Open Ocean

This project will develop a strategic plan for coordinated in-water data collection efforts across the Gulf of America and establish standardized monitoring protocols. This effort will provide important context for project and resource-level monitoring, and will allow comparisons across multiple sea turtle restoration projects. Project outcomes will be used to guide the formation of a coordinated sea turtle in-water monitoring network to fill critical data gaps. This project supports all the Trustees’ restoration goals for sea turtles.

This project is working with the Gulf of America menhaden purse seine industry to develop effective observer methods to collect information about interactions with sea turtles and other protected species, and to identify opportunities for voluntary measures to avoid and reduce those interactions. Effective observer methods help collect data necessary to support efforts to reduce the risk of interactions with sea turtle and other protected species in the commercial menhaden fishery and could inform future restoration projects.

This project developed and tested new Turtle Excluder Device (TED) prototype configurations, with smaller bar spacing, for their ability to exclude small juvenile sea turtles. Each new TED design was tested for turtle exclusion using the existing National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) small sea turtle TED testing protocol and for target catch retention aboard commercial fishing vessels.

This Monitoring and Adaptive Management (MAM) activity is developing models of the effects of multiple stressors on marine mammal stocks that were injured during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The project will develop a framework for modeling population dynamics, physological effects of stressors, and the effect of the physiological changes on reproduction and survival. The project will focus on sperm whales and oceanic dolphins, using the framework to develop models for these two groups.

This Monitoring and Adaptive Management (MAM) activity will examine juvenile Gulf sturgeon habitat use and preference in estuaries in the northern Gulf of America to: (1) better understand baseline status and conditions, (2) identify and prioritize habitats most in need of restoration, and (3) provide a framework for monitoring the results of restoration in an adaptive management context.

This Monitoring and Adaptive Management (MAM) activity entailed two major tasks that required desktop analyses and training with no field work, (1) Conducting a Gulf sturgeon populations assessment and (2) Developing a standardized data collection and storage program for Gulf sturgeon data. Task 1 included reviewing and compiling existing Gulf sturgeon capture-recapture information into a database, building age-structured-mark-recapture models to estimate Gulf sturgeon abundance, and developing an individual-based population viability analysis (PVA) model.

This project will restore black terns by protecting approximately 2,000 wetland acres and 1,000 grassland acres on private lands in the Prairie Pothole Region of eastern North and South Dakota with conservation easements established with willing landowners. Previous surveys of occupied wetlands support the Trustees’ estimate that >1,000 individual black terns will be present on project wetlands when habitat conditions are optimum.

This project will reduce mortality and increase reproductive success of common loons in Minnesota by focusing on restoration activities that include: 1) acquiring breeding habitat; 2) providing artificial nesting platforms where appropriate and engaging Minnesota lake associations in loon conservation activities; and 3) reducing loon exposure to lead-based fishing tackle.

This project will provide data for targeted restoration activities of Gulf sturgeon in the Pearl and Pascagoula River systems and is designed to support the selection of priority restoration projects that target spawning habitat and/or spawning habitat enhancement. Data collected will include the location and extent of essential spawning habitat, patterns of accessibility and use of this habitat by adult Gulf sturgeon, and origins of juvenile sturgeon.

This project will conduct comprehensive planning to develop and implement a monitoring and adaptive management (MAM) framework and plan the effective use of the MAM allocation for the Open Ocean Restoration Area. It will evaluate the outcomes of the Open Ocean restoration effort across the portfolio of Open Ocean projects, identify and fill data gaps that affect the Open Ocean TIG’s ability to meet and/or evaluate progress toward restoration goals for Open Ocean resources, and identify the benefits of restoration activities to Open Ocean resources and the Gulf of America ecosystem.