Final Report Year 2; Monitoring Spiny Lobsters in Biscayne National Park

Cox, Carrollyn; Dahood, Adrian; Hunt, John

In this second year of funding, we sampled spiny lobsters at nine sites in Biscayne National Park (BNP) that were established as study sites in 2001, and at Pacific Reef which had been sampled twice yearly since 1997. We also added one new forereef site and two patch reefs, bringing the total number of sites to thirteen, to achieve better spatial coverage. Building on the baseline data acquired in the first year of the study, our aim was to monitor trends in lobster population size and structure. By sampling before and after the lobster sport season, we hope to determine the effect of the Two-Day Special Sport Lobster Season on lobsters residing in BNP. At each site, teams of divers searched for lobsters for a combined total of sixty minutes; the total number of lobsters sighted during the 60 minutes of searching represents lobster abundance for that site. Data collected from captured lobsters included den number and depth, sex, size, molt phase, reproductive phase of females, and presence of late stage HL V-P A infection. Lobsters that escaped capture were included in abundance estimates; whenever possible, their sex was recorded and size was estimated. Sampling occurred during the end of June (closed to fishing) and again during the end of July, immediately following the close of the Two-Day Special Sport Lobster Season, for all sites open to fishing. The remaining hardbottom sites were completed in September. We spent approximately 280 staff hours in 8 days of sampling to complete the field survey portion of this study alone. Open season sampling was completed on July 30, 2002 and the hardbottom sites were completed on September 27, 2002. Summary statistics are included in this report. Data analysis will continue as we gather additional data through 2003.

Final Report Year 2; Monitoring Spiny Lobsters in Biscayne National Park

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