-Highlights-
NOAA in the Caribbean Biannual Meeting Update
-Feature Stories-
Caribbean Coral Maps: Revealing the World Beneath the Waves of Puerto Rico and USVI
NOAA Fisheries Proposes Critical Habitat for Five Threatened Caribbean Corals
National Coral Reef Monitoring Program’s U.S. Status Report
Early Life Ecology of the Invasive Lionfish (Pterois spp.) in the Western Atlantic
Coral Disease Response in US Virgin Islands
New NOAA-led Drought Update Reports Improve Early Warning in Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands
NOAA strategy addresses stony coral tissue loss disease
-Announcements-
General Announcements
Grant Opportunities
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NOAA in the Caribbean Biannual Meeting Update
While there was hope that we would be able to host the NOAA in the Caribbean biannual meeting in-person for 2021, current travel restrictions and the state of the COVID-19 pandemic make planning for a large event difficult.
As a result, there will not be an in-person meeting in 2021. The NOAA in the Caribbean team are working on plans for a 2021 virtual meeting, similar to the 2020 Caribbean Community Webinar that had over 175 attendees. More information will be announced in the future.
The executive committee is investigating the possibility of providing simultaneous translation services for Spanish language interpretation at this meeting. Please take this short Google Form about your interest.
If you have any questions or want more information, please contact [email protected].
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Caribbean Coral Maps: Revealing the World Beneath the Waves of Puerto Rico and USVI
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Caribbean Coral Map from The Nature Conservancy |
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Using cutting-edge technologies deployed in space, the sky, and the sea, The Nature Conservancy and partners have developed a first-of-its-kind, high-resolution benthic habitat map for shallow areas across the wider Caribbean region. Working closely with the technical staff at the Center for Global Discovery and Conservation Science at Arizona State University and Planet, TNC assembled a Caribbean-wide mosaic that blends thousands of cloud-free Dove satellite scenes acquired between 2018-2019. This means 30 countries and territories now have access to critical information about the ocean resources they depend on every day.
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NOAA Fisheries Proposes Critical Habitat for Five Threatened Caribbean Corals |
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NOAA Fisheries is proposing to designate critical habitat for five Caribbean reef-building coral species currently listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) within U.S. waters in Florida, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Island, Navassa Island, and Flower Garden Banks. The five species are: Orbicella annularis, O. faveolata, O. franksi, Dendrogyra cylindrus, and Mycetophyllia ferox.
Proposed coral critical habitat consists of substrate and water column habitat characteristics essential for the reproduction, recruitment, growth, and maturation of the listed corals. In this case, critical habitat is being proposed for most of the geographic area occupied by the threatened corals in US Southeast and Caribbean waters, including a total of 28, mostly overlapping, specific areas, based on where the species occur. In Florida, NOAA Fisheries is proposing to exclude only one particular area, the Navy’s South Florida Ocean Measuring Facility, on the basis of national security impacts.
Critical habitat protections apply only to Federal actions under Section 7 of the ESA; activities that are not funded, authorized, or carried out by a Federal agency are not subject to these protections.
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Healthy coral reef at the Flower Gardens National Marine Sanctuary. Credit NOAA. |
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National Coral Reef Monitoring Program’s U.S. Status Report |
The NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program has released a national status report for all U.S. coral reefs in the Pacific and Atlantic, including the Gulf of Mexico and U.S. Caribbean (Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands). This status report provides an overall snapshot of the U.S. coral reef ecosystem conditions based on four indicators: corals and algae, fish, climate, and human connections. The national status report provides a unique opportunity to compare coral reef status, common threats, successes, and future needs for both the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean basins.
The national report highlights three main messages:
1) Overall, U.S. coral reefs are in fair condition, but declining and vulnerable.
2) Impacts from climate change are the greatest threat to coral reefs globally.
3) Coral reefs adjacent to highly populated areas are more degraded than coral reefs adjacent to remote areas.
The Cover of the Coral Reef Status Report
Overall, scores for both the Atlantic Ocean and Pacific Ocean reefs, received a ‘fair’ score. An overall fair score means that most indicators did not meet their historical references, meaning they are moderately to very impacted. The data suggests that these reefs are vulnerable to further decline due to threats from ocean warming and acidification, water quality issues, coral disease, and fishing impacts.
This status report was developed by the National Coral Reef Monitoring Program, an integrated and focused monitoring effort with partners across the United States. The report reflects data collected from 2012 to 2018 and aims to provide a high-level overview meant to contextualize the nine previously-released jurisdictional status reports into one synthesized report. The report’s intended audience is the general public, policy makers, and partners to aid with communication, education, and outreach.
