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Welcome to the Marine Protected Areas group page!

About us

The Marine reserves group is part of the NOAA Fisheries Laboratory in Panama City, FL. Its mission is to conduct fishery and habitat research on designated and proposed marine protected areas (MPA) in the southeastern United States. The major project areas are:

• Northeast Gulf of Mexico MPAs
• South Atlantic Bight MPAs
• Oculina HAPC (Habitat Area of Particular Concern)
• Pulley Ridge
• South Atlantic Bight Deep-Sea Coral HAPC

The Marine Reserves team also conducts annual surveys for juvenile reef fish in local seagrass nursery areas and provides support for other projects at the Panama City Laboratory.

For more information about the projects, follow the links located in the contents area. The most recent publications, images and maps from these projects can be found in the "resources" section.

Upcoming projects

• September 8th to 17th 2009: Multibeam mapping on Pulley Ridge. Conducted by Dr. David Naar, University of South Florida aboard Florida Institute of Oceanography vessel R/V Weatherbird.


• September 20th to 28th 2009: Research cruise to Pulley Ridge. Conducted aboard NOAA vessel, R/V Gordon Gunter.


• September 2009:Multibeam mapping on South Atlantic Bight deep-sea coral HAPC aboard NOAA vessel, R/V Nancy Foster.


• November 2009: Research cruise to South Atlantic Bight Marine Protected Areas aboard NOAA vessel, R/V Pieces.


• November 2009: Multibeam mapping on South Atlantic Bight deep-sea coral HAPC. Conducted by Dr. David Naar, University of South Florida aboard Florida Institute of Oceanography vessel, R/V Weatherbird.


• December 2009: Research cruise to deploy lander (underwater observatory) in South Atlantic Bight deep-sea coral HAPC aboard Duke University Marine Laboratory R/V Cape Hatteras.