Cover image: © Pix Box/Shutterstock Cover description: Atlantic Cod Gadus morhua

Little information is available concerning the seasonal demographics of marine migrating Alewife Alosa pseudoharengus and Blueback Herring A. aestivalis, reported in commercial fisheries as “gaspereau” in Canada and “river herring” in the USA. Once adults and age‐0 juveniles depart from coastal spawning rivers, they migrate along the North American Atlantic coast and are difficult to access for scientific

Striped Mullet Mugil cephalus are numerically abundant forage fish, highly valuable as prey, and commercially valuable to humans. From September to December, Striped Mullet in the Indian River Lagoon (IRL), Florida, undergo an annual migration from inshore foraging habitats to oceanic spawning sites. However, their migratory pathways—particularly their intra‐estuarine movement pathways—remain unknown

Early maturity of economically important fish has become a global issue, which might affect the reproductive potential of fish stocks. We used the samples that were collected in a fisheries‐independent survey in the East China Sea annually around the end of August from 2002 to 2017 to investigate the maturation progress of female Hairtail Trichiurus japonicus in response to (1) spatial variation, (2)

Small‐scale fisheries (SSFs) tend to target shallow waters, but the depth distributions of coastal fish can vary depending on species, size, and sex. This creates a scope for a form of fishing selectivity that has received limited attention but can have considerable implications for monitoring and management of these fisheries. We conducted a case study on the Norwegian wrasse fishery, a developing

Cover image: Jenny Waddell/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Cover description: Several species of algae at the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary.

Despite 30 years of relatively strict management measures, the Red Porgy Pagrus pagrus population off the southeast U.S. Atlantic coast has not met rebuilding goals and was still categorized as overfished over a decade after a moratorium (SEDAR 2020). The lack of recovery indicates that limiting fishing pressure is not enough to effectively manage population levels. Population size may be driven by

As opposed to passive, broad‐scale acoustic telemetry arrays, acoustic positioning systems generate high‐resolution animal locations that provide information on long‐term, fine‐scale movement patterns and habitat preferences. However, limited comparisons have been made between more common broad‐scale acoustic data and fine‐scale positioning data and it is unknown whether differences exist in ecological

Highly mobile species can be challenging for fisheries management and conservation due to large home ranges combined with dependence on discrete habitat areas where they can be easily targeted or vulnerable to anthropogenic disturbances. Management of the Dusky Shark Carcharhinus obscurus in the northwest Atlantic Ocean has been particularly challenging due to the species’ inherent vulnerability to

Acoustic telemetry, in which transmitters projecting ultrasonic signals carrying unique identification codes are deployed on marine and aquatic animals and detected and logged by acoustic receivers, is becoming a common tool in fisheries science. Collaboration among researchers using this technology has led to the development of telemetry networks that are capable of detecting transmitters at coastwide

Cover image: © Eiko Jones Cover description: A school of Bigeye Trevally Caranx sexfasciatus.

The Weakfish Cynoscion regalis, an economically important species, has declined over the last 30 years, corresponding with an increase in total mortality according to the most recent stock assessment. We estimated estuarine‐specific and coastwide apparent survival of Weakfish by using a Cormack–Jolly–Seber model to provide insights into the spatiotemporal component of mortality. Telemetered Weakfish

The FACT Network (originally the Florida Atlantic Coast Telemetry working group), established in 2007, is a grassroots collaboration that is dedicated to improving the conservation and management of aquatic animals by facilitating data sharing amongst researchers using acoustic telemetry technology, providing a community for scientists, and building stakeholder partnerships. Founded along the eastern

A variety of data needs challenge the successful restoration and management of alosine populations, including information on the migration, mortality, behavior, demographic rates, and distribution of fish, both in riverine and marine environments. Radiotelemetry with gastric‐implanted transmitters has typically been used to answer some of these questions; however, observing alosines over extended periods

The Western Dry Rocks (WDR) area off Key West, Florida, is an open fishing area that contains a multispecies fish spawning aggregation site, but grouper spawning there has yet to be confirmed. The movements of 18 adult and subadult grouper at WDR were tracked using acoustic telemetry to determine how this area is used by grouper species and whether it contains a grouper spawning aggregation site. Tagged

Cape Hatteras is a major topographic feature on the continental shelf of the U.S. eastern seaboard that changes the dynamics of nearshore large ocean currents, including the Labrador Current and Gulf Stream. Cape Hatteras constricts shelf habitat and restricts the migratory corridors of highly migratory species through this area. Our objective was to describe the seasonal patterns of presence for three

Fishery‐independent data are important for the effective management of reef fishes in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. Proper characterization of selectivity, or the effectiveness of each type of sampling gear in capturing a species or a size‐class, is essential to ensure that assessment models treat various sources of data appropriately. In this study, we analyzed fishery‐independent data that was collected

A correction has been issued for the following manuscript published recently in Marine and Coastal Fisheries: Dynamics, Management, and Ecosystem Science: Volume 11(6) December 2019: “Monitoring Populations in Partially Protected Marine Areas: Comparisons of Length Data Derived from Recreational Angler Surveys and Fishery‐Independent Surveys” by Faith A. Ochwada‐Doyle and Daniel D. Johnson, pages 454–471

The effect of oceanic environmental conditions on the recruitment of American Eel Anguilla rostrata to coastal waters is poorly understood. This study examined correlations between the annual elver count index of the East River, Chester, Nova Scotia, seasonal oceanic environmental conditions associated with the larval and glass eel stages, and larval and glass eel migration times between the spawning

Cover image: Tane Casserly/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Offi ce of National Marine Sanctuaries Cover description: Two sharks surrounded by fi sh over a shipwreck in Monitor National Marine Sanctuary.

