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

Arnaud Grüss,William D Heyman,Christopher Biggs,Brad Erisman

doi:10.1038/s41598-018-26898-0

Arnaud Grüss, William D Heyman + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-26898-0

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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.

Highlights

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 Fish spawning aggregations (FSAs) distributions for most exploited species
Transient FSAs usually occur at a limited number of sites located outside of adult home ranges within a restricted time period, and they may be the only opportunity for participating individuals to reproduce[4]
Our maps revealed the existence of two groups of species forming transient FSAs in the U.S GOM: (1) a group made up of the coastal (Sciaenidae, Sparidae and Paralichthyidae) species, which spawns in coastal waters, those surrounding major bay systems (Figs. 4C); and (2) a group consisting of the groupers, snappers and jacks, which reproduces offshore (Fig. 4B)

Summary

Introduction

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. Transient FSAs usually occur at a limited number of sites located outside of adult home ranges within a restricted time period, and they may be the only opportunity for participating individuals to reproduce[4] For this reason, fishing on transient FSAs can be highly detrimental to fish population resilience[5]. The RESTORE funded project represents a large step forward, and the step in the GOM will be to locate transient FSA sites ( multi-species sites) and recommend them for protection in large enough areas to allow for the recovery and resilience of FSA-forming species[13]. The extensive surface area of the GOM www.nature.com/scientificreports/

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