272 



Fishery Bulletin 104(2) 



ment concerns focus primarily on bycatch reduction, im- 

 pacts on stock assessments of commercially and recre- 

 ationally important finfish, and destruction of coral, live 

 hard-bottom, and SAV habitat (NOAA''; Barnette"'). The 

 presence of reef-associated and sciaenid species in our 

 samples indicate that the unconsolidated sediments of 

 the shelf are potentially important habitats for early life 

 stages, and that trawl fisheries on the shelf may impact 

 the population dynamics of these species. Equally im- 

 portant may be the ecological effects on the small non- 

 commercial demersal species that dominate the catch 

 on unconsolidated sediments and that are abundant in 

 the shrimp trawl bycatch (SAFMC, 1996). 



Unconsolidated sediments serve as juvenile habitat 

 for a number of species in the southeast U.S. shelf eco- 

 system. Some species use unconsolidated sediments 

 throughout their life history, but for a number of spe- 

 cies, unconsolidated sediments serve as only one of a 

 mosaic of habitats through the life history (see Brow- 

 man and Konstantinos, 2004). Additionally, there is 

 growing recognition of the importance of unconsoli- 

 dated sediments in the trophic ecology of the southeast 

 U.S. shelf Benthic primary production of the shelf has 

 been shown to be 4-6 times greater than water-column 

 production at specific locations (Nelson et al., 1999). 

 Unconsolidated sediments are areas of reef fish feed- 

 ing (Sedberry, 1985, 1990) and several important fish 

 predators inhabit unconsolidated sediments (triglids, 

 synodontids, Ross, 1976; Richards et al., 1979). Cur- 

 rent ecosystem approaches to fisheries (see Sissenwine 

 and Murawski, 2004) in the region largely ignore un- 

 consolidated sediments (SAFMC, 1998, 2001), and al- 

 though the importance of this habitat to juvenile fish 

 production remains unquantified (sensu Beck et al., 

 2001), management efforts would be improved through 

 a greater recognition of the potential importance of 

 these habitats to fisheries production and the intercon- 

 nectedness of multiple habitats in the southeast U.S. 

 continental shelf ecosystem. 



Acknowledgments 



We would like to thank all who helped with sample 

 collections, sorting, and analyses: G. Bohne, R. Bohne, 

 C. Bonn, J. Burke, M. Burton, B. Began, M. Duncan, 

 J. Govoni, M. Greene, E. Jugovich, S. Lem, J. Loefer, 

 R. Mays, G. McFall, R. McNatt, A. Powell, R. Rogers, 

 S. Shoffler, S. Varnam, and T. Zimanski. We would like 

 to thank NCAA's Undersea Research Center at the 

 University of North Carolina at Wilmington for use of 

 the ROV and L. Horn for operating the ROV. We appre- 

 ciate the hard work and dedication of the officers and 



" NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admini- 

 stration). 1998. Managing the nation's bycatch: priorities, 

 programs, and actions for the National Marine Fi.sheries 

 Service, 199 p. [Available from National Technical Infor- 

 mation Service, U.S. Department of Commerce, 5285 Port 

 Royal Road, Springfield, VA 22161.1 



crew of the NOAA Ship Ferrel, NOAA Ship Jane Yarn, 

 NCAA Ship Oregon II, and RV Cape Fear. We would 

 also like to thank A. Powell, M. Sullivan, J. Merriner, 

 and an anonymous reviewer for their comments on pre- 

 vious drafts. Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary, 

 the National Marine Sanctuary Office, and Center for 

 Coastal Fisheries and Habitat Research provided fund- 

 ing for the project. 



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