Observations on the impact of shrimp roller frame trawls operated over hard-bottom communities, Biscayne Bay, Florida
Tilmant JT. 1979. Observations on the impact of shrimp roller frame trawls operated over hard-bottom communities, Biscayne Bay, Florida. Report Series No. P-553. National Park Service. Homestead, Florida
The impact to benthic organisms on hard bottom substrate by bait shrimp roller frame trawls was observed at a study site in south Biscayne Bay, Dade County, Florida. Pre-trawl and post-trawl observations were made of dominant benthic organisms including sponges, scleractinian and gorgonian corals, and algae. Highest incidence of damage was to the stony corals Porites porites and Soienastrea hyades where 80% of those corals encountered were turned over, or crushed. Over 50% of the sponges of the genera Neopetrosia, Spheciospongia, Spongia and Hippiospongia were damaged when in the trawl path. Thirty-eight percent of the gorgonians Pseudopterogorgia and Pterogorgia were uprooted. Most algae were not significantly affected by trawling with the exception of Halimeda and Sargassum. Results indicate disruption· of ·commercially valuable sponges by trawling. activities may be seriously affecting the sponge fishery in Biscayne Bay. Eleven months after shrimp trawling ceased, the benthic community had not fully recovered. Repeated seasonal trawling at the study site could therefore lead to permanent alteration of naturally occurring organisms.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Tilmant, James
- Date of Issue
- 1979-09-05
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- BISC
- Keywords
- Algae, Animal Studies, Benthos, Ecology, Fishing, gorgonians (coral), Impacts, Sponges (Porifera), stony corals (Scleractinia)