2021 Western Dry Rock online public workshop Version 2

00:37 - The reason why we are conducting these workshops is to gather feedback about potential management actions at Western Dry Rocks. Western Dry Rocks is a multi-species spawning aggregation site for many recreationally and commercially important species including mutton, gray, yellowtail and mahogany snappers; black, gag, Nassau, red hind and scamp groupers; permit; and crevalle jack; as well as many other species such as Atlantic spade fish and gray angelfish.

As we’ll detail later in the presentation, fish spawning aggregations are highly susceptible to fishing pressure and Western Dry Rocks is a popular fishing location mainly for charters out of Key West. Because of the fishing pressure that Western Dry Rocks receives and the amount of species that spawn there. FWC staff has received many requests for management changes over the last several years with this in mind. At FWC’s commission meeting in December, a draft rule was approved to seasonally close Western Dry Rocks from May through June with direction to staff to evaluate a potential four-month seasonal closure from April through July.

Today, FWC staff will provide you with a presentation about Western Dry Rocks where we will discuss lessons learned through the spatial management of fish spawning aggregations and then we’ll go into the specific details of Western Dry Rocks and the approved draft rule. Following the presentation, we have time available where you can provide public comment to FWC staff. However, if you do not wish to speak tonight or at any of our other Western Dry Rock workshops, you can submit a comment online via our saltwater comments webpage  or via email at marine@myfwc.

com. And, of course, everyone can attend and speak at our next Commission meeting, however that may occur, scheduled for Feb. 25th through 26th.

02:23 - Staff will review the comments received prior to that meeting and make a recommendation to the Commission at the final public hearing. Commissioners always appreciate hearing from our stakeholders so we encourage you to do so. So now we’ll get into some details about fish spawning aggregations. Fish that form spawning aggregations tend to do so at highly predictable times and locations often related to lunar cycle typically during full or new moons.

Because of the high likelihood of finding lots of big adult fish at spawning aggregations, they can also be popular places to fish for a relatively easy catch. For these same reasons, fishing at spawning aggregations can lead to the over exploitation of fishes that occur at these sites. For species that travel long distances to a specific spawning location, the effects of over exploiting spawning aggregations can be observed far beyond that specific site.

In general, fish spawning aggregations are productivity hot spots because these small areas attract not only a large numbers of fish to reproduce but also predators like sharks that feed on the spawning fish and other fish and animals that feed on the released eggs. The next two slides provide lessons learned from the management of fish spawning aggregations. We’ll first start with Nassau grouper, which was once one of the most important fisheries in the Caribbean but is now listed as threatened under the endangered species act and prohibited from harvest in the United States.

Despite a patchwork of regulations like size limits, quotas and gear restrictions being in place throughout the Caribbean, over exploitation at spawning aggregations ultimately led to overfishing and caused a Nassau grouper fishery to collapse in the 1980s. With big spawning Nassau grouper concentrated at these spawning aggregations, catch rates at these sites remained quite high despite the population being depleted. So overfishing was not readily apparent even though it was actively occurring.

Eventually, the effects of overfishing caused some spawning aggregations to ultimately disappear and probably less than 20 of the known 50 Nassau grouper spawning aggregation sites remain today. Many Caribbean countries responded to this collapse by enacting management actions to protect spawning fish such as seasonal closures, establishing protected areas at the spawning aggregation locations, or ultimately prohibiting harvest altogether. There is recent evidence that recovery is occurring only in places where protections of Nassau grouper spawning aggregations were enacted and there is still a long road ahead in rebuilding this fishery.

We can contrast the case of Nassau grouper with the management success at Riley’s Hump in the Dry Tortugas, which the Commission has been involved with and discussed in depth at previous Commission meetings. Long story short, in the late 1990s, declines were observed in the mutton snapper spawning aggregation at Riley’s hump. An area closure was implemented at Riley’s Hump in 2001 and since that time spawning aggregations of mutton snapper have reformed.

The photos on this slide show some of these spawning aggregations and you can even see them spawning. Increases in the abundance and size of black and red grouper as well as yellowtail and mutton snapper in the region have also been observed. Research by FWC has also identified spawning aggregations near Riley’s Hump for both black grouper as well as cubera snapper. Overall, the protection of mutton snapper spawning aggregations at Riley’s Hump has widely been regarded as a fisheries management success story.

Providing protections for mutton snapper spawning aggregations here in combination with traditional management measures like minimum size and daily bag limits makes up a comprehensive holistic approach to conservation that ensures the sustainability of this important south Florida fishery while also providing benefits to other reef fish. We are now likely seeing the positive effects of this comprehensive strategy in FWC research that shows increasing sub-adult mutton snapper densities throughout the Florida Keys.

