Commercial fisheries in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico: possible implications for conservation management at the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary

Abstract

Abstract Levesque, J. C. 2011. Commercial fisheries in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico: possible implications for conservation management at the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 68: 2175–2190. Marine resource managers designate marine protected areas (MPAs) to conserve, protect, and enhance fragile marine resources. A form of MPAs sometimes used by resource managers in the United States is a national marine sanctuary (NMS), and for all MPAs, managers need to use updated information during sanctuary management plan reviews (MPRs). In 2006, the Flower Garden Banks NMS (FGBNMS) began its first MPR by conducting public hearings and soliciting comments. Some 66% of comments were about the potential impacts fisheries posed to the sanctuary, so a description of commercial fishery activity in the NW Gulf of Mexico can help guide resource managers make sound, informed decisions. Despite limitations on data and knowledge of fishing effort spatially for the FGBNMS, commercial landings vary by Gulf state, area, and fishing gear, with most landings from the Louisiana and Texas coasts taken with trawls and nets. The main species landed from the NW Gulf of Mexico are shrimp, yellowfin tuna, and red snapper. Some conservation measures proposed for the FGBNMS will likely impact some commercial fisheries (hook and line, bottom longline), but not others (otter trawl, pelagic longline).