More information is needed to evaluate the management role of no-take marine reserves and to better design marine reserves in terms of size, number, and location. Florida Keys Monitoring. This research is testing specific hypotheses involving the effects of no-take marine reserves on fishes and their habitat. Extensive field monitoring efforts since then have been directed at documenting changes in no-take areas in comparison to nearby fished reference areas. Fish surveys are conducted throughout the reef tract using a stratified sampling design with random visual stationary plot sampling.
Monitoring is used to assess the impacts of increased resource protection by zoning changes.
It will indirectly evaluate any effects of Florida Bay restoration efforts on fish communities. The sampling design is set up to test, on a spatially explicit basis, the influence of habitat and the level of protection and size and location of protected areas. Research is investigating the effects of two no-take estuarine reserves at Cape Canaveral in the Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge on fish populations and surrounding fisheries. In cooperation with the U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Miami, aerial surveys of vessel use patterns off southeastern Florida and the Florida Keys are being conducted to better understand how users relate to no-take zones. Sea turtle and marine mammal occurrence data are also recorded.