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Distribution in the Gulf of Mexico of (A) goliath grouper E. itajara, (B) red grouper E. morio, and (C) tilefish Lopholatilus chaemionticeps (NCCOS 2009).
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In this article, we consider the potential effects of anthropogenic disturbances on marine fish species known or suspected
to be habitat engineers. The three species of interest inhabit different marine habitats at different life stages, and therefore
can have significant influences across the sea floor at broad spatial scales. The primary species...
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Context 1
... these species differ, however, is in their distributional patterns, which vary across strata at different depths (Fig. 2). Goliath grouper occurs in shallow ($35-40 m) tropical and subtropical waters where it is highly sensitive to intrusions of cold (5158C) water (Sadovy and Eklund 1999). Red grou- per occurs across the continental shelf to the edge of the shelf (65-100 m) from tropical through warm temperate waters. Tilefish occur at the continental ...
Context 2
... at high-catch rates (at least for tilefish), presumably the structure of the community is altered over the same spatial scales at which the fishery operates. For tilefish, that means the region from the edge of the shelf down the slope, whereas for red grouper, it means the region between shallow reefs in bays, to the edge of the shelf (Fig. 2). The real effects are hard to deter- mine without experimental no-take zones because there are so few areas that are not fished. By exclud- ing fishing over some defined spatial scale, managers create the opportunity for population recovery that could approach pre-fished levels and thus provide an experimental control for evaluating ...
Context 3
... example, Engås et al. (1996) found that seismic exploration in the Barents Sea affected catch rates of cod (Gadus morhua) and had- dock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus) in the trawl and long-line fisheries. While reductions were obvious 18 nm from the exploration site over a 1600 nm 2 area, the most pronounced (70%) reductions oc- curred within the shooting area (30 nm 2 ), with larger fish (460 cm) being affected more than smaller fish. Abundance, catch rates, and size of fish re- mained at low levels for the duration of the seismic activity and showed little evidence of recovery after the activity ceased-none at all for haddock in either fishery, or for cod caught in trawls, while there was limited recovery of cod in the long-line fishery. ...
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Identifying the relative risk human activities pose to a habitat, and the ecosystem services they provide, can guide management prioritisation and resource allocation. Using a combination of expert elicitation to assess the probable effect of a threat and existing data to assess the level of threat exposure, we conducted a risk assessment for 38 hu...
Citations
... An ensemble of 20 climate models simulations were studied in (Muhling et al., 2011) to predict the mean temperature variations within GOM, in combination with larval BFT data to understand the effects of warming on the suitability of GOM as a spawning ground. The effects of climate, fishing, and other anthropogenic disturbances on three species (Atlantic Goliath grouper, red grouper, and tilefish) that are economically important to GOM and called habitat engineers are presented in (Coleman and Koenig, 2010). The intricate vertical (benthic-pelagic coupling) and horizontal (inshore to offshore) links between habitats, species, and marine strata are shown by the habitat engineers at various geographical and temporal scales. ...
... The intricate vertical (benthic-pelagic coupling) and horizontal (inshore to offshore) links between habitats, species, and marine strata are shown by the habitat engineers at various geographical and temporal scales. Oceanic currents connect them physically, and ontogenetic migrations and trophic interactions connect them biologically (Coleman and Koenig, 2010). Rising temperatures and decreasing freeze frequency/intensity may characterize climate change at temperate latitudes, potentially shifting the latitudinal limits of vegetation and animals (Bakkenes et al., 2002;Walther et al., 2002;Loarie et al., 2008). ...
The latest technological advancements in the development and production of sensors have led to their increased usage in marine science, thus expanding data volume and rates within the field. The extensive data collection efforts to monitor and maintain the health of marine environments supports the efforts in data driven learning, which can help policy makers in making effective decisions. Machine learning techniques show a lot of promise for improving the quality and scope of marine research by detecting implicit patterns and hidden trends, especially in big datasets that are difficult to analyze with traditional methods. Machine learning is extensively used on marine science data collected in various regions, but it has not been applied in a significant way to data generated in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM). Machine learning methods using ocean science data are showing encouraging results and thus are drawing interest from data science researchers and marine scientists to further the research. The purpose of this paper is to review the existing approaches in studying GOM data, the state of the art in machine learning techniques as applied to the GOM, and propose solutions to GOM data problems. We review several issues faced by marine environments in GOM in addition to climate change and its effects. We also present machine learning techniques and methods used elsewhere to address similar problems and propose applications to problems in the GOM. We find that Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs), hypoxia, and sea-level rises have not received as much attention as other climate change problems and within the machine learning literature, the impacts on estuaries and coastal systems, as well as oyster mortality (also major problems for the GOM) have been understudied – we identify those as important areas for improvement. We anticipate this manuscript will act as a baseline for data science researchers and marine scientists to solve problems in the GOM collaboratively and/or independently.
