Reef Fish Fishery Research Articles

Employing an innovative underwater camera to improve electronic monitoring in the commercial Gulf of Mexico reef fish fishery.

Vessel electronic monitoring (EM) systems used in fisheries around the world apply a variety of cameras to record catch as it is brought on deck and during fish processing activities. In EM work conducted by the Center for Fisheries Electronic Monitoring at Mote (CFEMM) in the Gulf of Mexico commercial reef fish fishery, there was a need to improve upon current technologies to enhance camera views for accurate species identification of large sharks, particularly those that were released while underwater at the vessel side or underneath the hull. This paper describes how this problem was addressed with the development of the first known EM system integrated underwater camera (UCAM) with a specialized vessel-specific deployment device on a bottom longline reef fish vessel. Data are presented based on blind video reviews from CFEMM trained reviewers of the resulting UCAM video footage compared with video from only the overhead EM cameras from 68 gear retrievals collected from eight fishing trips. Results revealed that the UCAM was a successful tool for capturing clear underwater video footage of released large (>2m) sharks to enable reviewers to improve individual species identification, determination, and fate by 34.4%. This was particularly important for obtaining data on incidental catches of large protected shark species. It also provided clear underwater imagery of the presence of potential predators such as marine mammals close to the vessel, more specifically bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) during gear retrieval, which often damaged or removed catch. This information is intended to assist researchers in need of gathering critical data on bycatch in close proximity to a vessel in which conventional overhead EM cameras are limited.

Safety effects of property rights contract changes: Evidence from field experience in fisheries

I measure the effect of contract changes on selected fishery resources in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM). I apply the difference-in-difference approach to commercial fishery panel data. My cross-sectional units use the red snapper and grouper-tilefish fisheries in the GoM as treatment groups and the fisheries from same group of species in the U.S. South Atlantic (SA) as the control group. The results show that the grouper-tilefish individual fishing quota has improved commercial fishing safety in the GoM. The modest effect from the red snapper individual fishing quota program seems to be due to interrelatedness and economies of scope stemming from the multispecies nature of the reef fish fishery in the GoM.

Socio-ecological status of marine ornamental reef fishery in Trincomalee, Sri Lanka - An application of strategic SWOT analysis

The present study elucidates the socio-ecological status of the marine ornamental reef fish (MORF) fishery in Trincomalee, Sri Lanka, through strategic SWOT analysis. Data were collected through interviews with full-time fishers (n = 49) fishing at Pulmodai, Sampur, and Kuchchaweli reef sites, focus group discussions (n = 3), and participant observations during 2019–2020. Data gathered in-situ were further investigated in detail, analyzed, and grouped into attributes of SWOT analysis. Results revealed higher fishing income (90–900 USD) by 91.84% of respondents as the major strength of the fishery, followed by low production costs (24–240 USD), a low labor force, and others. Seasonality of the fishery, multiple ownership of reefs, and the limited number of fishing hours (4-6 hrs.) were the main weaknesses identified in the system. High global demand, the fish-to-order concept, and the intervention of local buyers were the major opportunities for the fishery. Long market chains, bopyrid isopod infection on Pacific cleaner shrimp, and poor monitoring systems were the major threats to the industry. The MORF fishery in Trincomalee, Sri Lanka, results in higher living standards for fisher communities and empowers them. The present study has policy implications for the MORF fishery and the long-term sustainability of the industry.

Quantifying the economic effects of different fishery management regimes in two otherwise similar fisheries.

In the southeast U.S., two very similar fisheries are managed by very different management regimes. In the Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish fishery, all major species are managed by individual transferable quotas (ITQs). The neighboring S. Atlantic Snapper-Grouper fishery continues to be managed by traditional regulations such as vessel trip-limits and closed seasons. Using detailed landings and revenue data from logbooks together with trip-level and annual, vessel-level economic survey data, we develop financial statements for each fishery to estimate cost structures, profits, and resource rent. By comparing the two fisheries from an economic perspective, we illustrate the detrimental effects of the regulatory measures on the S. Atlantic Snapper-Grouper fishery and quantify the difference in economic outcomes, including estimating the difference in resource rent. We find that the choice of fishery management regime shows up as a regime shift in the productivity and profitability of the fisheries. The ITQ fishery generates substantially more resource rents than the traditionally managed fishery; the difference is a large fraction of revenue (~30%). In the S. Atlantic Snapper-Grouper fishery, the potential value of the resource has almost completely dissipated via lower ex-vessel prices and hundreds of thousands of gallons of wasted fuel. Excess use of labor is a lesser issue.

