He caribbean fishery management council will provide funding to three contractors to do a coordinated visual, acoustic, and oceanographic assessment of key grouper spawning aggregations sites off…

He caribbean fishery management council will provide funding to three contractors to do a coordinated visual, acoustic, and oceanographic assessment of key grouper spawning aggregations sites off the southwest of puerto rico and east coast of ST. Croix, U.S. Virgin islands, which are known spawning aggregation sites for red hind (epinephelus guttatus). The council will quantify red hind reproductive activity and relative abundances at known spawning aggregation sites to 1) measure abundance of groupers in-situ with multiple technologies (i.e., diver underwater visual census, stereo diver operated video, remotely operated vehicle video, and passive acoustic monitoring); 2) determine the temporal variability in sound production and abundance of groupers; and 3) develop a monitoring survey design for grouper spawning aggregation sites that can be deployed remotely and replicated in different depths, habitats and locations. This research will provide validation of different technologies an…