Ocean currents in the Tortugas and lower keys near Riley’s Hump likely play a part in this increase by providing a mechanism that carries eggs and larvae from the Riley’s Hump area throughout the Florida Keys and south Florida. In turn, we have also observed increased commercial reef fish catch in this region, which is another indicator that this management strategy is working.

06:44 - Now let’s focus specifically on Western Dry Rocks, which is a high relief area with a well-developed coral reef located about 10 miles southwest of Key West. Western Dry Rocks is a popular fishing location and many guides out of Key West go there for their half day charters. Western Dry Rocks is popular in part because of the abundance and size of fish there, which is largely a function of the area being a multi-species spawning aggregation site. In the previous examples that were highlighted, the focus was on managing aggregations of a single species.

Western Dry Rocks is unique because multiple recreationally and commercially important species are known to form spawning aggregations there. I mentioned earlier in the presentation that ocean currents can provide a mechanism for enhanced recruitment of fish spawned at Riley’s Hump. These same currents also influence Western Dry Rocks. The slide provides a visual representation for generally how this mechanism works. Riley’s Hump is depicted with an orange star on the far left side of the map and Western Dry Rocks is marked with a red star.

The Tortugas gyre forms off of the gulf stream and settles near the Tortugas. When this happens, fish eggs, plankton and fish larvae that are unable to swim beyond the currents are swept up into the rotating currents of the gyre. When the Tortugas gyre forms, it typically remains in place for about two to three months until another gyre forms off of the gulf stream and then pushes the Tortugas gyre towards the Florida Keys. As the Tortugas gyre moves up along the Keys, it becomes the Pourtales gyre.

When the Pourtales gyre passes areas like Western Dry Rocks, eggs and larvae from spawning fish can also become swept up in the rotating water currents. As the Pourtales gyre continues to move up the Keys, it carries the eggs and larvae with it. Currents in the gyre will eventually weaken and then fish larvae that were contained in the gyre can be deposited in near-shore waters, seed nursery areas and help replenish local populations throughout the Keys and into south Florida.

Now, if this were an animated slide, it would show eggs and larvae being seeded throughout the entirety of the Keys, all along this black line and up past Key Largo. These gyres can form any time during the year sometimes multiple times a year and when the timing of the gyre movement overlaps with fish spawning events, they can promote strong fish year classes by carrying eggs and larvae to the inshore habitats they need as juvenile fish. These strong year classes can then grow up and then be very essential to helping to sustain healthy fisheries throughout the Florida Keys region.

09:24 - I mentioned earlier that Western Dry Rocks is somewhat unique in that multiple species aggregate there. This slide shows the spawning season for species that are known to aggregate to spawn near Western Dry Rocks. The orange blocks show the overall spawning season for a species and the red blocks show when peak spawning typically occurs. Now before i get into some of the details of this chart, I just want to remind everyone that the Commission draft rule is for a seasonal closure at Western Dry Rocks from May through June but the Commission also wants input on a potential seasonal closure from April through July.

We are looking at feedback on these potential options so keep that in mind as we move forward. In the spring and summer, permit; snappers like yellowtail, mutton, gray and schoolmaster; and Atlantic spade fish aggregate to spawn here. Permit and yellowtail snapper starts to peak in April and then peak spawning for permit, yellowtail, mutton and gray snapper occurs in May and June with the snappers continuing to peak in July. FWC research indicates that groupers are also aggregating here during their spawning season, which is in winter and early spring, although note that scamp can spawn all the way into June.

Also note that the annual Atlantic group or harvest closure includes peak grouper spawning months.

10:46 - The approved draft rule will prohibit fishing during May and June each year in a one-square-mile area near Western Dry Rocks but the Commission also expressed interest in exploring other options as discussed on the previous slide including an April through July fishing closure. I want to emphasize that the approved draft rule is not final and we are looking for input on the Commission’s draft rule as well as other options. This bathymetric map shows Western Dry Rocks area and its topographic features.

The proposed one-square-mile seasonal closure is shown here by the black box. Please note that this area is smaller than the area closure proposed by the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, which is shown by the red box. Also note that the actual area of Western Dry Rocks is slightly to the north of the proposed seasonal closure area, which is actually an offshore bar called Boca Grande bar but the entirety of the area is commonly referred to as Western Dry Rocks.

