Pacific Continental Shelf Research & Publications
 
          This work is a recent continuation of studies that began in 1988 to explore and describe the benthic communities of the Pacific Continental Shelf, though our efforts have been concentrated in Oregon and California.  In collaboration with multiple Federal and State agencies, our lab is involved in describing the megafaunal invertebrate communities of this region and quantifying relationships between groundfish, invertebrates and physical habitat, using submersible and/or remotely operated vehicle (ROV) transects.  This method provides data to aid in the assessment of overfished stocks and defining Essential Fish Habitat (EFH).  In 2000, studies were initiated to further explore Heceta Bank, OR in more detail using high-resolution, multi-beam mapping, and this work was extended to Astoria Canyon, OR in 2001.  Similar work was conducted in 2002 at Cordell Bank off Point Reyes, CA and in the Channel Islands and Cowcod Conservation Areas off southern California.  Currently, our lab is involved in the baseline surveys of the new marine protected areas off central California.  Our emphasis in the more recent projects has been on the distribution and abundance of deep-sea corals and other structure-forming invertebrates and their associations with groundfish.    (jump to list of Publications)

 
 
  Details of Major Projects:

Central CA Marine Protected Areas (2007-present)

  • Funding:  California Ocean Protection Council
  • Partner Organizations: NOAA Fisheries Ecology Division, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, Moss Landing Marine Labs, UC Santa Barbara, California Academy of Sciences, Coastal Marine Research
  • Researchers: Rick Starr, Mary Yoklavich, Brian Tissot, Jeff Field, Tom Laidig, Bob Lea, Milton Love, Mary Nishimoto,  Tory O'Connell, Linda Snook,  Di Watters, Camelia Bianchi, Kaitlin Graiff, Jen Blaine, Jennifer Bright, Mike Lummio
  • Submersible used: Delta
  • Other Links: CA MLPA Central Coast Study Region

 

Cowcod Conservation Areas, CA (2002)

  • Funding: NURP-NOAA, Packard Foundation
  • Partner Organizations: UC Santa Barbara, NOAA 
  • Researchers:  Milton Love,Mary Yoklavich, Brian Tissot, Keri York, Mark Amend, Jennifer Bright
  • Submersible used:  Delta
  • Other Links:

 

Cordell Bank, CA (2002)

 

Astoria Canyon, OR (2001)

 

Heceta Bank, OR  (2000-2001) 

  • Funding:  NURP-NOAA
  • Partner Organizations: NOAA Fisheries, NWFSC, Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, NOAA Fisheries Ecology Division, Southwest Fisheries Science Center
  • Researchers: Waldo Wakefield, Brian Tissot,  Bob Embley, Mary Yoklavich, Noelani Puniwai, Jodi Pirtle, J Clemons,
  • Submersibles used:  ROPOS, Delta
  • Other Links:  Images
  

Assorted Photos (click thumbnails for larger images):

 

   

Delta submersible

 

 

Reviewing the latest dive on deck

 

 

  

Delta along the CA coast

 

 

Styrofoam cups demonstrate the pressure

change in deep water

 

 

ROPOS collecting a gorgonian
 
Related Publications: (go here for reprints)

 

Tissot BN, MA Hixon and DL Stein (2007) Habitat-based submersible assessment of macro-invertebrate and groundfish assemblages at Heceta Bank, Oregon from 1988 to 1990. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 352:50-64.

 

Hixon MA and BN Tissot (2007) Comparison of trawled vs untrawled mud seafloor assemblages of fishes and macroinvertebrates at Coquille Bank, Oregon.  Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 344:23-34.

 

Whitmire CE, RW Embley, WW Wakefield, SG Merle and BN Tissot (2007) Characterizing benthic habitats at Heceta Bank, Oregon. In B.J. Todd and H.G. Greene, eds., Mapping the Seafloor for Habitat Characterization. Geological Association of Canada, Special Paper 47:111-126.
 

Tissot BN, MM Yoklavich, MS Love, K York and M Amend (2006) Benthic invertebrates that form habitat on deep banks off southern California, with special reference to deep sea coral. Fishery Bulletin 104(2):167-181.


Wakefield WW, CE Whitmire, JER Clemons and BN Tissot (2005) Fish habitat studies: Combining high-resolution geological and biological data. In PW Barnes and JP Thomas, editors. Benthic habitats and the effects of fishing. American Fisheries Society Symposium 41:119-138.

 

Tissot BN, WW Wakefield, NPF Puniwai, J Pirtle, K York and  JER Clemons (2004) Abundance and distribution of structure-forming megafaunal invertebrates, including cold-water corals, on Heceta Bank, Oregon, 2000-2002. NOAA Technical Report, 48pp.

 

Nasby-Lucas NM, RW Embley, MA Hixon, SG Merle, BN Tissot and DJ Wright (2002) Integration of submersible transect data and high-resolution multibeam sonar imagery for a habitat-based groundfish assessment of Heceta Bank, Oregon. Fishery Bulletin 100(4):739-751.

 

Starr RM, DS Fox, MA Hixon, BN Tissot, GE Johnson and WH Barss (1996) Comparison of submersible-survey and hydroacoustic-survey estimates of fish density on a rocky bank. Fishery Bulletin 94(1):113-123.

 

Stein DL, BN Tissot, MA Hixon and WH Barss (1992) Fish-habitat associations on a deep reef at the edge of the Oregon continental shelf. Fishery Bulletin 90(3):540-551.

 

Hixon MA and BN Tissot (1992) Fish Assemblages of Rocky Banks of the Pacific Northwest. Final Report Supplement, OCS Study 91-0025, U.S. Minerals Management Service, Camarillo, CA. 128 pp.

 

Hixon MA, BN Tissot and WG Percy (1991) Fish Assemblages of Rocky Banks of the Pacific Northwest. Final Report, OCS Study 91-0052, U.S. Minerals Management Service, Camarillo, CA. 410 pp.

 

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