1. Creating a Large Marine Reserve in the Dry Tortugas Florida: The Role of Science, People, Process, & Persistence
Tayrona.org
John H. Hunt & William C. Sharp
Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission
Fish & Wildlife Research Institute

2. Dry Tortugas National Park
Marathon
Key West
Small group of islands ~ 70 miles west of Key West, Florida
Established by the NPS in 1935 to protect historic Fort Jefferson
Name changed in 1992 to Dry Tortugas National Park
Habitat less disturbed than rest of Florida Keys

3. Spiny Lobster Size-Frequency
DTNP
Florida Keys - Fishery
Male
120 60
180
100 20
Female
700
350
Size (mm carapace length)
frequency
frequency

5. Tortugas 2000 Process
1998: Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (FKNMS) and NPS stakeholder working group processes
Goal: create “ecological reserves” in the Dry Tortugas
Balance resource protection and marine- related stakeholder activities
Considered factors such as coral reef and fish spawning locations and popular fishing areas

6. General Management Plan
National Park Service
General Management Plan
Publish Draft Plan & Environmental Assessment
Develop Alternatives
Develop Draft Plan & Environmental Assessment
Implementation
Begins
Project Scoping
Publish Final Plan
Spring
Summer
Fall
Winter
1998
1999
Winter
2000
Summer
2001
Fall/Winter
Fall
Implementation
Begins
Develop Draft Supplemental EIS
Project Scoping
Publish Draft Supplemental EIS
Publish Final Supplemental EIS
Develop Alternatives
Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary
Tortugas 2000 Process

7. Geography and Oceanic Circulation Downstream Transport From Tortugas
The Tortugas region is at the interface of the Loop Current in the eastern Gulf of Mexico and the Florida Current through the Straits of Florida. This interface aids in the formation of gyres and large eddies that support the retention and dispersal of locally and foreign-spawned larvae. Current-driven upwelling enhances food availability that supports larval growth. These two major current systems, seasonally form the Tortugas Gyre, a large anticlockwise rotating gyre that forms just south of the Tortugas. The Tortugas Gyre (in the center of the figure) can attain 125 miles in size and persist for 2-3 months. This system of currents and gyres plays an essential role in replenishing reef organisms by transporting larvae downstream throughout the Tortugas, the Florida Keys, and perhaps into Southeast Florida. (Lee and Clark 1994; Lee and Williams 1999; Lindeman et al. 2001; Kourafalou et al. 2005).
Retention & recruitment pathways for local & foreign larvae
Larvae from Tortugas spread via gyres, currents and eddies
Upwelling and convergence provides food supply to larvae

8. Habitats Within Park and RNA
Benthic or bottom habitats of Dry Tortugas National Park have been mapped by researchers dating back to The most recent effort was published in 2003 and classifies approximately 60% of the combined total areas of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (FKNMS) and DTNP (Franklin et al. 2003). Approximately 31% of the Park has not been mapped or classified, and much of this area is sand, rubble, and seagrass habitats greater than 30 meters in depth. Of the approximate 72 square nautical miles that have been mapped and classified in the Park, just over half is low-relief hard-bottom habitat forming the outer rims of the Park. Low-relief and high-relief hard-bottom habitat is associated with high fish and invertebrate species diversity. 54% of hard-bottom habitat type occurs outside the RNA boundaries.
(Franklin et al. 2003)

9. Socio-economic Assessment
Lobster Catch
Diving
Reef Fish
Rec Fish

10. Tortugas Ecological Reserve
Final Action
Selected by the Tortugas 2000 Working Group & the Sanctuary Advisory Council
Area of ~ 151 nm2

11. Dry Tortugas National Park Research Natural Area: The 5-Year Report
Review and Discussion
June 27, 2012
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
Fish and Wildlife Research Institute
Division of Marine Fisheries Management

