Project Leader: Justin McDonald, Lab Technician/M.S. Student Project Details Figure 1. An adult Greater Amberjack caught in the Alabama Artificial Reef Zone. Background: The Greater Amberjack (Seriola dumerili) is a widely distributed pelagic, epibenthic, member of the Carangidae family found in warm temperate waters. These fish are the largest carangid in the Gulf of Mexico and are known for having high endurance and fighting capability making them highly desirable to recreational fisherman.

Project Leader:Mark A. Albins, Ph.D., Research Associate Project Details Background: Artificial reefs are often used to increase fishing opportunities, particularly in areas like the Northern Gulf of Mexico, where natural reef habitat is limited. Yet, the ecological and fisheries benefits of such reefs remain a topic of debate. Reefs could serve to attract animals away from nearby habitats, aggregating them in known locations and thereby making them easier to catch. Reefs could also increase habitat availability and/or food resources resulting in increased production.

Project Leader:Trey Spearman, Project Manager Project Details Figure 1. An example of a side-scan image mosaic created from a square nautical mile survey off the coast of Alabama. Background: The benthic habitat assessment program of the Fisheries Ecology Lab developed from a need to assess marine benthic habitats in an accurate and efficient manner. Using bathymetric and side-scan sonar, benthic habitats ranging from oyster reefs, seagrass beds, and artificial and natural reef structures have been mapped in the nearshore and offshore coastal areas of Alabama since 2007.

Project lead: Jackie Wilson, Research Technician Background: For generations, the dynamic estuarine systems of Mobile Bay and Mississippi Sound have provided ecologically and economically important resources, upon which the livelihoods and cultural heritage of Alabama’s coastal communities rely. Often referred to as the nursery of the Gulf of Mexico’s fertile crescent, where freshwater influx from the Alabama river delta combined with rich, saline Gulf water, create an ideal habitat for juvenile species of all phyla.

Project Leader:Edward Kim, Master’s Student Project Details Background: Gray Snapper (Lutjanus griseus) constitute a significant recreational fishery and minor commercial fishery throughout the Gulf of Mexico, and a recent assessment in 2018 determined that the overall stock has been undergoing prolonged overfishing. Spatiotemporal gaps in our understanding of these fish that could better inform management still exist, particularly within the northcentral Gulf of Mexico. The absence of regional baseline data, combined with projections of population growth due to climatic warming, highlights the need for supplementary monitoring efforts.

Project Leader:Dylan Kiene, Ph.D. Student Project Details Background: The Coastal Alabama Acoustic Monitoring Program (CAAMP) is a long-standing monitoring program that has previously tracked the movement of several estuarine species including Red Drum (Sciaenops ocellatus) and Spotted Sea Trout (Cynoscion nebulosus). In 2019 CAAMP was redesigned to study Southern Flounder (Paralichthys lethostigma). Southern Flounder exhibit sexual dimorphism - a distinct difference in the size, appearance, and life history between sexes. Male Southern Flounder typically don’t get very large (<12in) and spend most of their lives offshore, while the females grow larger and mature in the estuarine waters of the Mobile Bay area.

Project Leader:aia Muñoz - Abril Project Details Background: The second most fished member of Scombridae in the world is yellowfin tuna, Thunnus albacares. It is a top predator that lives in tropical and subtropical waters and some of the only teleosts that have developed physiological thermoregulation mechanisms to keep their muscles hotter than the surrounding water. Due to the characteristics of the species and other factors such as the fishery, it has been reported that populations of yellowfin tuna from different oceans have fragmented, which constitutes a threat to the species and its habitat, as it makes them more sensitive to extinction.

Project Leader:Trey Spearman, Research Assistant Project Details Effects of large-scale habitat modification on demersal fish and mobile invertebrates within Alabama’s Artificial Reef Zone Figure 1: Trawl deployment (top) and catch brought on deck (bottom). Background: South of Mobile Bay, Alabama, the Alabama Artificial Reef Zone (AARZ) covers almost 2700 km2 of the continental shelf. This area has become a hotspot for recreational and commercial fishing due to artificial reef placement. With a growing need for both ecosystem-based fisheries management and fishery-independent data to support it, more information is needed on the demersal community residing within the AARZ.