... Overfishing is the main threat to red grouper populations. However, hypoxia, red tides, pollution, and climate change effects are factors that impact populations along its distribution area (Coleman and Koenig, 2010). ...
Common name Red grouper (english), Mérou rouge (french), Mero americano (spanish). IUCN status Vulnerable (Vu) (https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/ 44681/46914636) Identification Robust body slightly compressed with an elongated head. oper-culum with three flat spines, middle one longer than the other two. Colour generally dark reddish brown in upper body fading to a pink on ventral side. Irregular, greyish or white spots all over the body. sometimes subdued dark vertical bars on the sides. little black or orange dots on the cheeks and around the eyes. Dorsal, anal and caudal fins dark blue with a narrow white band at the edge. Dorsal XI, 16-17 with unnotched interspinous membrane, and second dor-sal spine longest; anal III, 8-10; pectoral 16-18; caudal fin concave in < 15 cm standard length individuals and truncated or slightly rounded in bigger individuals; total gill rakers: 23-25; 60-68 small ctenoid scales in lateral line (Bullock and smith, 1991; Heemstra and Randall, 1993).
... Disturbances may alter the BAM diagram disposition of species given, effects on biotic (e.g. Coleman and Koenig, 2010), abiotic (e.g. Mouillot et al., 2013), and movement factors (e.g. ...
Marine species and ecosystems are increasingly impacted by episodic environmental events that may affect mortality and behavior. Spatiotemporal models are important tools to explore ecosystem dynamics, but the unpredictable and localized nature of episodic environmental events represents an important challenge for the successful management of marine resources. For instance, red tides on the West Florida Shelf impact marine ecosystems and represent an increasing concern for fisheries management. Therefore, it is important to account for these ecosystem processes using spatiotemporal models and critically assess parametrization to help efficiently implement adaptative management. To accomplish such objectives, I developed a set of ecological niche models (regression and machine learning), a spatiotemporal ecosystem model (Ecopath with Ecosim and Ecospace), and single-species stock assessment models (statistical catch-at-age) with emphasis on the West Florida Shelf ecosystem and red tide events.
Intrinsic population aspects, sampling effort, environment, and red tides influenced the interpretation of fish environmental niche dynamics. Red tides caused negative effects at the ecosystem, ecosystem service, and population levels in terms of biomass, and the year 2005 was the most severely impacted. The inclusion of sub-lethal and indirect red tide effects in the Ecospace model revealed compensatory responses on behavior, trophic interactions, and recruitment. When informing stock assessment models, the absence or missparametrization of time-varying natural mortality caused by red tides can bias fishing mortality and spawning stock biomass which may prevent the successful management of fish stocks.
This research represents an example of how to evaluate episodic environmental mortality events that require a spatiotemporal framework and produce a robust ecosystem index for use in stock assessment and fisheries management. Uncertainty assessment, stability, validation, and calibration processes for Ecospace model development greatly improved the model robustness and represented a step forward to operationalize spatiotemporal ecosystem models. Spatiotemporal operating models can be useful to assess future red tide scenarios, simulate data, evaluate model parametrization, and inform single-species stock assessment models to support ecosystem-based fisheries management. Increasing the operationalization of ecosystem models may help to achieve a more adaptative and proactive management approach to future red tide events that could be crucial for fisheries management and red tide impact mitigation.
... Importantly, because gulls from East Bay migrate to the same overwintering grounds (i.e., the Gulf of Mexico), they may be more vulnerable to climate change impacts than Thayer's gulls that overwinter in different regions. Indeed, in addition to the predicted increases in severe weather events along migration routes in the North Atlantic [73,74], the Gulf of Mexico is predicted to experience increases in severe weather events and ocean temperatures [95] which can cause declines in fish and invertebrate populations [96,97]. Moreover, an increase in storm frequency and intensity can increase the risk of oil spills [98], making herring gulls that overwinter in this region vulnerable to a variety of climate change impacts. ...
