Data Management Plan

These data represent the designated critical habitat for lobed star coral (Orbicella annularis) as designated by 88 FR 54026, published on August 09, 2023. This rule became effective on September 08, 2023. The purpose of these data is to visually represent the designated critical habitat areas for GIS analysis and display.OANN‐1: All waters 6.5 ft (2 m) to 65.6 ft (20 m) deep in Florida from the south side of Lake Worth Inlet, Palm Beach County south to the south side of Government Cut, Miami‐Dade County. All waters 1.6 ft (0.5 m) to 65.6 ft (20 m) deep in Florida from the south side of Government Cut, Miami‐Dade County south to the Dry Tortugas, and waters north of the Florida Keys in the FKNMS.OANN‐2: All waters 1.6 ft (0.5 m) to 65.6 ft (20 m) deep surrounding the islands of the Commonwealth of Puerto RicoOANN‐3: All waters 1.6 ft (0.5 m) to 65.6 ft (20 m) deep surrounding the islands of St. Thomas and St. John, and smaller surrounding islands, USVIOANN‐4: All waters 1.6 ft (0.5 m) to 65.6 ft (20 m) deep surrounding the island of St. Croix and smaller surrounding islands, USVIOANN-5: All waters 1.6 ft (0.5 m) to 65.6 ft (20 m) deep surrounding Navassa IslandOANN-6: All waters 52 ft (16 m) to 295 ft (90 m) deep in the water column surrounding East Flower Garden Bank, West Flower Garden Bank, Bright Bank, McGrail Bank, and Geyer Bank.

Process Steps:

• 2021-07-23 00:00:00 - Bathymetry source: NGDC Coastal Relief Model for Puerto Rico & U.S. Virgin Islands (Vol. 9), Florida and Eastern Gulf of Mexico (Vol. 3), and Central Gulf of Mexico (Vol. 4). Using ESRI's ArcGIS ArcMap software and Spatial Analyst extension, ran the focal statistics tool, which smoothed blocky contours. Then Surface >Contour tool with base contour set to 0.99999, which will also smooth some blockiness. Converted the polyline to a polygon. Deleted very small polygons/ or polys for depths +/- 1m. NOAA NCCOS provided bathymeric contours for Navassa based on sidescan sonar surveys.
• 2021-07-26 00:00:00 - A detailed shoreline was used for Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands from NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS), by selecting 'Land' and 'mangrove' polygons. The NOAA medium resolution vector shoreline was used for Florida to depict shoreline, 0.5, and 1 meter bathy. COLREG lines at the mouths of bays and inlets, the intercouncil boundary between South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Councils, Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, federally maintained channels, and information from the U.S. Navy exclusions were used to create the critical habitat boundary.
• 2023-12-15 00:00:00 - As described above, this species’ HUC-based critical habitat dataset was modified from the polygon-based species “agency-official” NMFS critical habitat data. This HUC-based critical habitat file represents the HUC-12 watersheds (USGS Watershed Boundary Dataset; https://www.usgs.gov/national-hydrography/watershed-boundary-dataset) that intersect with the “agency-official” critical habitat polygon-based data. The data were reviewed and revised to add any additional HUC-12 watersheds that were determined to have hydrologic connectivity to the critical habitat.