Characteristics of coral reef fisheries in the Wakatobi islands

Wakatobi National Park has a diverse fish population, and its conservation potential for reef fish resources is quite large. As a result, to be sustainable, the exploitation of these resources must be properly managed. This study aims to look into the characteristics of reef fish fisheries, such as species composition, catch, fishing ground, and fish length. The outcomes are hoped to be beneficial in monitoring the management of the resources. This research was conducted in April-November 2018 in Wakatobi, Indonesia. Analytical methods process the data. The results showed that gold spotted rabbitfish (Siganus punctatus), parrotfish (Hipposcarus longiceps), emperor (Lethrinus lentjan), grouper (Epinephelus sp), and trevallies (Caranx sp) dominated the total catch from muroami, speargun, and hand line. Muroami boats have a higher average CPUE (212 kg/trip/month) than speargun (29.0 kg/trip/month) and handlines (13.0 kg/trip/ship). Some of the reef fish caught in Wakatobi National Park is small and immature. Muroami net, speargun, and handline fishing are mostly done in the southern part of the Wakatobi National Park area, around Binongko Island. One of the management actions undertaken by Wakatobi fishermen is fishing inside the management zone that has been established, namely the local use zone.

Diversity of reef fish species in presence of mangrove habitat in Ternate, North Maluku, Indonesia

Abstract. Utama RS, Renyaan J, Nurdiansah D, Makatipu PC, Suyadi, Hapsari BW, Martha E, Rahayu EMD, Sugiharto A. Akbar N. 2022. Diversity of reef fish species in presence of mangrove habitat in Ternate, North Maluku, Indonesia. Biodiversitas 23: 5184-5193. Research on reef fish has been widely reported, where information about reef fish communities is an important factor for evaluating fisheries management and coral reef management. Mangroves as the nursery, foraging, and growing areas were also important to assure sustainable reef fish fisheries. This paper studies reef fish abundance and diversity in Ternate Waters in the presence of mangrove in coral reef habitats. To determines coral reef condition underwater photo transect was performed while an underwater visual census (UVC) was used to determine the abundance and diversity of reef fishes in Ternate waters between 2017 and 2018. A total of 14 stations were used, with eight stations near the mangroves and six stations that did not contain mangroves. Based on the observation, fish species richness in mangrove absence was higher than in the presence of mangroves, with 68 and 65 species in 2017 and 66 and 62 species in 2018. However, the abundance of reef fish was recorded high in the presence of mangroves than in the absence of mangroves, with 390 and 289 individual differences in 2017 and 2018. Mangroves' complexity affected part of reef fish communities in Ternate water, particularly Lutjanidae, Serranidae, and Scaridae, which might influence the abundance of reef fishes rather than the species richness. In addition, carnivore shows a negative effect in the presence of mangroves, in contrast with herbivores. It is related to mangrove functioning as a temporary shelter when high-pressure presence in their natural habitat (reef) and a place for foraging. Therefore, mangrove management must be a consideration in the coral reef or fisheries management program.

Length-based risk analysis of management options for the southern Florida USA multispecies coral reef fish fishery

Exploitation impacts and management options for 15 coral reef fish species central to the commercial and recreational fisheries of the southern Florida USA coral reef ecosystem were evaluated using a length-based risk analysis (LBRA) framework. Population abundance-at-length composition data were obtained from several regional federal-state sampling programs. These and updated life history demographic data were integrated into a length-based numerical cohort model to generate LBRA fishery sustainability metrics from a probabilistic perspective. Three of five groupers, eight of eight snappers, and two of two grunts were below the 40% spawning potential ratio (SPR) stock sustainability minimum; ten of these stocks are at < 20% of their historical spawning biomass, some as low as 5%. Therefore, to ameliorate overfishing for the 13 stocks with sustainability risks ≥ 98%, fisheries management requires increased minimum sizes of first capture Lc and significant reductions in fishing mortality F. To achieve sustainability and reduce sustainability risks area-time protections are also needed. While lack of data often limits the evaluation of management options, this paper establishes benchmarks from which data-limited approaches can move forward. In addition, the approach can be used to cross-check other data-rich analyses. A goal of this work is to effectively balance sustainability risks with fishery production to mitigate overfishing likelihoods and to increase the probability of sustainable fisheries.

