Prioritizing monitoring and conservation efforts for fish spawning aggregations in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico

Abstract

In the U.S. Gulf of Mexico (U.S. GOM), the identification and characterization of transient fish spawning aggregation (FSA) sites is recognized as a regional priority for conservation, but progress is hindered by a lack of understanding of FSA distributions for most exploited species. We employed information compiled in regional databases on FSAs and monitoring for the U.S. GOM to fit species distribution models and produce maps showing the areas likely to host single- and multi-species transient FSA sites. Our results revealed two distinct regions of the U.S. GOM for prioritizing monitoring and conservation efforts for transient FSAs: the coastal waters surrounding major bay systems, particularly those of Texas and Louisiana, and portions of the continental shelf edge (the Flower Garden Banks area and the West Florida shelf edge). The next step would be to locate and characterize actual transient FSA sites in the U.S. GOM by surveying within the areas we identified.

Understanding patterns of distribution shifts and range expansion/contraction for small yellow croaker (Larimichthys polyactis) in the Yellow Sea

“…Similarly, we suspect that some length groups of the yellow croaker population of the Yellow Sea may be more sensitive to changes in environmental indices than others; therefore, we recommend that future studies develop spatio‐temporal models for different length groups of yellow croaker and examine the relative importance of SST and the PDO in explaining patterns of distribution shifts and range expansion/contraction for these length groups. It would then be possible for future resource management efforts in the Yellow Sea to craft spatial protection plans for specific length groups (e.g., juvenile or adult fishes) in relation to past and anticipated environmental and fishing patterns (Grüss et al, 2018, 2019).…”

Fish Spawning Aggregations in the Southeast Florida Coral Reef Ecosystem Conservation Area: A Case Study Synthesis of User Reports, Literature, and Field Validation Efforts

“…Fish Spawning Aggregations represent "hotspots" of fish production during ephemeral periods in time and space that often support multiple aggregating spawning species, and play a role in promoting overall ecosystem health through the stimulation of fish biomass and biodiversity (Schärer et al, 2010;Archer et al, 2015;Grüss et al, 2018). Unfortunately, FSAs also represent attractive targets to fishers, and there are many cases of decline and extirpation after extended periods of excessive fishing (Sadovy De Mitcheson et al, 2008).…”

Protecting juveniles, spawners or both: A practical statistical modelling approach for the design of marine protected areas

“…Nonetheless, if resource managers seek to protect spawning areas (e.g. the spawning sites of FSA‐forming species), the spawner hotspots predicted by our approach represent valuable information for prioritizing the surveys aiming at identifying the actual spawning areas of species and species complexes within a large marine region (Grüss, Biggs, Heyman, & Erisman, ). More generally, we recommend our approach to be supplemented by field‐verification studies for resource managers to garner more confidence in the predictions made with the approach.…”