The National Coral Reef Monitoring Program’s contributions to this report came from a collaborative team of regional experts from across four NOAA lines offices including OCM, NCCOS, ONMS, SEFSC, PIFSC, AOML, and STAR as well as numerous regional partners.
For more information on these reports, please contact Erica Towle at [email protected].
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Early Life Ecology of the Invasive Lionfish (Pterois spp.) in the Western Atlantic
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A young juvenile lionfish (~40mm) was cleared and stained to highlight its internal structure. Specimen courtesy of L. Vasquez-Yeomans, ECOSUR, Chetumal, Mexico. Photo by Eric Fortman. |
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The invasion of the red lionfish (Pterois volitans) in the Atlantic Ocean has been well-documented and while extensive research has been conducted on these voracious predators, little is known regarding its vulnerable early life history stages. Native to the Indo-Pacific Ocean, lionfish are here to stay, and now they are also part of the plankton community as they grow from eggs to successful predators that are now found in most marine habitats in the Caribbean Sea.
A new paper (link) describes the larval distribution of lionfish found in plankton collections from 19 oceanographic surveys spanning 2009 to 2016 from the US and western Caribbean, and in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM). The first larval lionfish collections are reported for the US Caribbean (Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, St. John and St. Croix), Bahamas, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Cuba, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, and the Cayman Islands (see figure below). Sampling efforts were concentrated during March to June, however larvae were also caught for the first time in August through cooler temperatures in November. The study found that the larvae’s invasion journey followed the adult’s expansion from an initial spread along the US southeastern Atlantic coast and into the Bahamas. The study also found a second radiation through the Caribbean from 2006 onwards and a shift into current-driven movement into the GoM beginning in 2010. The highest larval densities were observed off the southeastern Florida coast and the Bahamas, while intermediate densities were generally observed in the Caribbean, and larvae were comparatively scarce in the GoM. A General additive model (GAM) indicated that warmer waters were more frequently associated with larval lionfish presence. In addition, the findings suggest that lionfish larvae exhibit some capacity for controlling their vertical position in the water column. Surprisingly, growth rates for a subset of the lionfish larvae aged in this study were comparable to pelagic taxa such as billfish and swordfish than to other similar-sized reef fishes. Unfortunately, comparisons to other invaded areas also suggest lionfish larval densities found in the plankton may be significant relative to native species and are now influencing the planktonic community of the Caribbean region.
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Larval lionfish presence/absence in the Gulf of Mexico and western Caribbean (left) and US Caribbean and British Virgin Islands on the right. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0243138.g003 |
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Coral Disease Response in US Virgin Islands |
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Divers apply an antibiotic-infused paste to coral lesions in the US Virgin Islands. Photo credits: Blake Floyd Gardner |
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Desperate times call for desperate measures. This saying has settled into the mindset of US Caribbean coral reef managers, researchers, stakeholders and the wider community. Already faced with the monstrous threats of climate change, irresponsible coastal development, and unsustainable resource use, the new challenge of a devastating coral disease could easily shake the foundations of even the most positive environmental optimists among us. Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease (SCTLD) affects more than half of Caribbean coral species, has a mortality rate of over 90%, and can wipe out over 60% of the remaining coral cover on a reef in just a few years. When SCTLD appeared in the US Virgin Islands, reef managers understood these were truly desperate times. So what are our desperate measures?
Although SCTLD has now spread rapidly across the region, response efforts have also been rapidly spreading. Federal and local government agencies, nonprofits, universities, local businesses, and individual volunteers have worked together to establish an organized in-water response. Led by the nonprofit Caribbean Oceanic Restoration and Education Foundation (CORE), SCUBA diving Strike Teams are trained to apply an antibiotic-infused paste to coral lesions at prioritized locations. This kind of intervention is aggressive, novel for corals, but it provides the best chance at saving iconic reef building species. The widespread volunteer effort has led to the application of over 3,000 treatments across the territory. Each coral saved by intervention is an investment in the future and we celebrate each one. By targeting large reef-building species, divers are preserving genetic combinations that have lived through multiple bleaching events, hurricanes, poor water quality, and fish community changes. These are true survivors on the reef, representing a resilience that will be critical for future restoration, recovery, and adaptation.
The truth is that the USVI community is familiar with disaster and desperate times. When you exist on a small island chain in the middle of what is known as “Hurricane Alley”, resilience and recovery become part of your nature. This underwater disaster has triggered a similar response. A strong network of partners formed the Virgin Islands Coral Disease Advisory Committee and have redirected funding, time, and energy toward addressing this threat. Local volunteers and businesses have gotten involved to donate time and money to the effort. Our USVI human community is working hard, in new and old ways, to save our USVI coral reef community. We know that both communities need each other, and we will do what it takes to ensure they both can survive and recover from whatever disasters come our way.
