any of the important breeding grounds. Continue reading →
Cassidy Edwards holds a green sea turtle before it is measured and tagged as part of an ongoing monitoring program.
Here is a update from Bahamian intern, Cassidy Edwards, who has been working with the Turtles, Lionfish, Sustainable Fisheries, and Flats teams:
Being here at CEI a few weeks, I got to do some amazing things that I hope will benefit research. On my first day, I went out to sea to retrieve BRUVs (Baited Remote Underwater Videos) with Eddie from the Turtle team. I got my first surprise of the day by pulling up a baby octopus. He wanted to stay stuck to the boat, but we let him free and he thanked us with ink. As the days passed, I began to help with setting BRUVs, and analyzing them, which was interesting. What I saw was spectacular; who’d have thought a crab and remora would be fighting for food!
Most of my days were spent in the field, placing BRUVs and doing turtle abundance surveys, or sometimes both. I even got to tag turtles for a study on juvenile turtle habitat use and body condition. As I continue here, I hope to tag more turtles and actually catch one. Continue reading →
CEI Research Assistant Eric Schneider releases a tagged fish that has fully recovered from the surgical procedure.Bonefish are not the only economically important species found on the flats! Bonnethead, lemon, blacktip (pictured), and other sharks all visit shallow nearshore habitiat and were spotted while seining for bonefish.
Bonefish are a highly sought-after sportfish, supporting a $140+ million industry in the Bahamas. Shallow coastal waters that bonefish inhabit are under threat from development and other human-induced stressors; identifying how bonefish use critical foraging and spawning habitats is essential for securing the longevity of the Bahama’s bonefish fishery.
Over the past week, CEI’s Flats Ecology and Conservation Program (FECP) has been conducting a field study on Grand Bahama Island as part of a joint effort to further investigate the spawning activities of bonefish. The FECP is joined by a diverse team of scientists, fishermen and stakeholders that hope to learn more about local populations to direct future conservation efforts. The overall objective of this multi-year study is to determine the location of bonefish spawning aggregations to best determine possible sites for the establishment of Marine Protected Areas and National Park’s to conserve the local bonefish population. Continue reading →
Brookwood School students and teachers recently headed back to Massachusetts after their school’s first visit to Cape Eleuthera Institute. During their 6-day adventure the group was able to learn more about the sustainability initiatives in practice around campus and explore some of the local environments. After visiting these places, students were able to develop a better understanding of the impact that they as individuals and humans have on the marine environment.
Out for a snorkel in Paige Creek after learning about the importance of mangrove systems.
Students started off their adventure with field lessons in coral reef and mangrove ecology. When snorkeling to explore these areas, many were surprised by the warm water temperature and the abundance of colorful fish. So different from the coastal waters back home in the New England area! The group spent a lot of time in the water; they snorkeled above the aquaculture cage, explored some patch reefs, swam in a blue hole, visited Lighthouse Beach, and even went out on a night snorkel! Continue reading →
The Island of Grand Bahama. The dark blue color on the south side of the island indicates deep water. The red line is the Grand Lucayan Waterway built in the 70’s that connects the north and south side of the island.
Major man-made changes to the geography of Grand Bahama in the 1960s – 1970s altered the connection between the shallow Little Bahama Bank on the North side and the deep New Providence Channel on the South side of the island. In particular, the construction of the Grand Lucayan Waterway created a new connection, while construction of a shipping harbor obstructed a natural waterway, Hawksbill Creek. These land-use changes potentially altered the spawning migration patterns of fish around Grand Bahama.
VR2 receiver that was placed in the waters around Grand Bahama to record bonefish locations.
Bonefish, sometimes referred to as the gray ghost by anglers because of their elusive nature, are extremely important sport fish in the Bahamas. Recent research on Eleuthera, Abaco, and Andros has shown that these fish migrate from shallow flats to form pre-spawning aggregations near deep water. The goal of this project was to assess present-day movement corridors of bonefish around Grand Bahama during the spawning season (October to May).
Bonefish tag implanted in October 2013.
To accomplish this task, CEI in collaboration with Fisheries Conservation Foundation, College of the Bahamas (Freeport), University of Illinois, Illinois Natural History Survey, Carleton University, and H2O Bonefishing surgically implanted 30 acoustic tags into bonefish and deployed 17 acoustic receivers around the island in October 2013. The receivers were downloaded in June of 2014 and revealed that 7 of the 24 fish tagged on the North side used the Grand Lucayan Waterway as a corridor from the north side to the south side of the island. 2 fish were recorded swimming around the west end and 2 others around the east end of the island, which are each over 80 km journeys. This indicates that bonefish are most likely forming pre-spawning aggregations on the South side of Grand Bahama and will guide research efforts during the next spawning season. The outcomes of this project will be shared with decision makers so they can make informed decisions about protecting migration corridors from spawning grounds to aggregation sites.
