Date of Graduation

Spring 2013

Degree

Master of Science in Geospatial Sciences

Department

Geography, Geology, and Planning

Committee Chair

Robert Pavlowsky

Abstract

Rising population in the coastal Caribbean have caused the decline of marine resources as demands exceed sustainable levels. The decline of fish populations and fish habitats like seagrass beds, coral reefs, and mangroves is costly because the regional economy depends heavily on tourism and fishing. Major causes of damage are overfishing, climate change, pollution, and sedimentation. In order to address this problem in Jamaica, the Agriculture Ministry created a network of marine protected areas in 2009 including the Bluefields Bay Fish Sanctuary (BBFS) in Westmoreland. The legislation specified the need for a baseline survey of each new fish sanctuary. This study reports on the baseline physical habitat survey of BBFS which is located between Belmont and Savanna-La-Mar and is about 8 km long, 2 km wide, and 10 m at maximum depth. Satellite imagery and field observations were used to map benthic habitat. GPS photologging was completed to map and assess intertidal habitat. Depth, water quality, and benthic habitat type were recorded via GPS along offshore transects. Bathymetry contours were generated from a kriging interpolated surface with a 95% confidence level and error of +- 2.3 ft. Diver validation of benthic habitat yielded 90% accuracy. The most common type of habitats were mangroves (41.7%) for intertidal and seagrass beds (82%) for benthic. Patch reefs with total area 0.77 km2 made up 6% of the benthic habitat; but some small coral reefs may have not been detected given the scale of the assessment.

Keywords

Jamaica, marine protected area, habitat, bathymetric, kriging

Subject Categories

Marine Biology | Natural Resources and Conservation

Copyright

© Jennifer Denise Carroll

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