Impacts of Deepwater Horizon on Fish and Fisheries: What Have we Learned about Resilience and Vulnerability in a Coupled Human-Natural System?

Abstract The Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill occurred in a region of the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) supporting abundant, diverse and valuable communities of fishes and fishers. The economy of the northern GoM is inextricably tied to the natural resource bases of the region (tourism, fishing, oil and gas, etc.) and thus the coupling between the human and ecological systems is tight and subject both feed-back and, to some extent, feed-forward controls. Management actions taken during the 87-day DWH spill incident included the closure of over 280,000 km2 of productive fishing area (about 1/3 of USA federal waters in the GoM), resulting in significant declines in catches and revenues for some critical species for several months after the spill. As well, a variety of oil spill countermeasures including the use of chemical dispersants (at the well head and the sea surface), releases of freshwater into marshes to staunch the progression of oil ashore, creation of sand berms, burning of oil at sea and mechanical pickup were employed. Because of the closures, fishers were compensated for lost fishing opportunities in a number of ways, including employment in oil spill response efforts (the VoO or Vessel of Opportunity program), accepting compensation payments from the Responsible Parties, and moving fishing areas and shifting to open areas of the GoM. Some fisheries were heavily impacted during 2010 (e.g., menhaden and inshore invertebrate fisheries), while for others, area shifting resulted in little change in GoM-wide fishery catches (e.g., red snapper, penaeid shrimps). In the 10 years since the DWH disaster, many fisheries have recovered, exhibiting patterns of inter-annual variability consistent with those seen prior to the spill, but other species have shown little to no recovery. One of the critical issues in understanding oil spill effects is that of causal inference given multiple simultaneous drivers and feedbacks, thus the appeal of viewing fish-fishery interactions as a coupled human and natural system. Results of long-term monitoring studies document a variety of responses of various taxa occupying diverse habitats from estuarine/coastal to open ocean. These impacts resulted both from oil contamination and from various response countermeasures. Differential recovery trajectories are mediated by life history aspects contributing to resilience and to some extent the degree of ongoing contamination from pools of residual oil and other chronic sources. Relatively resilient species were those exhibiting low to moderate modularity (near ubiquitous species or populations) and those with relatively short life cycles. Fishing community resilience to the spill was related to a variety of employment alternatives during closures and facilitated by the capacity of fishers to adapt to non-traditional opportunities in fishing and by financial assistance programs. Overall, the level of business failures during and just after DWH was lower than historical averages for important reef fish fisheries of the Gulf.

Biophysical and anthropogenic influences on the status of Tonga's coral reefs and reef fish fishery.

Despite increasing threats to Tonga’s coral reefs from stressors that are both local (e.g. overfishing and pollution) and global (e.g. climate change), there is yet to be a systematic assessment of the status of the country’s coral reef ecosystem and reef fish fishery stocks. Here, we provide a national ecological assessment of Tonga’s coral reefs and reef fish fishery using ecological survey data from 375 sites throughout Tonga’s three main island groups (Ha’apai, Tongatapu and Vava’u), represented by seven key metrics of reef health and fish resource status. Boosted regression tree analysis was used to assess and describe the relative importance of 11 socio-environmental variables associated with these key metrics of reef condition. Mean live coral cover across Tonga was 18%, and showed a strong increase from north to south correlated with declining sea surface temperature, as well as with increasing distance from each provincial capital. Tongatapu, the southernmost island group, had 2.5 times greater coral cover than the northernmost group, Vava’u (24.9% and 10.4% respectively). Reef fish species richness and density were comparable throughout Tongatapu and the middle island group, Ha’apai (~35 species/transect and ~2500 fish/km2), but were significantly lower in Vava’u (~24 species/transect and ~1700 fish/km2). Spatial patterns in the reef fish assemblage were primarily influenced by habitat-associated variables (slope, structural complexity, and hard coral cover). The biomass of target reef fish was greatest in Ha’apai (~820 kg/ha) and lowest in Vava’u (~340 kg/ha), and was negatively associated with higher human influence and fishing activity. Overall mean reef fish biomass values suggest that Tonga’s reef fish fishery can be classified as moderately to heavily exploited, with 64% of sites having less than 500 kg/ha. This study provides critical baseline ecological information for Tonga’s coral reefs that will: (1) facilitate ongoing management and research; and (2) enable accurate reporting on conservation targets locally and internationally.

Changes in Shrimping Effort in the Gulf of Mexico and the Impacts to Red Snapper.