The Arctic is warming three times faster than the rest of the globe, causing rapid transformational changes in Arctic ecosystems. As these changes increase, understanding seabird movements will be important for predicting how they respond to climate change, and thus how we plan for conservation. Moreover, as most Arctic-breeding seabirds only spend the breeding season in the Arctic, climate change may also affect them through habitat changes in their non-breeding range. We used Global Location Sensors (GLS) to provide new insights on the movement of Arctic-breeding herring gulls ( Larus smithsoniansus ) in North America. We tracked gulls that wintered in the Gulf of Mexico ( n = 7) or the Great Lakes ( n = 1), and found that migratory routes and stopover sites varied between individuals, and between southbound and northbound migration. This inter-individual variation suggests that herring gulls, as a generalist species, can make use of an array of regions during migration, but may be more susceptible to climate change impacts in their overwintering locations than during migration. However, due to our limited sample size, future, multi-year studies are recommended to better understand the impacts of climate change on this Arctic-breeding seabird.
... While the majority of the articles we draw upon for the narrative review have employed in-depth case studies using a variety of qualitative and quantitative methods [8,42,[106][107][108][109][110][111][112][113][114], some studies have used oceanographic and other natural science approaches (e.g. [115][116][117]65,41]). ...
A quarter of global oil production comes from offshore fields and about 60% of internationally-traded oil travels by tankers. The relationship between oil, fisheries, and coastal communities is documented primarily through case studies in individual jurisdictions and via the impacts of oil spills. Yet, the implications of oil development for fisheries and coastal communities are much broader. This study provides an extensive review of the effects of oil development in relation to four interconnected themes: 1) the environment, including marine habitats and fish; 2) small-scale fisheries and coastal community livelihoods; 3) coastal and ocean spaces, including disputes over territory and infrastructure; and 4) ocean and coastal governance processes. We map spatial overlaps between the oil sector and small-scale fisheries and point to the frequent displacement of fishers from fishing grounds due to increasing coastal traffic and infrastructure, and the catastrophic effects of oil spills on fisheries and coastal economies. Though the oil sector generally has negative impacts on fisheries livelihoods and coastal communities, these effects and their mechanisms vary across locations, ecosystems, species, and specific activities and groups. Overall, this narrative review provides a comprehensive account of the scholarship to date and points to key themes for future research, including intersections between offshore oil and gender, cross-sectoral governance, and the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 14. Underpinning all of these challenges and potential solutions is a clear need for stronger integration of social and natural science knowledge, perspectives, and tools.
... Coastal waters are sensitive areas with high productivity and play an important role as nursery, spawning, feeding, migration and reproduction grounds for many commercial species (Seitz et al., 2014). Since overfishing, as well as other anthropogenic activities (e.g., pollution, coastal development and habitat destruction), effects the structure of the ecosystems Coleman and Koenig, 2010;Seitz et al., 2014), it is important to monitor the community composition and spatial distribution over time to assess possible changes in their structure. The combined effects of changing environmental conditions and overfishing on stable assemblages was already described by Gomes et al. (1995) on the Labrador Shelf, Canada, and these effects on exploitable stocks can be irreversible (Cushing, 1995;Jesintha and Madhavi, 2020). ...
Understanding the diversity and community composition of marine communities in coastal areas is of utmost importance to understand how overlapping anthropogenic pressures impact the marine environment. The demersal and epibenthic communities of the Portuguese northern continental shelf were surveyed using a bottom trawl to understand their taxonomic composition, abundance, spatial distribution, and their relationship with environmental variables such as sediment, organic matter, depth and latitude. Bottom sediments were homogenous, being mainly composed by sand particles. The diversity of the study area was low, but high abundance of important commercial species, as Trisopterus luscus, Trachurus trachurus, Palaemon serratus and Merluccius merluccius, in the juvenile stage of life, points out the importance of the area as nursery grounds. Four assemblages were identified, with a visible geographical pattern. Results obtained supply background information that may contribute to the development of future management and monitoring plans for this important and sensible coastal area.
... It has been suggested that temperature (Munnelly, 2016;Reynolds et al., 2018), salinity (Gallaway, 1981;Gallaway and Lewbel, 1982;Reeves et al., 2018), depth (Stanley and Wilson, 1991;Wilson et al., 2001;Ajemian et al., 2015a,b) and dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration (Gallaway et al., 1999;Wilson, 2000, 2004;Reeves et al., 2018) all have a significant effect on patterns of fish biomass, size and density around platforms of the GOM. DO concentration is an environmental parameter that has received much attention due to the presence of extensive eutrophic waters off the Mississippi River Delta region, which ultimately leads to hypoxic events and the loss of marine life in a large area of the western GOM (Rabalais et al., 2002;Coleman and Koenig, 2010). Following this, previous studies have investigated the vertical compression of fishes away from low oxygen depth layers into adjacent depth layers in those areas of the northern GOM where hypoxic events occur (e.g. ...
