TCC SEAMAP SUBCOMMITTEE
MINUTES
Wednesday, October 12, 2016
New Orleans, LA
Chairman T. Switzer called the meeting to order at 8:30 a.m. The following members and others
were present:
Members
John Mareska, ADCNR/MRD, Gulf Shores, AL
Jill Hendon, USM/GCRL, Ocean Springs, MS
Ted Switzer, FWC/FWRI, St. Petersburg, FL
Chloe Dean, LDWF, Grand Isle, LA
Fernando Martinez, TPWD, Corpus Christi, TX
Butch Pellegrin, NOAA Fisheries, Pascagoula, MS
Others
Eric Hoffmayer, NOAA/NMFS, Pascagoula, MS
Darin Topping, TPWD, Rockport, TX
Myron Fischer, LDWF, Grand Isle, LA
Christian Jones, NOAA/NMFS, Pascagoula, MS
Mark Lingo, TPWD, Austin, TX
Travis Williams, MDMR, Biloxi, MS
Harry Blanchet, LDWF, Baton Rouge, LA
Andy Fischer, LDWF, Baton Rouge, LA
Staff
Jeff Rester, SEAMAP/Habitat Program Coordinator, GSMFC, Ocean Springs, MS
Dave Donaldson, Executive Director, GSMFC, Ocean Springs, MS
James Ballard, Sport Fish Restoration/ANS Coordinator, GSMFC, Ocean Springs, MS
Ashley Lott, Sta.ff Assistant, GSMFC, Ocean Springs, MS
Adoption of Agenda
J. Rester noted a change to the Agenda. Item #5, Final Approval of the 2016-2020 SEAMAP
Management Plan is removed. The final edits are still being worked on. In its place, J. Rester
would like to add a discussion of the Vertical Line Sampling Universe. J. Mareska moved to
accept the agenda as modified. C. Dean seconded and the motion passed.
Approval of Minutes
F. Martinez had a correction to the SEAMAP minutes from July 26, 2016. Under Status Report
on the 2016 Vertical Line Survey, he noted that it should state that Texas decided to buy one (1)
Garmin sonar unit instead of five (5). C. Dean moved to approve the SEAMAP minutes from
the July 26, 2016 meeting as corrected. J. Mareska seconded and the motion passed.
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Administrative Report
J. Rester reported that since the Committee's last meeting in July, SEAMAP has completed the
Vertical Line Survey, Bottom Longline Survey, and the Fall Plankton Survey. The Fall
Shrimp/Groundfish Survey began last week and is currently ongoing. J. Rester asked the
subcommittee to please remember to send to him the data and cruise reports for all SEAMAP
related activity. The Subcommittee discussed SEAMAP taxes at the July meeting. D. Donaldson
asked Dr. Paul Doremus additional questions related to SEAMAP funding at the end of September.
One question was why SEAMAP was paying a 15.8% tax rate while other programs were paying
a lower percentage. Dr. Doremus stated that all programs were paying the same management and
administrative costs at the headquarters level. The differences arose as to the rate of M&A at the
regional level. Other questions included a breakdown of these "taxes" moving backward in time?
Is NMFS anticipating further increases in these leverages? What is the maximum percentage
NOAA can assess a funding source? Who sets that percentage? When was it established? NMFS
foreseeing any assistance to offset the increase in survey cost as a result of this FLSA mandate?
Dr. Doremus will hopefully respond to these questions in the near future.
The SEAMAP Subcommittee and other Pls submitted two proposals to the latest NOAA Science
Program's funding opportunity. The trophodynamics ($2.66 million over 3 years) and life history
($1.98 million over 2 years) proposals were submitted September 27. Approximately 270 letters
of intent were originally submitted. Dr. Julien Lartigue stated that they received approximately
140 full proposals. Not all of these proposals were submitted under the competition's research
priority to increase our understanding of living coastal and marine resources and their habitats in
the Gulf of Mexico. The NOAA RESTORE Act Science Program was looking to spend $12
million on 5-10 projects under this research priority.