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New NOAA-led Drought Update Reports Improve Early Warning in Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands |
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Figure 8. Changes in vegetation in Trunk Bay, St. John from July 7, 20200 (left) to August 5, 2020. Photo credit: Rafe Boulon |
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When most people think of disasters in the U.S. Caribbean, they typically think of hurricanes and how to deal with too much water. However, too little water is also of great concern to the islands. For example, a severe drought that occurred from 2014–2016 resulted in water rationing for 1.2 million people and over $14 million in agricultural losses. Last summer’s drought conditions in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands led the Governor of Puerto Rico to declare a state of emergency and a drought declaration was placed in effect for the U.S. Virgin Islands as well. In order to better communicate the status and impacts of this drought, a coalition of partners issued the first 'Drought Update for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands' in late July 2020. This effort was led by NOAA’s National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) and NOAA’s Weather Forecast Office San Juan, working in close partnership with the USDA Caribbean Climate Hub and the University of the Virgin Islands.
The positive response to these drought updates led to a decision to make the 'Drought Update for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands' a regular product that is produced every two months, and more frequently during times of serious drought. These reports are produced in English and Spanish with the purpose to communicate a potential area of concern for drought expansion and/or development within the U.S. Caribbean based on recent conditions and the upcoming forecast. There is also a strong focus on documenting drought impacts to the islands including agriculture, livestock and wildfires. Reports are sent out via email to a distribution list of over 2600 individuals and can also be accessed on drought.gov (The March 5th update is found here).
Also related to drought, NOAA’s NIDIS program has launched a redesigned U.S. Drought Portal to better serve stakeholders, decision makers, the media, and the public. This new web portal includes an updated Puerto Rico state drought page and a new U.S. Virgin Islands state drought page.
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NOAA Strategy Addresses Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease
Originally appears in NOAA News & Features on November 24, 2020
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NOAA unveiled a new strategy for the response to stony coral tissue loss disease, a disease that is spreading throughout the Atlantic and Caribbean region and may pose a threat to the Indo-Pacific region.
The high-level strategy provides a framework and focus for ongoing efforts to slow the spread and to prevent and prepare for potential spread into the Indo-Pacific region. The strategy will inform a national-level implementation plan in support of resilient coastal ecosystems, communities and economies nationwide, and around the world.
“By prioritizing the response to stony coral tissue loss disease, NOAA will further strengthen America’s Blue Economy,” said retired Navy Rear Adm. Tim Gallaudet, Ph.D., assistant secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and deputy NOAA administrator. “The disease is unlike any witnessed before, but NOAA is leading the charge to protect these resources and the communities that depend on them.”
Stony coral tissue loss disease was first observed in south Florida in 2014. As of November 2020, it spread to 15 other Caribbean countries and territories. The outbreak is unique due to its large geographic range, extended duration, rapid progression, high rates of mortality and the number of coral species affected. Once infected, coral colonies typically die within weeks to months. The cause of the disease is still unknown. Stony coral tissue loss disease can be transmitted to other corals through direct contact and through water circulation.
NOAA is currently working with state and federal partners in Florida, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico to lead disease response, and is specifically supporting coordination with other nations in the Caribbean.
Media contact:
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Fish swim around a diseased Brain Coral. Photo Credit: NOAA Media Release |
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General Announcements:
Read NOAA's summary and wrap up from the 2020 Hurricane Season
Grants:
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National Coastal Resilience Fund- Due: Wednesday, April 7, 2021 by 11:59 PM
- The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) is pleased to announce the 2021 National Coastal Resilience Fund Request for Proposals (RFP). NFWF will make investments in planning, design, and restoration of natural and nature-based solutions to help protect coastal communities from the impacts of storms, floods, and other natural hazards and enable them to recover more quickly and enhance habitats for fish and wildlife.
- NFWF will award approximately $34 million in grants to create and restore natural systems in order to increase protection for communities from coastal storms, sea- and lake-level changes, inundation, and coastal erosion, while improving habitats for fish and wildlife species.
- NFWF will invest in projects in four priority areas:
- Community Capacity Building and Planning
- Site Assessment and Preliminary Design
- Final Design and Permitting
- Restoration and Monitoring
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NOAA in the Caribbean Newsletter
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NOAA in the Caribbean Newsletter is produced by the NOAA in the Caribbean Steering Committee, including support from NOAA's Office of International Affairs, Southeast And Caribbean Regional Collaboration Team, Office for Coastal Management, National Marine Fisheries Service SE Regional Office, Office of Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs, and National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science.
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