Mapping Benthic Habitat on the West Florida Shelf Using Multibeam
Acoustics and Towed Underwater Video to Improve Fisheries Science and
Management
Abstract
The West Florida Shelf (WFS) is an extremely important area for both
commercial and recreational fisheries. However, the lack of habitat maps
in this area makes planning fisheries independent monitoring surveys
difficult, and hinders the ability to manage and monitor fish stocks and
ecosystems over time. As of 2015, only 5% of the WFS had been mapped in
high resolution using a multibeam echosounder with little effort
expended to infer and verify habitat type. In 2015, The Continental
Shelf Characterization, Assessment, and Mapping Project (C-SCAMP) began
using a multibeam echosounder and towed underwater video to map benthic
habitats and improve our understanding of fish-habitat relationships on
the WFS. For this study, high resolution multibeam bathymetry and
co-registered backscatter data were collected and processed. A portion
of these areas were then “ground-truthed” using towed video transects
to assess habitat type and identify fish. Habitat maps were created
using a statistical classification model that predicts benthic habitat
type based on the acoustic signature. Progress towards a unified habitat
map of the West Florida Shelf will be presented including habitat
interpretation of multibeam surfaces collected by other groups prior to
this project, particularly focusing on those within Marine Protected
Areas. Applications of the resultant habitat maps for fisheries
management will be demonstrated and discussed.