Territorial Coral Reef Monitoring Program TCRMP Caribbean Fishery
Territorial Coral Reef Monitoring Program (TCRMP) Caribbean Fishery Management Council Meeting St. Thomas USVI December 15 -16, 2015 Leslie Marie Henderson Department of Planning and Natural Resources Division of Coastal Zone Management
Who am I? • From Lewisville, North Carolina • B. S. Degree in Marine Biology from UNC Wilmington • M. S. Degree in Marine and Environmental Science from University of the Virgin Islands • Research Analyst for UVI • Coral Reef Initiative Coordinator for DPNR Coastal Zone Management • Contact email: leslie. henderson@dpnr. vi. gov
What is TCRMP? • Vision – “To provide critical information on the status and threats to all Virgin Islands coral reef ecosystems in order to increase management effectiveness and improve basic and applied coral reef research” • What does that mean? . .
What is TCRMP? • Once a year surveys at 33 permanent sites • Corals • Fish • Algae • Black Spiny Urchin • Temperature • (collected year-round)
So… How are the reefs doing?
Coral Cover • Higher is better = more corals • Calculated from pictures looking straight down at the reef.
Coral Cover
Fish Biomass • Underwater visual survey • 25 x 4 m • 15 mins
Fish Biomass STX STT/STJ
Invasive Lionfish
Invasive Lionfish
Black Spiny Sea Urchin
Black Spiny Sea Urchin
And so much more! • Other data we have upon request • Coral disease • Temperature • Currents • Site specific profiles • Species specific profiles • Sedimentation levels • NCRMP blitz surveys • Possible future directions • Coral recruitment • Fish recruitment • Reef accretion/erosion • Coral larval connectivity modeling • Suggestions?
Contact information • Leslie Marie Henderson • leslie. henderson@dpnr. vi. gov • 340 -774 -3320 ext. 5175 • TCRMP website • https: //sites. google. com/a/myuvi. net/tyler-b-smith-lab/ • Access to data and reports!
- Slides: 15