... Over the entire water column, Mean TS, the fish length proxy, was highest at the Offshore sites and lowest at the Coastal sites. This may be due to the fact that most of the fish species that are associated with platforms undertake ontogenetic habitat shifts, i.e. that they undertake a gradual shift from shallow waters to deeper waters as they grow in size, and occupy mainly 31-60-m deep waters in the adult phase (Coleman and Koenig, 2010;Dance and Rooker, 2019). Alternatively, the Offshore sites (i.e., 31-60-m deep sites) may be the area of our study region where fishing pressure is relatively low compared to the Coastal sites but where the beneficial effects of coastal nutrients for fish productivity are still experienced. ...
Hydroacoustic surveys were conducted at 56 different oil and gas platforms in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico (GOM), along with a commensurate collection of physio-chemical data, in order to characterize patterns of fish distribution around platforms. Relative acoustic measurements of Mean Volume Backscatter "MVBS", Target Strength "TS" and fish density were examined. These acoustic variables were employed to test if patterns of MVBS, TS and density around GOM platforms differed among seabed depth-based categories (Coastal: 0-30 m; Offshore: 31-60 m; Bluewater: >60 m), and how these patterns varied as a function of the distance to platforms. The acoustic measurements were also examined across the study area to determine the influence of specific environmental factors and platform features (using generalized additive mixed models (GAMMs)), and whether hypoxic waters compressed fish distribution in the water column. Significantly greater mean fish densities and MVBS occurred at Coastal sites and these variables decreased with increasing seabed depth, whilst mean TS was highest at Offshore sites. Greatest values of fish MVBS and density were found at the shortest distances (0-25 m) from platforms. GAMMs suggested that salinity and temperature had a significant effect on fish density, TS, and MVBS. The number of other platforms within 5 km also had a significant effect on MVBS. Dissolved oxygen concentration has a significant effect on fish density. Finally, we found that fish densities and MVBS were significantly higher in the depth layers immediately above hypoxic layers, demonstrating vertical compression of fishes in the water column when hypoxia occurs. Our findings provide further evidence of the influence of environmental conditions and platform features on the regional patterns of fish density, TS and MVBS around platforms, and the influence of platforms on these metrics on a local scale across the GOM. The study highlights the applicability of using hydroacoustics in conjunction with modelling to assess fish distributions around artificial habitats.
... Compared to other US regions, the GOM-LME is characterized by high productivity, biodiversity, fishery landings, and socioeconomic status (Link and Marshak 2019). However, during the last century, this LME has been under increasing natural and anthropogenicallydriven pressures that affect the broader ecosystem dynamics and statuses of various fish stocks (Coleman and Koenig 2010, Karnauskas et al. 2013, Kilborn et al. 2018. Cognizant of these effects to GOM fisheries resources and trophic interactions (Jacobson et al. 2005, Keyl and Wolff 2008, Kirby et al. 2009, Hidalgo et al. 2011, Ainsworth et al. 2018, Trifonova et al. 2019, the challenge of advancing the GOM-LME toward EBFM may benefit through the development of an FEP. ...
Recent global improvements to fisheries sustainability have been made through the adoption of more holistic management frameworks, such as the ecosystem approach to fisheries management (EAFM) and ecosystem-based fisheries management (EBFM), and a concurrent transition from a focus on single species or stocks to multispecies and ecosystems. In the U.S., federal and regional fisheries management encompass multiple layers of comprehensive, ecosystem focused management strategies for living marine resources within its network of large marine ecosystems (LMEs). Here, we provide an overview for the U.S. portion of the Gulf of Mexico large marine ecosystem (GOM-LME) by examining the multiple aspects of its fishery management scheme through the lenses of EAFM, EBFM, and the integrated ecosystem assessment (IEA) framework that has been used worldwide to advise, inform, and operationalize ecosystem management. The U.S.-GOM’s fishery management and ecosystem community appears to be keeping pace with other U.S. regional efforts. However, more tools like fishery ecosystem plans (FEPs), which are conducive to the effective integration of ecosystem considerations into fishery management processes, are needed to inform and guide the work of regional managers, decision-makers, and stakeholders. Therefore, we propose a structured planning process aimed at advancing the development and implementation of a GOM-FEP, and describe two case studies of EAFM and EBFM applications, respectively, that can help to navigate through our proposed planning process. This work offers strategic guidance and insights to support efforts of regional fishery managers to translate ecosystem management principles, approaches, and objectives into an “action oriented” FEP in the GOM-LME.
