Author Type

Faculty

Document Type

Report

Abstract

A 12 day research cruise was conducted July 2-11, 2013, on the NOAA Ship Pisces with the UNCW Super Phantom ROV by NOAA National Marine Fisheries in collaboration with the Cooperative Institute for Ocean Exploration, Research, and Technology (CIOERT) at Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, Florida Atlantic University (HBOI-FAU), and other academic and federal partners (including NOAA NCCOS and University of North Carolina at Wilmington).

Recently, the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (SAFMC) established eight deepwater Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) along the outer continental shelf off the southeastern U.S. This project is one of several research cruises to document and characterize the benthic habitat, benthic biota, and fish populations within and adjacent to these protected areas within the jurisdiction of the SAFMC. This monitoring program for the MPAs will ensure the Council remains well informed of changes within reef fish populations and coral habitats associated with these MPAs.

A Cruise Plan for the 2013 Pisces cruise was finalized and approved by the NOAA Office of Marine and Aviation Operations, detailing the operating area, research objectives, personnel, itinerary, equipment, data management, and the methods for each operation including ROV operations, multibeam sonar surveys, and CTD casts.

Publication Date

2014

Comments

Harbor Branch Oceanographic Technical Report Number 153.

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