The different colors of the background represents the bottom features of Western Dry Rocks with yellow and orange colors representing shallow parts of the reef and green and blue colors representing deeper regions. The different colored circles represent areas that are known spawning aggregation locations for several species. The locations of these spawning aggregations are not static but occur in the general area near the circle shown rather than at specific points within this box.

The red circles are mutton snapper. You can see these in the deeper portions along Western Dry Rocks. Then we have this cluster of aggregations that occur along the southeast edge of the orangish yellowish area in the shallow regions and these include gray snapper, permit, black grouper and multiple other species like crevalle jack. Note that all of these species are all going to this general area but at different times of the year.

12:39 - The fishing boats represent where fishing effort is primarily concentrated based on aerial survey data and tends to be centered around the known spawning aggregation sites. The proposed one square mile box would include most of these known spawning aggregations.

12:57 - Here we provide the GPS coordinates of the draft rule for those that are interested in the exact location of the proposed seasonal fishing closure area.

13:04 - Each point that you can see represents a corner of FWC’s proposed boundary near Western Dry Rocks.

13:12 - Sharks are attracted to spawning aggregations for the very same reasons that people like to fish them. Because of this, there has been documented conflict with sharks and anglers at fish spawning aggregation sites such as Western Dry Rocks. Fish that are getting ready to spawn are focused on reproduction and less so on predators in the areas. As a result, spawning fish generally make for an easy meal for predators like sharks, and on top of that hooked fish make for an even easier prey.

We have some recent science on angler shark interactions at Western Dry Rocks that shows about 39 percent of all permit that were hooked at Western Dry Rocks were eaten by sharks. This research indicates that even the practice of catch and release on spawning aggregations could in fact have population level effects due to these shark interactions. Because of this several stakeholders have requested at previous meetings and through the comments sent to the FWC commission prior to the December Commission meeting that FWC designate Western Dry Rocks as a no entry area from April through July in order to minimize the impact of shark interactions while multiple species including permit as well as yellowtail, mutton and gray snapper are aggregated to spawn.

The proposed raft rule would prohibit all fishing at Western Dry Rocks during the seasonal closure, which would eliminate shark interactions during this portion of the spawning season during the closed fishing months. This slide summarizes considerations raised in this presentation for the proposed closure at Western Dry Rocks. First, the protection of fish spawning aggregations used in coordination with other traditional management tools can be an effective strategy to sustain and potentially enhance fisheries.

The timing of the draft rule, a May through June one-square-mile closure, is intended to provide benefits to several important fisheries including mutton, gray and yellowtail snappers as well as permit. Harvest of grouper is already prohibited throughout the Keys and the Atlantic during January through April, but this closure could have the potential to protect scamp that aggregate late in their spawning season since they tend to spawn through June. Regarding a potential April through July seasonal closure, the entire peak spawning period for these species would be covered and therefore more benefits would be provided to these fisheries.

Another important consideration is for the potential for currents to enhance recruitment for species that spawn at Western Dry Rocks. The currents at Riley’s Hump that are believed to have contributed to the observed increases in mutton snapper in the Florida Keys are the same currents that would impact enhanced recruitment resulting from the protection of spawning aggregations at Western Dry Rocks. The negative shark interactions observed at Western Dry Rocks highlight that catch and release may still result in high rates of fishing mortality and therefore a total fishing closure including catch and release from May through June is included in the approved draft rule.

Last but not least, the importance of Western Dry Rocks for fishing guides out of Key West is also worth considering. A sufficient closure would impact their ability to run trips there during the closed months. Ultimately, there are trade-offs between the options of a two-month fishing closure from May through June relative to a four-month fishing closure from April through July. The four-month seasonal closure at Western Dry Rocks is more likely to protect and maximize fisheries benefits due to the potential for enhanced recruitment, however, a four-month seasonal closure would provide less access for fishers that target fish at Western Dry Rocks.

16:48 - Following up from the Commission’s discussion, we are specifically seeking your feedback on closure months. We’d like to hear your thoughts on whether you would support a May through June or April through July closure at Western Dry Rocks and why.

17:04 - If you do not wish to speak at our Western Dry Rocks workshops, then there are other options for providing feedback to FWC. You can submit written comments through our saltwater comments page by visiting myfwc. com/saltwatercomments or through our marine inbox by emailing marine@myfwc. com. Finally, staff will be reviewing the feedback received from these workshops and will be making a management recommendation to the Commission at their February 25th through 26th meeting.

Details about this meeting and how you can provide comments at that meeting will be posted at myfwc. com. Thank you very much for taking the time to listen to this presentation and we very much so look forward to hearing from you. Have a nice day. .