Bonefish spawning aggregation. Photo by A. Danylchuk.
Students on the lionfish team discuss their project with Dr. Stephanie Green.
Congratulations to all of the Spring 2014 Island School students who gave oral and poster presentations at the Research Symposium. This event is a culmination a semester-long research class, where students become involved in all aspects of research. It is a chance for them to showcase the data that they collected, along with real world implications of the work.
We had many special guests in attendance this semester:
David Knowles, Director of Parks, Dr. Ethan Freid, Chief Botanist, and Camilla Adair Deputy Preserve Manager at Leony Levy Preserve, the Bahamas National Trust
Dr. Andy Danylchuk, past Director of the Cape Eleuthera Institute and currently Assistant Professor of Fish Conservation at UMass Amherst, collaborator with Flats Ecology program at CEI
Dr. John Mandelman, Director of Research and Senior Scientist at the New England Aquarium, collaborator with Shark Research program at CEI
Dr. Brian Silliman, Associate Professor of Marine Conservation Biology at Duke Marine Lab
Last week, the Island School campus was inundated with the parents of the Spring 2014 students. Aside from campus tours and a breathtaking art gallery, parents also got to witness the students give scientific research presentations pertaining to the research projects they have been involved with all semester.
The Deep Water research group giving their presentation.
Each presentation was ten minutes long, and followed the format of a professional scientific presentation, explaining background on the topics, the current problem, the methods used to collect data, data analysis, and interpretation of results, ending with why the project matters and what can be done in the future. Parents were thrilled to see the young scientists give their first real talk in front of a large audience. Each student group also fielded questions from the parents.
Flats Research Manager Zach Zuckerman was invited to perform an ecological assessment of Sand Banks Creek near Treasure Cay, Abaco. Together with Olivia Patterson of Friends of the Environment, representatives from Abaco Defenders, and with the support of Save the Bays, Zuckerman performed a visual census of habitat types and species present in the creek, providing preliminary data to emphasize the need for sound management of Abaco’s nearshore environment.
Mangrove roots provide structure, for protection and foraging, for baitfish and predatory fish alike.Two green turtles scoot by a snorkeler. Hawksbill and loggerhead turtles were also observed in the creek.
Land use change is a continuing threat to The Bahamas’ mangrove and tidal creek ecosystems; due to their proximity to the sea, beach and low-lying mangrove forest are particularly appealing for coastal development and construction of marinas. However, historical data on the ecology of already developed areas is often lacking, and communities are becoming increasingly involved in the protection and management of sensitive marine habitats. Such is the case at Sand Banks Creek, where historical, recent, and proposed development has altered a critical habitat, thus providing a need to collect data to describe the current status of the system.
Juvenile bluestripe, white, and french grunts. Grunts are sometimes harvested for local consumption.
Rapid ecological assessments (REAs) are a standardized sampling method to quantify the presence and abundance of species in a habitat, the habitat types present in a location, and to identify anthropogenic stressors on a system. Zuckerman and his team first assessed past and ongoing coastal development near the creek via satellite and aerial imagery, then surveyed the perimeter via car and kayak. The team also performed underwater surveys as part of the REA to identify benthic cover and aquatic species not observable by kayak.
Over the next 100 years, factors causing climate change have the potential to increase sea
surface temperatures by up to 5 degrees Celsius. However, even a small increase could have
drastic effects on tropical areas due to the historical thermal stability of places such as the
Caribbean. Recently, the Cape Eleuthera Institute has been focusing efforts on investigating how
climate change may affect tropical fish species and the marine communities with which they
interact. One specific project is using a swim tunnel to measure the aerobic scope of Great
Barracuda (Sphyraena barracuda) and Schoolmaster Snapper (Lutjanus apodus). A swim tunnel
is a cylindrical tank in which a fish swims against a current and its oxygen consumption can be
measured. Data obtained from the swim tunnel such as swimming velocity and respiration rate can then be used to calculate the fish’s aerobic scope. Aerobic scope, or the capacity for oxygendriven metabolism, is a good overall indicator for performance and can estimate how much energy a fish has to devote to essential behaviors such as foraging, predator evasion and reproduction. The water that flows through the swim tunnel can be slightly warmed to simulate future ocean
conditions, and the fish’s response can be quantified. Through this study, CEI and the Flats
Ecology and Conservation Program hope to gain insight on how different coral reef and mangrove
fish species will react under the thermal stressors that climate change may present.
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