Monitoring of Reef Fish Communities in Marine Protected Areas Off South Carolina (USA)

A series of eight marine protected areas (MPAs) were designated by the South Atlantic Fisheries Management Council in 2009 to reduce fishing of live bottom-associated fish species at deep-water reefs off the Southeast United States.  Two of these MPAs are located approximately 50 nautical miles from fishing ports in South Carolina making them highly susceptible to fishing pressure from both commercial and recreational vessels.  Here, we utilize monitoring efforts from the regional fishery-independent Southeast Reef Fish Survey to assess any impacts that the establishment of these MPAs has had on reef fish communities.  Chevron trap catches were assigned to several time periods, including before and after the establishment of the MPAs, and to three areas (within the MPAs, adjacent to the MPAs, and distant from the MPAs).  Community composition, species dominance, and trends in abundance were examined with ANOSIM and SIMPER.  The effects of bottom habitat on community composition also were investigated for 2009 through 2013 with BIOENV. Bottom habitat data were derived from camera deployments conducted in conjunction with chevron trap deployments in these years.  Ultimately, this project will be used to assess if the MPA designation has resulted in any recovery of exploited species.