Despite a complex management landscape and decades of overfishing, Red Snapper (Lutjanus campechanus) stocks have grown substantially in the Gulf of Mexico and restrictions on the fisheries that catch them are being loosened. This year, annual shrimping effort was allowed to increase by 21% after National Marine Fisheries Service scientists concluded that the resulting bycatch of Red Snapper would only reduce the annual allowable catch in other fisheries by ∼1% and have no impact on population growth. Nonetheless, the recreational fishing sector intensely campaigned against this rule, fueled by wild mischaracterization of shrimp trawl bycatch in media outlets targeting anglers. Here, we aim to elevate the debates surrounding Red Snapper management by presenting scientific and historical context for the potential impacts from shrimping. We discuss our views of the current problems facing Red Snapper and key ecological questions to address for more effective management of this resource.

Recreational Angler Attitudes and Perceptions Regarding the Use of Descending Devices in Southeast Reef Fish Fisheries

AbstractReducing discard mortality in recreational fisheries remains an important component of stock rebuilding for many reef fish species. Discard mortality for these species can be high due in part to barotrauma injury sustained during capture coupled with high catch rates, but recent advances in fish descending devices can mitigate some of these declines. Despite high survival rates with rapid recompression strategies, recreational angler opinions and perceived effectiveness of the devices are relatively unknown. This study surveyed the perceptions, opinions, and attitudes of 538 recreational anglers regarding the use of descending devices in the reef fish fisheries of the Gulf of Mexico and U.S. South Atlantic, with particular emphasis on Red Snapper Lutjanus campechanus. In total, 1,074 descending devices were distributed to marine recreational anglers from North Carolina to Texas. After using the device for an average of 8 months and 15 fishing trips, recipients completed a questionnaire assessing their perceptions on the efficacy of the device. While 72% of respondents had little to no knowledge of descending devices prior to the study, 70% indicated that they preferred this release method over venting after the study. Survey respondents released over 7,000 Red Snapper and 4,000 other reef fish species with their descending devices, and 76% were likely to continue employing the device on their vessel. Eighty‐nine percent of respondents believed descending Red Snapper would significantly reduce discard mortality in the recreational fishery. We discovered that recreational anglers perceive the devices to be highly useful in reducing discard mortality and are willing to employ them when releasing reef fish experiencing barotrauma. Other studies have demonstrated that these descending devices do reduce discard mortality of reef fishes, and this study indicates that recreational anglers are very willing to use them as a conservation tool.

Regulatory Change, Market Structure, and Fatalities: The Case of the Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Fishery

In fisheries, regime shifts from common-pool to tradable individual quota rights have led to a reduction in race-to-fish behavior—in particular under adverse weather conditions, and thus to a reduction in the rate of fatal injuries. At the same time, tradability of quota rights has led to some fleet consolidation, along with a shift to larger vessels, which may have also affected safety. We isolate the role of changing fleet composition and size in the overall reduction of fatal injuries by simulating a counterfactual scenario: what weather conditions fishermen would brave if quota rights were individual but not tradable and thus could not have been a factor in fleet consolidation. Looking at the specific case of the U.S. reef fish fishery in the Gulf of Mexico to calibrate our model, we find that consolidation boosts the safety gains by 10–15%: while the remaining active vessels are inherently less safe and target much larger annual catches (thus finding it more difficult to avoid poor weather conditions), they are also more efficient, thereby reducing overall labor-hours and exposure to risk.

Factors that influence discarding in the Gulf of Mexico commercial grouper-tilefish IFQ reef fish fishery

Factors potentially affecting fish discarding were evaluated for species managed under the Gulf of Mexico grouper-tilefish individual fishing quota (GT-IFQ) program. Thirteen commercially important species are managed under the GT-IFQ program. Some of the more commonly caught species in the program include red grouper (Epinephelus morio), gag (Mycteroperca microlepis), speckled hind (Epinephelus drummondhayi), golden tilefish (Lopholatilus chamaeleonticeps), and blueline tilefish (Caulolatilus microps). It is necessary to determine why discards are occurring to develop a future discard mitigation strategy. Logistic models were constructed using data from the Southeast Fisheries Science Center’s (SEFSC) Reef Fish Observer Program (RFOP) with covariates of fish length, available allocation, gear type, calendar year quarter, and year to infer reasons for discarding. The results from RFOP models in conjunction with self-reported discard information from the SEFSC Supplemental Discard Logbook program determined that discarding due to fish length selection, not related to minimum a size limit, is occurring for golden tilefish, speckled hind, yellowedge grouper (Epinephelus flavolimbatus), and snowy grouper (Hyporthodus niveatus). Other dynamics such as multi-species quota discarding are likely responsible for discards of blueline tilefish. Based on the results of the study, potential changes to the GT-IFQ program such as additional flexibility measures were identified as potential management strategies for decreasing discards. A similar approach to inferring why discarding is occurring could be used in the other regions for more effective management promoting long-term sustainability of valuable fisheries.