Review of the Draft Vertical Line Survey Operations Manual
At the July meeting, the Vertical Line Survey Operations Manual was discussed. A couple of
items were left in question and they need to be cleared up. The first deals with the 3-way swivel
midway down the backbone. T. Switzer stated that Florida has no strong feelings either way about
it. M. Fischer stated that Louisiana was trained by commercial fisherman and based on their
advice, they use it for economical reasons and it helps with sharks. Louisiana would like to keep
the 3-way swivel. Texas does not see a need for it. J. Hendon stated that Mississippi does not
use it but is not opposed to it if it is beneficial to others. Since the 3-way swivel has some benefit
to some members of the subcommittee without any drawbacks, it was decided to keep it in the
manual. The next issue deals with weights, 5lb vs. 1Olb. It was discussed that the different weights
were used based on the types of conditions. NMFS uses the 5lb, but uses 10 if the currents are
really ripping through the area. E. Hoffmayer asked if it was worth switching over to a spectre
line? J. Hendon stated that they are working on a different project and they are using a spectre
line. J. Rester asked if she could pull some data/information together about the spectre line and
present it to the subcommittee at the March meeting. She will work on it. Louisiana, Alabama
and Texas all stated that they use 1Olbs. Florida stated that they use 5lbs unless the current gets
high, then they use the 1Olb. T. Switzer stated that to keep things simple for now, keep the weight
at lOlbs and then the subcommittee will reassess this issue in March after J. Hendon presents the
information on the spectre line. J. Rester stated that once the Vertical Line Survey Operations
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Manual is finalized, the video J. Hendon shot on how gangions are made, will be embedded in the
manual for reference.
J. Hendon moved to approve and finalize the Vertical Line Survey Operations Manual. F.
Martinez seconded and the motion was passed.
Vertical Line Sampling Universe
It was noted at the meeting in July that the states were having issues finding some of the artificial
and presumed reefs. J. Mareska stated that Alabama did not find four artificial reefs during the
May sampling. Louisiana had some oil and gas platforms missing as well. F. Martinez stated
that Texas is only finding about 1/3 of their presumed/artificial reefs. J. Rester asked ifthe states
would have any issues deleting those wrecks/obstructions from the database because they are gone,
missing or wrong coordinates. Trying to get away from going out and wasting time t1ying to find
reefs. E. Hoffmayer suggested having a secondary site selected, restricted to the same habitat
type, within a buffer zone. It was decided that J. Rester will give out the primary targets to the
states and also give out a list of alternates within a five (5) mile buffer zone. J. Rester will work
on this and get it out to the states early next year.
TPWD Perspectives on SEAMAP Surveys
M. Lingo presented a power point presentation on how Texas is handling the Vertical Long Line
Sampling and the constraints they are faced with. Texas wants to continue working with
SEAMAP, but they can only do so much based on their funding and capabilities. J. Rester asked
if someone else from SEAMAP contracted out boats for Texas to stay out overnight, would they
be able to do that? M Lingo will look into it, but the staff on the boat is still responsible for their
other sampling duties and they must be paid for the time they are out on the boat. T. Switzer noted
that for at least one year, Texas needs to get the deeper water stations. M. Lingo again stated that
they want to participate in SEAMAP, but they can only do what their funds allow them to do.
Shrimp/Groundfish Station Future Allocations
Since SEAMAP has been allocating stations for the shrimp/groundfish surveys, there has been a
reduction in the number of stations set for the survey. So the problem we have run into is how do
we allocate the stations amongst the various partners. For the fall of 2016, there were only ten
(10) stations that fell off of Alabama and Mississippi. The Alabama boat broke down, but
Mississippi was able to cover the majority of the stations. Florida was not able to do the fall survey
because of budget cuts. T. Switzer stated that he believes Florida will be able to do the survey
every other year, so they should be able to do the survey for fall 2017. B. Pellegrin asked if Florida
had money for one full survey, could they do half a survey in the summer and half in the fall? T.
Switzer stated they have no problem with doing half and half, and once they have the funds, will
do the full summer and full fall surveys. J. Hendon stated that Mississippi can help out by picking
up some of the stations in the Florida panhandle. J. Mareska stated that Alabama can help out as
well, but the stations need to be in a fairly close range to the Alabama stations. J. Rester stated
that when we have limited funding, we need to optimize the use of our time as much as possible
to get the most out of our vessels for the surveys. E. Hoffmayer suggested that the subcommittee
revisit this topic at the March meeting. T Switzer will have a better idea of what money he has
left over and what Florida can do for the summer and fall 2017 surveys.
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Staff Time Needed for SEAMAP Surveys
E. Hoffmayer stated that this topic came about because labor estimates are varied across the states
for the statements of work. If possible, he would like to get to a standardized time frame as to
what it takes to get the work done. His intent is to just look at time at sea. How many people go,
how long does it take to load, unload the boat. How many hours are spent in the lab. Since the
states approached this in different ways, he would like each of the states to look at their time and
revise so all are on the same page. He asked each state to look at the number of stations, number
of man hours per station and total hours at sea (this is to include prep time, load, unload boat time
and lab time). Then add the total number of hours together and divide by the number of stations
to equal number of hours per station. Is this time reasonable/realistic.
Election of Chairman
J. Mareska moved to nominate T. Switzer for Chairman and R. Hendon for Vice-Chairman.
C. Dean seconded and the motion passed.
Other Business
It was noted that this is the last meeting that Butch Pellegrin will be attending. He is retiring at
the end of the year. Dr. Christian Jones will be taking his place on the committee.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 11: 53 a.m.
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