Project Leader: Sean P. Powers, Ph.D. Project Details Dataset DOI: Localized depletion of marine and estuarine populations often results from large-scale natural and anthropogenic disturbances (e.g., hurricanes, oil spills) as well as overharvest of fisheries resources. Understanding how such localized depletions may affect populations at larger regional scales requires knowledge of connectivity among local populations within the larger regional landscape or metapopulation. Efforts to restore populations following such decreases requires similar knowledge.

Project Leader:Dylan Kiene, Ph.D. Student Project Details Background: Vast expanses of intertidal sand/mudflats serve as critical links in the food web of nearshore communities along the southcentral Alaska coastline. One of the largest expanses of intertidal sand/mud flats occurs in the Copper River Delta and southeastern Prince William Sound (Orca Inlet). The rich abundance of benthic invertebrates residing in the sediment provides a significant prey resource for numerous species of fish, crabs, birds, and marine mammals.

Project Lead: Dylan Kiene, Ph.D. Student Background: Vast expanses of intertidal sand/mudflats serve as critical links in the food web of nearshore communities along the southcentral Alaska coastline. One of the largest expanses of intertidal sand/mud flats occurs in the Copper River Delta and southeastern Prince William Sound (Orca Inlet). The rich abundance of benthic invertebrates residing in the sediment provides a significant prey resource for numerous species of fish, crabs, birds, and marine mammals.

Project Leader: Reid Nelson, Ph.D. Student Project Details Retrospective tracking of fish movement and habitat use Background: The otolith, or fish ear bone, is a stone like structure in the head of a fish mainly composed of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) (Figure1). It is a fish sensory structure that aids in orientation and detection of vibrations. It grows continuously throughout the life of a fish laying down annual rings that can be used to age a fish similar to tree aging.

Project Leader:Sean Powers, Ph.D., Principal Investigator Project Details Background: Ecosystem-based fishery management has evolved from an abstract concept to a broadly accepted tenet for effective conservation and management of marine resources. Despite this, fishery managers are increasingly tasked with gathering more fisheries-independent data to fulfill current, single species management objectives. Given finite resources, these two objectives are often in competition. The goals of the FI project are to provide a unique fisheries-independent survey design that fully addresses both ecosystem and single species management objectives in the northern Gulf of Mexico.

Project Leader:Sean Powers, Ph.D. and Crystal Hightower, Lab Manager Project Details Background: Red Snapper is one of the most economically important fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico. The species is currently overfished and extensive efforts have been put towards developing models to estimate stocks and develop management plans. Even though we have seen an increase in population as a result of these management plans, the spawning potential is lower than the rebuilding target.

Project Leader:Sean P. Powers, Ph.D., Principal Investigator Project Details Greater amberjack (Seriola dumerili) discard mortality in the Gulf of Mexico recreational hook-and-line fishery and the efficacy of descender devices in discard mortality reduction Project lead: Sean P. Powers, Ph.D., Principal Investigator Post-doctoral researcher: Kelly S. Boyle Collaborator: Erin Bohaboy, University of Florida Background: Greater amberjack are considered overfished in the Gulf of Mexico and recreational fishing results in a high rate of regulatory discard because of closed periods and length restrictions (SEDAR 2014).

Project Leader: Justin McDonald, Lab Technician Project Details High Dollar Red Snapper Tagging Program Background Red Snapper is an economically significant fish in the Gulf of Mexico. However the species is currently overfished and extensive efforts have been put towards developing models to estimate stocks and develop management plans. Recreational fishing mortality is a significant component of these models and can be difficult to estimate. To increase the accuracy of these estimates, a high dollar red snapper tagging program was put into place.

Project Leader:Pearce Cooper Project Details Sheepshead, Archosargus probatocephalus: population connectivity and estuarine residency as inferred from population genomics and otolith chemistry Background and summary of approach: The study of population connectivity and subdivision is vital to the proper management and conservation of species and furthers the study of evolutionary biology and ecology. Sheepshead, Archosargus probatocephalus, are a euryhaline sparid fish that are ecologically, commercially, and recreationally important in the southeastern United States 1.

Project Leader: Merritt McCall, Masters Student Project Details Background Oyster reefs are a vital component of nearshore, estuarine ecosystems. The ecosystem services provided by these reefs are highly valuable to humans and marine species alike: they protect shorelines from erosion, filter surrounding water, provide an incomparable nursery habitat for a wide range of juvenile fishes and mobile crustaceans, and create structure and shelter for their respective prey species. Efforts to restore essential oyster reef habitat along the US Atlantic and Gulf Coasts have been extensive, with 259 reef restorations documented in the northern Gulf of Mexico alone.