Quantifying the impacts to coral and sponge habitats in the eastern Gulf of Mexico during Southeast Area Monitoring and Assessment Program fishery-independent bottom trawl surveys

"The Southeast Area Monitoring and Assessment Program (SEAMAP) annually conducts two fishery-independent bottom trawl surveys that have the potential to encounter coral, sponge and other live bottom habitats in the eastern Gulf of Mexico (GOM). The summer and fall trawl surveys were established respectively in 1982 and 1987 to assess the seasonal, spatial and inter-annual variation in abundance of benthic fauna, determine population size/age structures of collected fauna and quantify associated environmental data. Under the auspices of SEAMAP, the surveys are completed through a cooperative effort by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC) and the states of Texas (TX), Louisiana (LA), Mississippi (MS), Alabama (AL) and Florida (FL). Data collected during these surveys provide critical fishery-independent indices of relative abundance, estimates of bycatch and life history information for many species identified under Federal Fishery Management Plans (FMP, Table 1)"--Introduction. 2018 NMFS (National Marine Fisheries Service) SEFSC (Southeast Fisheries Science Center) CoRIS (Coral Reef Information System) Library http://doi.org/10.7289/V5/TM-SEFSC-723 Public Domain 1860