... Increased greenhouse gas concentrations are expected to cause acidification and warming of the ocean, changes to ocean circulation patterns, sea level rise, changed evaporation and precipitation patterns, and changes to ocean wave patterns, among a range of other effects. Climate change impacts will combine with other pressures, exacerbating their effects in many cases (Rahmstorf, 1997;Caldeira and Wickett, 2003;Hughes et al., 2003;Pandolfi et al., 2003;Feely et al., 2004;Hoegh-Guldberg, 2005;Coleman and Koenig, 2010). ...
... Reef fish resources support nearly 200,000 fishing related jobs in Florida alone with the marine economy of all US Gulf states valued around $3 trillion (NMFS, 2016). However, the life history characteristics that facilitate reef fish evolutionary success and annual productivity also make reef fishes susceptible to a variety of anthropogenic and environmental stressors (Coleman et al., 1999;Coleman and Koenig, 2010), such as oil spills (Tarnecki and Patterson, 2015;Joye et al., 2016;Murawski et al., 2016), harmful algal blooms (Smith, 1979;Coleman and Koenig, 2010;Dupont et al., 2010), biological invasions (Dahl and Patterson, 2014;Chagaris et al., 2017), and overfishing (Coleman et al., 2004;Cowan et al., 2011). Artificial reefs have been deployed throughout the GOM in an attempt to enhance reef fish productivity, but their potential benefit may be outweighed by increased catchability Cowan et al., 2011) and the low proportional contribution of ARs to reef fish production compared to more expansive NR habitats (Karnauskas et al., 2017). ...
... Reef fish resources support nearly 200,000 fishing related jobs in Florida alone with the marine economy of all US Gulf states valued around $3 trillion (NMFS, 2016). However, the life history characteristics that facilitate reef fish evolutionary success and annual productivity also make reef fishes susceptible to a variety of anthropogenic and environmental stressors (Coleman et al., 1999;Coleman and Koenig, 2010), such as oil spills (Tarnecki and Patterson, 2015;Joye et al., 2016;Murawski et al., 2016), harmful algal blooms (Smith, 1979;Coleman and Koenig, 2010;Dupont et al., 2010), biological invasions (Dahl and Patterson, 2014;Chagaris et al., 2017), and overfishing (Coleman et al., 2004;Cowan et al., 2011). Artificial reefs have been deployed throughout the GOM in an attempt to enhance reef fish productivity, but their potential benefit may be outweighed by increased catchability Cowan et al., 2011) and the low proportional contribution of ARs to reef fish production compared to more expansive NR habitats (Karnauskas et al., 2017). ...
... The GOM, like other LMEs, supports heterogeneous complexes of reef communities among subregions due to differing productivity, geological, temperature, and hydrodynamic regimes. This complexity necessitates region-scale studies to assess the recent impacts from invasive species and pollution and to monitor distributional and morphological shifts in reef communities due to climate change (Scavia et al., 2002;Coleman and Koenig, 2010;Fodrie et al., 2010). Our data provide a (shifted) baseline to help assess and monitor the recovery of reef fish communities from invasive lionfish or oil spill impacts as well as future impacts of warming, acidifying waters due to climate change. ...
Reef fish resources provide numerous ecosystem services in the northern Gulf of Mexico (nGOM) large marine ecosystem. Artificial reefs (ARs) have been distributed across the nGOM in attempts to enhance reef fish habitat and increase fishery productivity, but few data exist to distinguish ecological from fishery functions of ARs compared to natural reefs (NRs), particularly at the regional scale. Therefore, we conducted remotely operated vehicle surveys of reef fish communities at 47 reef sites within a ∼20,000 km2 area of the nGOM shelf and tested the effect of reef type (NR versus AR), depth (≤35 or >35 m), relief (≤2 m or >2 m), and complexity (low or high) on fish diversity and community structure as well as trophic guild- and species-specific densities. Twenty-one species were present at >20%, nine at >50%, and three at >75% of study reefs. Fishery species (i.e., Lutjanus campechanus, Seriola dumerili, and Rhomboplites aurorubens) and invasive Pterois volitans were frequently observed (>50% of sites) or numerically dominant, especially at ARs. Main effects did not significantly affect the presence of specific species or trophic guilds, but interactions among factors significantly affected species- and trophic guild-specific densities. Our results indicate that effects of habitat characteristics on fish communities are more nuanced than previously described. Fish communities are moderately similar at the majority of sites but specific habitat characteristics can interact to dramatically affect densities of some species, particularly those that depend on complex structures for refuge. Simple ARs tend to concentrate high densities of a few important fishery species with low densities of other small demersal reef fishes. Complex NRs with high relief also support high densities of planktivorous fishery species but greatly increase densities of small, demersal, non-fishery species that directly utilize complex reef structure for refuge.
