Artificial Reef Program Biological Monitoring Update Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Coastal Fisheries - Artificial Reef Program Brooke Shipley, Ph.D.
Artificial Reef Program Over 4800 Acres 76 Established Reef Sites, 9 pending permit approval 149 Platform & 12 Component Donations 30 Platform Donations in Progress Rigs-to-Reefs Program Has Contributed $25.2 Million to Texas Artificial Reef Fund Other Donations 22 Vessels Fabricated Materials 700 Quarry Rocks
TPWD Biological Monitoring 1993 present Swimming Diver Surveys REEF protocol 2012 - present Deep dives (decompression) Lionfish removal Water quality monitoring 2013 present Size estimation of fish Vertical long lines
University and USGS Biological Monitoring UT Rio Grande Valley (2007 present) Diving surveys, biofouling, intermediate disturbance hypothesis, economic impact study TAMU Corpus Christi (2011 present) Diving surveys, tagging surveys, vertical longline, remote operated vehicle surveys Scuba diving socio-economic impact study TAMU Galveston (2011 present) Vancouver archeological survey Bottom surveys and bathymetry, Vertical longline, ARIS and acoustic surveys TAMU College Station (2013-2014) Socioeconomic survey to anglers and boaters USGS (2013-present) Offshore water quality survey Nearshore AUV, water quality, substrate survey
Relative Frequency Red Snapper Age Composition Utilizing Parallel Lasers 0.35 2013-2015 0.30 0.25 0.20 0.15 0.10 0.05 0.00 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Vertical Line Methodology Three differing hook sizes fished per replicate. Three replicates per site
CPUE (# fish/ 5 minutes / # gangions) Vertical Line CPUE - all Species 0.2500 0.2000 2012 2013 2014 2015 0.1500 0.1000 0.0500 0.0000
CPUE (# fish/ 5 minute / # gangions) Red Snapper Vertical Line CPUE 0.30 0.25 0.20 0.15 0.10 0.05 0.00 2012 2013 2014 2015
CPUE (# fish/ 5 minutes / # gangions) 0.35 0.30 Red Snapper CPUE Between Hook Sizes 8/0 11/0 15/0 0.25 0.20 0.15 0.10 0.05 0.00 2012 2013 2014 2015
CPUE (# fish/ 5 minutes / # gangions) Red Snapper CPUE Between 0.40 Structure Types 0.35 0.30 0.25 0.20 0.15 0.10 0.05 0.00 Bare Natural Culverts Reef Ball Pyramids Ship Cutoff Standing Topple Deck
CPUE (# fish/ 5 minutes / # gangions) Red Snapper CPUE Between 0.45 Platform Structures Cutoff 0.40 Standing Topple 0.35 0.30 0.25 0.20 0.15 0.10 0.05 0.00 2012 2013 2014 2015
Relative Frequency Red Snapper Age Composition Utilizing Vertical Lines 0.50 0.45 2012-2015 0.40 0.35 0.30 0.25 0.20 0.15 0.10 0.05 0.00 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Red Snapper Age Composition Between Lasers and Vertical Lines 0.50 0.45 0.40 0.35 0.30 0.25 0.20 0.15 0.10 0.05 0.00 0.50 0.45 0.40 0.35 0.30 0.25 0.20 0.15 0.10 0.05 0.00 Lasers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Vertical Line 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Red Snapper Age Trends - NOAA NOAA
SCUBA Roving Diver Surveys SCUBA = 5 minute roving diver surveys on the top of the structure; categorical data Sighting frequencies (% SF) calculated for each species for all surveys. Rare = < 20% Common = 20-70% Frequent = > 70 %
Lutjanidae Gray Snapper Red Snapper Vermilion Snapper Lane Snapper % Sight Frequency Yellowtail Snapper Cubera Snapper 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 Carangidae Permit Black Jack African Pompano Yellow Jack Bar Jack Lookdown Rainbow Runner Horse-eye Jack Crevalle Jack Almaco Jack Blue Runner Greater Amberjack 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
% SF for species of recreational/commercial importance Gray Snapper Greater Amberjack Red Snapper Vermilion Snapper Gray Triggerfish 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Red Snapper Diver Survey Categorical Abundance Abundant 4 Many 3 Few 2 Single 1 0 1995 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Red Snapper Diver Survey Structure Abundance Abundant 4 Many 3 Few 2 1 Single 0 Reef Ball Culverts Ship Cutoff Topple Standing Deck
Red Snapper Diver Survey Regional Abundance 4 Abundant 3 Many Few 2 1 Single 0 BA GA HI MI MU PN PS
Red Snapper Abundance Shade Plot 20 1995 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Culverts 10 Reef Ball 0 Ship Cutoff Topple Standing Deck
Reef Material as Red Snapper Habitat Non-metric MDS Transform: Square root Resemblance: S17 Bray-Curtis similarity 2D Stress: 0 SIMPROF Deck Culverts Reef Ball Ship Standing Topple Cutoff
Future Directions of Biological Monitoring Water quality correlations to red snapper abundance Comparisons between university sampling and TPWD Genetics sampling and familial comparison Variations of abundance by depth and location Material specific comparisons including volume of material to abundance
A B C Habitat types: A Natural hard bottom reef B Standing Oil and Gas Platform C Reefed Oil and Gas Platform
CPUE (#fish/ 5 minutes / # gangions) Vertical Line CPUE - all Species 0.01 0.01 2012 2013 2014 2015 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.00 0.00 0.00
Relative Abundance n = 49 n = 41 n = 48 ANOVA; p = 0.371
Standing n = 397 Length Frequency Artificial n = 516 = Natural n = 431 K-S Test; p < 0.001
Mean Age * n = 679 Range = 2-30 yrs ANOVA; p < 0.001
Mean Age vs. Depth of Capture r = 0.79 p < 0.001