12. RNA Topic 1: Quantify changes in abundance and size-structure of fish species
Status of reef fish of the Tortugas region based on fishery-independent visual and trap survey assessments
TNER
Density = 0.04
Occupancy = 5.3%
DRTO
Density = 0.10
Occupancy = 10.7%
TBO
Density = 0.19
Occupancy = 21.9%
RNA
HAU A
: Assessments of the coral reef fishes in the Tortugas region were conducted by a collaborative team of research divers from the Univ. Miami, NOAA, NPS, and the FWC
TNER
Density = 0.32
Occupancy = 42.6%
DRTO
Density = 0.26
Occupancy = 33.9%
TBO
Density = 0.27
Occupancy = 29.0%
RNA
HAU
Within DRTO Occupancy
RNA = 34.7%
Open-Use = 32.3% B
Since RNA implementation, abundance and size-structure of legal-sized red grouper, mutton snapper, yellowtail snapper, and hogfish has increased in TNER & DRTO compared to nearby areas open to fishing

13. Tortugas North Ecological Reserve Tortugas Bank --Open-Use Area
RNA Topic 1: Quantify changes in abundance and size-structure of fish species
Tortugas North Ecological Reserve
Density = 0.04
Occupancy = 5.3%
DRTO
Density = 0.10
Occupancy = 10.7%
Tortugas Bank --Open-Use Area
Density = 0.19
Occupancy = 21.9%
Future RNA
2000

14. RNA Topic 1: Quantify changes in abundance and size-structure of fish species
Nursery function of seagrasses within the Dry Tortugas National Park Research Natural Area
Surveys were conducted of fish associated with seagrass inside and outside the RNA
Juvenile red and black groupers were most frequently collected in the shallow seagrass beds of the RNA
Seagrass beds within the RNA likely function as an important nursery habitat for juveniles of these exploited reef fish species in the Tortugas region

15. RNA Topic 2: Monitor immigration & emigration of targeted species in the RNA
Regional connectivity of fishes within the Tortugas region of Florida
Listening Posts
Riley’s Hump is a well known mutton snapper spawning aggregation site
Mutton snapper were acoustically tagged within the RNA & Riley’s Hump and tracked with a network of underwater ‘listening outposts’

16. SPAWNING MIGRATION CORRIDOR
RNA Topic 2: Monitor immigration & emigration of targeted species in the RNA
Regional connectivity of fishes within the Tortugas region of Florida
Identified a migratory corridor used by mutton snapper between the RNA and a spawning aggregation at Riley’s Hump
Some mutton snapper moved from the RNA to Riley’s Hump as many as four times per spawning season
SPAWNING MIGRATION CORRIDOR

17. DRTO TNER RNA TSER May June July 83° 05’ 83° 00’ 82° 55’ 82° 50’
24° 40’
24° 35’
Spawning Corridor
24° 30’
TSER

18. RNA Topic 2: Monitor immigration & emigration of targeted species in the RNA
Regional connectivity of fishes within the Tortugas region of Florida
Date
Number of Fish Observed
May 27, 20021
75-100
June 15, 20031
200+
July 4, 20041
300
July 3, 20072
100+
June 11, 20093
~ 4,000
1 Burton et al Michael Burton, NOAA, pers. comm. 3 FWC study
Number of mutton snapper observed at Riley’s Hump during expected spawning times at full moon increased after the implementation of the RNA
Mutton snapper spawning aggregation in the Tortugas region
In 2009, a large aggregation of mutton snapper and repeated spawning events were documented for the first time in Florida

19. RNA Topic 5: Assess reproductive potential of exploited fishes by evaluating egg production & larval dispersal
Larval transport modeling to assess the reproductive potential of reef fish spawning in the Tortugas region
Model indicates that spawning at Riley’s Hump supplies new reef fish recruits to the Florida Keys and along the east and west coasts of Florida

20. Staff Recommendation
Staff recommends the Commission continue to support the Special Regulations established for the RNA that prohibit fishing and anchoring