RECOVER MAP 3.2.3.6 Shoreline Fish Community Visual Assessment

The purpose of this study is to perform data analyses that evaluate variability in Biscayne Bay, Card Sound, and Barnes Sound fish communities before, during, and after CERP-related changes to freshwater flow and salinity are implemented; and to correlate changes in salinity regime with changes in the shoreline ichthyofauna. Species-specific abundance (occurrence, concentration, and delta density) and community taxonomic richness and dominance metrics were determined. Time series of abundance metrics were constructed of four fish taxa: Lutjanus griseus (gray snapper), Sphyraena barracuda (great barracuda), Gerres cinereus (yellowfin mojarra), and Eucinostomus spp. (small mojarras). Mean seasonal levels, with 95% confidence intervals, of each fish metric were generated from 1998 through 2009 and these were plotted for the mainland shoreline and its component segments, as well as for shorelines on the leeward side of Sands and Elliot Keys on Biscayne Bay’s eastern boundary.