Using acoustic telemetry to track snapper and grouper species in particular areas of Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary

NOAA’s Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary (GRNMS), located 17.5 nautical miles off Sapelo Island, GA, is one of the largest near-shore live-bottom reefs in the southeastern United States. The reef attracts numerous species of benthic and pelagic fish that support recreational fisheries. The purposes of this research are to determine the residence time of several snapper and grouper and to determine whether residence time is dependent on habitat characteristics or other environmental factors (i.e. wave height, lunar cycle, spring-neap cycle). Fish were tagged with acoustic tags (V13-1L) and are being tracked using VEMCO© receivers (VR2W). Sixteen fish have been tagged in GRNMS: three red snapper Lutjanus campechanus (FL 54–60 cm), seven scamp Mycteroperca phenax (FL 58–85.5 cm), five gag Mycteroperca microlepis (FL 38–87.5 cm), and one red grouper Epinephelus morio (FL 72.5 cm). Fourteen acoustic receivers are currently deployed in the sanctuary, which are able to detect tags reliably over a 200 m radius. Several fishes have been daily residents since tagging and daily detection patterns are significantly correlated (p<0.05) between these fishes. However, variations in daily detections do not appear to be related to the lunar cycle, spring-neap cycle, or wave height.