Modeling temporal closures in a multispecies recreational fishery reveals tradeoffs associated with species seasonality and angler effort dynamics

Seasonal closures are commonly used to reduce fishing mortality in recreational and commercial fisheries, but they may be less effective when effort is merely displaced to the open season or in multispecies fisheries that allow for discarding to continue while other species are targeted. The latter is especially true for the valuable multispecies recreational reef fish fishery in the Gulf of Mexico, where discard mortality is high and it can be difficult to avoid catching one species while fishing for others. We evaluated the utility of complete bottom fishing closures (in addition to already mandated harvest closures) that would temporarily prohibit recreational reef fishing as a means to control effort, reduce the amount of dead discards, and improve stock status of multiple species. In this study we developed age-structured population models for six Gulf of Mexico reef fish species that dominate the recreational catch, with each model linked to a monthly effort dynamic model for the recreational fishery. The effect of closing any given month(s) varied across species and resulted in tradeoffs, such that some closures may result in positive effects on biomass of one species and negative effects on others. For example, a spring closure was predicted to have positive effects on Red Snapper Lutjanus campechanus spawning stock biomass but negative effects on Gag grouper Mycteroperca microlepis due to the contrasting patterns in harvest rates during those months. These tradeoffs were associated with seasonal availability patterns and the degree to which anglers might shift effort to the open season. The closure scenarios that were most likely to reduce dead discards without negatively impacting harvest, spawning biomass, or total effort occurred in late winter and early spring (March & April). In evaluating seasonal fishing closures, the gains in biomass and reductions in dead discards must be weighed against the socio-economic tradeoffs, in terms of lost effort-generated revenue at various spatial and temporal scales and angler dissatisfaction.

Classification and analysis of VMS data in vertical line fisheries: incorporating uncertainty into spatial distributions

Commercial fishing fleets play a critical role in the population dynamics of exploited stocks. Understanding the spatial distribution of fleets allows managers to anticipate how fishing pressure on exploited stocks changes in response to fishing regulations or to large-scale perturbations. By anticipating how fishing pressure changes, managers can develop proactive responses to better protect stocks that are vulnerable to overfishing. Modern fisheries monitoring techniques, including vessel monitoring systems (VMS), have advanced this endeavor. This paper presents a framework for using VMS data to develop spatial distributions of catch, fishing effort, and catch per unit of effort (CPUE) as well as associated estimates of uncertainty in a vertical line fishery. VMS data are classified as fishing using a random forest (RF) model. Uncertainty is calculated using a two-step approach to account for uncertainty arising from the RF modeling process and the classification accuracy of the model. This framework is applied to investigate changes in the Gulf of Mexico reef fish fishery during a period of 6 years, including the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Simulating future climate impacts on tropical fisheries: are contemporary spatial fishery management strategies sufficient?

We demonstrated a possible future wherein coral reefs shift to an algae-dominated state that retains low coral cover and a functional biomass of herbivorous fishes that sustains a reef fish fishery. We evaluate the effect of no-take marine protected areas (MPAs) and increased coastal nutrients under two Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change climate scenarios for years 2000–2100, which are implemented as coral bleaching events. Coral mortality from bleaching events drove a lagged increase in herbivorous fish populations via a shift from coral-dominated to algae-dominated habitats. Biomass and catch of piscivorous fish declined significantly, with the fishery shifting to the harvest of herbivorous fish. No-take MPAs for 20% of reef areas represented a threshold that had a positive effect on herbivorous fishes but no influence on the steep declines of corals and piscivorous fishes. Contemporary no-take MPAs protect less than 1% of coral reef areas around the Hawaiian Islands; substantial management action would be required to approach the 20% area threshold.

