Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (FGBNMS) includes the northern-most coral reefs in the United States, which are used as benchmarks for evaluating other coral ecosystems because of their resilience and relative good health. Located far off-shore from the coasts of Louisiana and Texas, FGBNMS was designated in 1992 at the urging of recreational divers and researchers, primarily in response to the damage caused by large vessels anchoring on East and West Flower Garden Banks.
In 1996, FGBNMS was expanded to include Stetson Bank, another underwater community of biological interest and sensitivity.
The designation promulgated more than a dozen regulations, including prohibitions on the anchoring of large vessels, discharge of untreated wastewater and harmful materials from vessels, and fishing with equipment other than a single hook and line.
In 2005, a Sanctuary Advisory Council was formed and started a review of the management plan. In 2006 and 2008, reports on the health of the sanctuary were produced that identified new threats to the ecosystem. The review process included several management actions designed to mitigate these new threats, including the proposed expansion of the sanctuary’s boundaries and a study on whether anecdotal reports of a decline in reef fish point to the need for new restrictions on fishing.
Mission
The mission of the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (FGBNMS) is to establish partnerships and cooperation with other agencies to protect the marine resources, establish monitoring and predictive studies to provide information needed in resolving management issues and improve public awareness about the sanctuary and the need for protection.
Objectives
In support of that mission, the following seven objectives have been identified:
Lead Organizations
Key Parties
Federal
Academic and Educational Institutions
Multiple academic institutions in Gulf of Mexico states and elsewhere including:
Foundations and Financial Partners
The Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary
The Sanctuary maintains offices in Galveston, Texas that are co-located with the National Marine Fisheries Service.
Sanctuary Advisory Council (SAC)
The SAC was established in 2005 to facilitate communication among sanctuary staff, user groups and the public. It is assisting in the development of a revised management plan by fostering public engagement and developing consensus on new threats to the marine sanctuary and potential management responses. Of the 21 members of the SAC, 16 are voting members and are appointed to represent the following groups:
The non-voting members represent the following federal agencies:
SAC Working Groups
In February 2007, the SAC established six working groups, most of which have been discontinued, to address the following issues that were identified as key to the review of the management plan:
In the late 1880s, grouper and snapper fisherman discovered the banks and named them the Texas Flower Gardens. For many years, scientists were hesitant to believe rumors of coral reefs in the Gulf of Mexico because they thought the water temperatures were too cool to support them. However, in the early 1960s, scientific scuba diving expeditions definitively documented healthy, coral reef ecosystems at East and West Flower Garden Banks.
The National Marine Sanctuaries Act was passed in 1972 which sparked discussions about including the two banks in the National Marine Sanctuary Program. Scientists, who had established a research center focused on the banks, supported the designation of the sanctuary. One of the scientists, Tom Bright, director of Texas Sea Grant at Texas A&M University, explored the banks and captured on video the damage caused by a large boat anchoring in the area. He released the video to generate support for the sanctuary. Additional support came from recreational divers, who formed an association called the Gulf Reef Environmental Team.
In 1979, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) published proposed regulations that would create the sanctuary, but withdrew them in 1982. NOAA cited the development of a Coral Fishery Management Plan for the Gulf of Mexico, which would address some of the same specific issues relative to East and West Flower Garden Banks. The fishery management plan banned the removal of coral and prohibited many techniques of commercial fishing. Meanwhile, the Minerals Management Service, which regulates oil and gas development in the gulf, already had issued regulations that prohibited vessels involved in oil and gas operations from anchoring near the banks.
However, supporters of the marine sanctuary continued to press for its designation, pointing to two key gaps in the oversight and administration of the banks. Neither the Minerals Management Service nor the Coral Fishery Management Plan had the authority to prohibit large commercial shipping vessels from anchoring near the banks, and there were no long-term provisions for the assessment and management of the area’s resources.
In 1983, NOAA again recommended creation of Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (FGBNMS). A public scoping meeting was held in 1986, followed by the development of a draft management plan and environmental impact statement in 1989.
The Ecosystem
Flower Garden Banks consists of three separate underwater communities that are located 70 to 115 miles off the coasts of Texas and Louisiana: East Flower Garden Bank, West Flower Garden Bank and Stetson Bank.
The three separate banks act as a regional reservoir of shallow-water Caribbean reef species at the extreme northern edge of the zone in which extensive reefs can survive. The ecosystem includes more than a dozen species of tropical Atlantic corals and at least 280 species of fish, including colorful reef fish such as wrasse and larger fish such as snapper and grouper. In addition, 20 species of sharks and rays have been documented, along with several types of marine turtles, including the threatened loggerhead turtle.
Because of its remote location, there is little direct human impact, although the banks are popular with recreational divers and two charter boats regularly visit the area.
Threats
When the sanctuary was designated, the main threat to this ecosystem came from large commercial shipping vessels that anchored near the banks while transiting the Gulf of Mexico. Anchoring was destroying and/or damaging portions of the coral reefs. Today, threats include the warming of ocean waters due to climate change which can lead to coral bleaching and disease, invasive coral species and water quality issues due to marine pollution and nutrient-laden run-off from land.
Commercial and recreational fishing is limited to traditional hook and line methods in the area and the impact of fishing on the ecosystem is not known. However, anecdotal reports have pointed to a decline in reef fish. In addition, 150 oil and gas platforms are located within roughly 40 kilometers of the sanctuary. One platform that had been established prior to the designation of the sanctuary is located within its boundaries.
Resource Protection
Resource protection at Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (FGBNMS) is accomplished through the promulgation of regulations, particularly a ban on the anchoring by vessels greater than 100 feet within the waters surrounding the banks. In addition, FGBNMS maintains mooring buoys to guide smaller vessels away from particularly sensitive areas. Contingency plans have been developed to address threats from oil spills and groundings.
Education
Because of its remote location, it is difficult to enforce FGBNMS regulations. Education efforts are aimed at specific user groups and the general public to generate support for management actions and a greater appreciation for the marine resources of FGBNMS. Sanctuary staff educate divers at trade shows and on dive vessels during peak season weekends. In addition, FGBNMS has developed partnerships with aquariums to showcase exhibits on sanctuary marine life and holds workshops to help school teachers convey educational messages about this marine resource to their students.
Research Goals
The Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (FGBNMS) directly sponsors research and facilitates research by outside parties to accomplish two main tasks:
Because access to FGBNMS is difficult, the research coordinator at the sanctuary contracts with charter boat operators to provide berths for researchers interested in visiting the sanctuary.
Results
Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary has:
Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary: http://flowergarden.noaa.gov/welcome.html