No abstract

We developed a modified purse seine to sample shallow water estuarine habitats and evaluated the efficacy of using this gear as a tool for monitoring estuarine fish populations in Tampa Bay, Florida. The purse seine (183-m long, 5.2 m deep and 50-mm stretch mesh nylon throughout) was easily deployed and retrieved by a 7 m flat-bottomed, bow-driven boat with a hydraulic wench and aluminum pursing davit. Retention rates of pinfish (Lagodon rhomboides) marked and released into 35 net sets averaged 49% (range 9-100%). Retention rates were not significantly influenced by sets over vegetated and unvegetated bottom types, various water depths from 1-3.3m and sets with and without bycatch. We then used the modified purse seine to sample fishes at 550 randomly selected sites in Tampa Bay from January 1997 to December 1998. Sampled habitats ranged from 1.0 to 3.3 m deep and included seagrass beds and non-vegetated sand or mud bottoms. Benthic, demersal, and pelagic fishes were captured, indicating the purse seine effectively sampled the entire water column. A wide size range of fishes was collected including pre-recruitment sizes of several economically important species. The ability of purse seines io fish independent of adjacent shorelines allowed us to sample nearshore waters that included large expanses of sea grass meadow.

The three contiguous National Estuary Programs of southwest Florida, along with partners from six coastal counties, have developed a tidal creek water quality assessment framework to help prioritize natural resource investigations across a large population of tidal creeks between Tampa Bay and Estero Bay, Florida. The assessment framework is based on outcomes of a multidisciplinary study and includes a nutrient based report card that characterizes nutrient conditions relative to regional numeric nutrient criteria developed for contributing freshwater streams, identification of site-specific water quality indicators of tidal creek condition, and an online open science dashboard to display the assessment framework and provide access to all information relevant to its implementation. Application of the assessment framework has provided an actionable list of southwest Florida tidal creeks prioritized for further research and potential management action along with a host of site-specific indicator results that provide insights into drivers of tidal creek condition. The open science dashboard provides a platform for dissemination of this information in a readily accessible and reproducible format and a means to incorporate new data and indicators as they become available. Local resource managers are in need of tools to help prioritize natural resource investigations and management actions that achieve the greatest resource benefit with limited available resources. This assessment framework informs these efforts and builds capacity for future research to identify and refine management tools for these creeks where management resources, data, and sentinel biological response endpoints are limited.

Many environmental programs report on the status and trends of natural resources to inform management decisions for protecting or restoring environmental condition. The National Estuary Program (NEP) in the United States is one example of a resource management institution focused on "estuaries of national significance" that provides place-based solutions to managing coastal resources. There are 28 NEPs in the United States, each with similar but location-specific programmatic goals to address environmental challenges related to water quality, alteration of hydrologic flows, invasive species, climate change, declines in fish and wildlife populations, pathogens and other contaminants, and stormwater management. A critical need of each NEP is the synthesis of data from disparate sources that can inform management response to address these environmental challenges.