An Ecosystem‐Based Approach to Evaluating Impacts and Management of Invasive Lionfish

Species invasions in marine ecosystems pose a threat to native fish communities and can disrupt the food webs that support valuable commercial and recreational fisheries. In the Gulf of Mexico, densities of invasive Indo‐Pacific Lionfish, Pterois volitans and P. miles, are among the highest in their invaded range. In a workshop setting held over a 2‐week period, we adapted an existing trophic dynamic model of the West Florida Shelf, located in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, to simulate the lionfish (both species) invasion and community effects over a range of harvest scenarios for both lionfish and native predators. Our results suggest small increases in lionfish harvest can reduce peak biomass by up to 25% and also that reduced harvest of native reef fish predators can lead to lower lionfish densities. This model can help managers identify target harvest and benefits of a lionfish fishery and inform the assessment and management of valuable reef fish fisheries.

Experimental assessment of circle vs. J hook performance and selectivity in the northern Gulf of Mexico recreational reef fish fishery

Few data exist to evaluate the performance or assess the potential impacts of hook regulations on catchability or selectivity of recreational fisheries in the northern Gulf of Mexico. The purpose of this study was to test the effects of hook type (circle vs. J hook) and hook size (1/0, 4/0, and 7/0) on catch composition, traumatic hooking, species-specific catches, and size-selectivity of red snapper, Lutjanus campechanus, and grey triggerfish, Balistes capriscus. Selectivity was estimated by conditioning size distributions from hook-specific catches against in situ size distributions observed with a remotely operated vehicle. Deep hooking (hook set in gills or beyond) was low in all hook treatments for red snapper (&amp;lt;10%) and grey triggerfish (&amp;lt;6%), but was generally higher with J hooks, especially for other fishes caught with the largest J hook (34%). Hook type did not significantly affect catches, but catches decreased significantly with increasing hook size in all groups except red snapper. Selectivity curves were dome-shaped for both focus species in all hook treatments and selection peaks were similar among treatments for red snapper. Peak selectivity was 78.1 mm larger for J hooks than circle hooks for grey triggerfish. Overall, study results indicate that the circle hook regulation may have reduced traumatic hooking mortality by up to 50%, and that catchability is similar between hook types for both red snapper and grey triggerfish when controlling for hook size. Strong dome-shaped selection estimated for nearly all selectivity curves suggest logistic size-selectivity assumptions in assessment models are likely inappropriate for recreational sectors targeting red snapper or grey triggerfish.

Sink or swim? Factors affecting immediate discard mortality for the gulf of Mexico commercial reef fish fishery

Fishery observer data collected from June 2006 through December 2015 in the Gulf of Mexico commercial reef fish fishery were examined to determine if any covariates available affected immediate discard mortality for six species: red grouper Epinephelus morio, red snapper Lutjanus campechanus, vermilion snapper Rhomboplites aurorubens, gag grouper Mycteroperca microlepis, scamp grouper Mycteroperca phenax, and speckled hind Epinephelus drummondhayi. Using logistic regression models, this study predicted immediate discard mortality was positively correlated with increased depths, seasons associated with warmer water temperatures, and external evidence of barotrauma. Additionally, bottom longline gear increased the predicted probability of immediate mortality compared to vertical line gear for all species except vermilion snapper. Air bladder venting significantly decreased the predicted probability of immediate mortality for all species except speckled hind. Future research incorporating tag-recapture data into the current observer program for the commercial reef fish fishery is vital to assess if condition assessment at release can be relied on as an accurate proxy for long-term survival. This research provides information that managers could potentially use to make more informed decisions when implementing measures such as changes to existing size limits, venting requirements, and seasonal, area, or gear restrictions intended to reduce unwanted discard mortality.

Modeling the Decision-Making Behavior of Fishers in the Reef Fish Fishery on the West Coast of Florida

ABSTRACTWhen, where, and how a commercial vessel fishes determines the temporal and spatial placement of the data they are legally bound to supply to management agencies. Data provided by commercial fishing vessels are used in assessments to infer fish population abundance. Fisher decision-making may also allow fishers to dissipate the benefits of regulations and affect expected management outcomes. Decisions about participation, site choice, and trip termination were modeled for commercial fishers in the Gulf of Mexico. Vessel logbook data were used to parameterize discrete choice models for each decision. A questionnaire of vessel captains (N = 40) helped inform model structure. Results suggested that participation and site choice decisions may be nested, and are affected by expected revenue, regulations, fish price, wind speed, vessel characteristics, and fuel price. Trip termination was influenced by regulations, wind speed, and catch relative to fish hold capacity. Assessment and management implications are discussed.