NEBO(Northeastern Bentho-Pelagic Observatory)
A Mobile Bentho-Pelagic Observatory to Support
Fisheries and Ecosystem Management
The objective of the Northeast Bentho-Pelagic Observatory (NEBO)
is to produce unique data products for fisheries and marine
protected area managers to foster development of ecosystem approaches
to management (EAM). A unique approach allows the NEBO Team
to collect and rapidly analyze data that are both spatially
comprehensive (i.e., continuous coverage of large areas) and
have high resolution (mm resolution of seafloor imagery). In
conjunction with the Northeast Regional Association for Coastal
Ocean Observing Systems (NERACOOS), the project will observe
and quantify key taxa, benthic community structure, species
diversity, seafloor habitat characteristics, and coincident
water column properties with repeated measurements on time scales
of weeks to years.
At test sites that have both high fisheries and conservation
value, NEBO will quantify how these communities respond to system
change (climate events, fishing activity, position of oceanographic
features [fronts], etc). This will require the fusion of disparate,
synoptically acquired data sets, including high-resolution acoustic
bathymetry and backscatter (on scales of meters to kilometers),
stereo optical imagery (on scales of millimeters to meters),
water column plankton distributions (microns to millimeters),
and the development of image bioinformatic tools for classifying
targets and substrates. Integrated data products will be developed
and presented using advanced visualization tools so key fishery
target species and non-target community responses to regulatory
practices can be observed and quantified at multiple, relevant
space and time scales in relation to variations in seafloor
habitat and boundary layer conditions. Data products will be
incorporated into predictive community dynamics models for use
in fisheries and sanctuary management, and evaluated for their
impact on management practices through socio-economic modeling.
Data products will be of direct utility to fishery and conservation
scientists, fishery and sanctuary managers, and environmental
policy makers.
The objectives of the NEBO project are:
1. To establish several key locations along the northeast
coastline to be quantified using the instrumentation described
below. Four areas are of primary interest: the western Gulf
of Maine including the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary,
Great South Channel, Northern Edge of Georges Bank, and the
outer Mid-Atlantic Shelf.
2. To develop the tools necessary to integrate and fuse disparate
fisheries-relevant data sets, to segment and classify epi-benthic
targets and substrate, and, to visualize the results in near
real-time. Water column measurements acquired synoptically from
NERACOOS buoy and gliders will be coupled with measurements
in the benthic boundary layer (BBL) to provide a more complete
understanding of local ecosystem dynamics.
3. To establish metrics for quantifying change in benthic community
structure, organism abundance and size distribution of a variety
of taxa relative to substrate composition in relation to water
column processes. Socio-economic modeling will provide quantifiable
metrics to evaluate the impact of NEBO data products on the
management of fisheries and Marine Protected Areas.
For more go to www.nebo.whoi.edu
