Flower Garden Banks

photo of a fish and coral

Click on individual links below to learn more about the immediate science needs for critical management issues. For a full list of management issues and science needs, please review the FGBNMS Management Plan. To contact us about the science needs described below, contact the Sanctuary Research Coordinators.   

  • Biomass Removal

    Concerns exist that fishing and associated activities may be reducing the integrity of the ecosystem in and around the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (FGBNMS or Sanctuary). (Updated 5/1/2010)

  • Coral and Sponge Disease

    Recent evidence of periodic disease outbreaks have alerted the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (FGBNMS or Sanctuary ) to the need to characterize the maladies, track their frequency and severity, and evaluate whether levels of susceptibility are changing and, if so, why they are changing. (Updated 5/1/2010)

  • Habitat Characterization

    Critical to the management of the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (FGBNMS or Sanctuary) is targeted mapping and ground-truthing efforts. These data directly support predicting impacts and user conflicts in the Sanctuary and proposed Sanctuary expansion sites. (Updated 5/1/2010)

  • Impacts from Divers

    Recent evidence of periodic disease outbreaks have alerted the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (FGBNMS or Sanctuary) to the need to characterize the maladies, track their frequency and severity, and evaluate whether levels of susceptibility are changing and, if so, why they are changing. (Updated 5/1/2010)

  • Socioeconomics

    With recent proposals suggesting the need to change fishing regulations in the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (FGBNMS or Sanctuary) and expanding the number of banks in the Sanctuary, research is needed to understand the economic impacts of the changes on users such as fishermen, the oil and gas industry, and diver operators. (Updated 5/1/2010)

  • Status and Trends of Resource Condition

    The existing monitoring program at the Flower Garden Bank National Marine Sanctuary (FGBNMS or Sanctuary) needs to be modified to become more comprehensive in terms of the subject areas it addresses and the efficiency with which it does so. (Updated 5/1/2010)

  • Water Quality - Contaminants

    Recent incidents of ciguatoxin (CTX) poisoning causing illness in humans, and measurements of high mercury concentrations in finfish tissue may be a cause for concern to those catching and/or consuming fish caught in and around the Flower Garden Banks (FGBNMS or Sanctuary). Monitoring is currently not adequate to assess the level to which the public should be cautioned against consumption. Sampling for analysis has been limited to the FGB's, but problem is probably regional. (Updated 5/1/2010)