Ecosystem Modeling for Fisheries Management in the Gulf of Mexico

OneNOAA Science Seminar Series

Title: Ecosystem Modeling for Fisheries Management in the Gulf of Mexico
Part of NOAA's RESTORE Science Program Seminar Series: Actionable Science in the Gulf of Mexico

Speaker(s): 

Dr. David Chagaris, Assistant Professor, IFAS Nature Coast Biological Station, University of Florida, and Dr. Igal Berenshtein, Research Associate, Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies, University of Miami

Sponsor(s): NOAA RESTORE Science Program and NOAA's National Ocean Service Science Seminar Series. Points of contact are Andrew.Lade@noaa.govand for webinar questions, Tracy.GIll@noaa.gov

Remote Access: Register at
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Abstract: The overall goal of this project is to integrate information on ecosystem stressors and predator-prey interactions into the assessment and management of fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM). Two existing trophic-dynamic ecosystem models for the GoM were updated and expanded. The first is an ecosystem model of the West Florida Shelf (WFS), that focuses on reef fish species and red tides. The second model is a Gulf-wide (U.S. territorial waters) ecosystem model that focuses on federally managed species, the role of forage fish, and effects of bycatch. Both models utilize the Ecopath with Ecosim and Ecospace (EwE) modeling software package. In the WFS EwE model, a new feature was added to enable estimation of red tide mortality over space and time, while accounting for potential bloom avoidance and effects of food web impacts on recovery times. An important output from this model is a time series of red tide mortality that can be incorporated into reef fish stock assessments and can also inform projection scenarios used by managers to set annual catch limits. The Gulf-wide EwE model focuses on Gulf menhaden and generates time series of predation mortality for stock assessment and presents managers with the tradeoff between menhaden harvest and predator populations. Primary end users of these tools include stock assessment scientists, scientific advisory committees, and state and federal fisheries managers.  Input from end users was obtained during an initial scoping workshop and we remained engaged with our end users by providing updates opportunistically during routine meetings. In the case of Gulf menhaden, our end user engagement efforts highlighted constraints and limitations in their management structure, impeding immediate uptake of the ecosystem information. Over the next year, we will finalize ecosystem model outputs to upcoming stock assessments and management actions for gag grouper, scamp, gray snapper, and Gulf menhaden as well as the recently initiated Gulf Fishery Ecosystem Plan.

Bio(s):

Dr. David Chagaris is a research assistant professor at the IFAS Nature Coast Biological Station, University of Florida. Dr. Chagaris is a quantitative fisheries scientist that analyzes datasets and develops population dynamic and ecosystem models that incorporate environmental drivers, food web dynamics, and habitat interactions in order to understand how fisheries resources and marine ecosystems respond to fishing and environmental change. Those models are then used to improve population assessments, screen policy options for unintended consequences, evaluate ecosystem effects of natural and anthropogenic perturbations, and develop new management reference points that account for ecosystem interactions and the uncertainty therein. Dr. Chagaris is also currently a member of the Gulf Council SSC, the Gulf Council Ecosystem Technical Committee, and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission Ecological Reference Points workgroup.

Dr. Igal Berenshtein is a postdoctoral research associate at the Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies, University of Miami, and the NOAA Fisheries Southeast Fisheries Science Center.  Dr. Berenshtein is a quantitative marine ecologist working on the broad aspects of ecological and environmental questions by integrating analytical approaches, such as biophysical modeling, behavioral experiments, empirical studies and ecosystem modeling. Igal has completed his first Postdoc at the university of Miami working on Marine pollution and larval dispersal, and he is now in his second post-doc position at the Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies, working on ecosystem modeling in the Gulf of Mexico.

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{David Chagaris, Professor, IFAS Nature Coast Biological Station, University of Florida and Dr. Igal Berenshtein, Research Associate, Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies, University of Miami}