Gray Snapper Lutjanus griseus is an economically and ecologically important species in the estuarine and coastal environments of the southeastern United States. Previous research has focused primarily on juvenile Gray Snapper due to their accessible inshore distribution and ecological importance, while adults, which often occur offshore and are the main focus of fishing pressure, remain poorly understood

Within the Big Bend region of the northeastern Gulf of Mexico, one of the least developed coastlines in the continental USA, intertidal and subtidal populations of eastern oyster Crassostrea virginica (hereafter referred to as “oyster”) are a critical ecosystem and important economic constituent. We assessed trends in intertidal oyster populations, river discharge, and commercial fishing activity in

Climate change impacts to ocean ecosystems are altering the distribution and abundance of fish populations and impacting the people whose health, well‐being, and livelihoods depend on them. Thousands of published papers make it very clear that fish are on the move, alterations in productivity are occurring, and natural and human ecosystems are responding to climate variability and change. Across the

Cover image: © Christopher Miller Cover description: The crew of the Arctic Hunter sorts through opilio crab while commercial fishing in the Bering Sea.

Petroleum platforms in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico (GOM) are important habitats for fishes and support regional fisheries. However, drivers of the horizontal (i.e., latitudinal and longitudinal) and vertical (i.e., position in the water column) distribution patterns of fishes associated with these artificial habitats are not fully understood on a GOM‐wide scale. To build upon previous studies on a large

Previous work suggests that Oregon estuaries function as nursery habitat and may play an important role in settlement of Black Rockfish Sebastes melanops. No research, however, has been conducted on juvenile Black Rockfish feeding ecology in estuarine habitats, which is necessary to evaluate habitat use and quality. We examined stomach contents and carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios for juvenile

Studying the species‐specific responses to fishing capture is critical for effective management and conservation of bycatch species given that acute stress incurred from capture and handling may ultimately lead to mortality. While species of low commercial value are often overlooked, having accurate information on the effects of capture on all species is necessary for ecosystem‐based management. Sea

An industrial multigear fishing fleet from Venezuela emerged in 2009 as a governmental strategy to reduce the impact of industrial trawling on the Venezuelan coast of the North Brazil Shelf Large Marine Ecosystem. The current study aimed to examine the spatial–temporal distribution of fishing effort and the catch levels obtained by the Venezuelan industrial multigear fishing fleet during the period

Cover image: Greg McFall/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Cover description: Green Moray Gymnothorax funebris in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.

Subadult (age < 3) Red Drum Sciaenops ocellatus support a valuable recreational fishery, and mortality estimates for young Red Drum are needed for proper management. To obtain these estimates, age‐1 and age‐2 Red Drum were implanted with acoustic transmitters and external Floy tags in two coastal Alabama rivers (Fowl and Dog rivers). Fates of tagged fish were inferred from stationary receiver detections

Estuarine‐dependent fishes experience a wide range of environmental conditions, and most species exhibit distinct associations with particular habitats. However, similar species or multiple conspecifics often overlap spatiotemporally, which can result in ecological interactions that have consequences for behaviors that can shape the structure and function of ecosystems. We used a long‐term gill‐net

Fishery‐independent surveys have become increasingly prevalent in recent decades for monitoring the population trends of highly mobile species like elasmobranchs (sharks and rays). Despite the utility of gear evaluations for streamlining costs and increasing the efficiency of fishery‐independent surveys, these assessments are sparse for elasmobranch‐specific surveys. Catch data were examined from a

In the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, Gulf Sturgeon Acipenser oxyrinchus desotoi supported an intense and short‐lived commercial fishery in the early twentieth century. Thereafter, it persisted at very low levels until the fishery was closed by individual U.S. states in the Gulf of Mexico region in the mid‐1980s. Despite the closure of the fishery, the stock has not recovered and there have been threats to population

Increasingly restrictive management regulations have greatly reduced the utility of fishery‐dependent data for characterizing temporal changes in the abundance of managed fish populations, so fishery‐independent data are becoming more important for the accurate assessment of stock status. A notable downside to fishery‐independent data is the high cost of conducting surveys, and efforts to maximize

Kelp forests are an important ecological component of temperate coastal systems that are sensitive to anthropogenic disturbance and are in decline in many locations globally. In the northeastern Pacific Ocean off the coast of Washington, USA, bull kelp Nereocystis luetkeana forests are seasonally used by juvenile salmonids and forage fishes; however, details on ecosystem functional linkages for forage

Data‐limited fisheries assessment methods have great potential to help inform small island communities on the status of their fisheries resources. In this paper, we provide a length‐based assessment of an artisanal fishery that primarily targets spawning aggregations of Shortjaw Bonefish Albula glossodonta at Anaa Atoll in the Tuamotu Archipelago of French Polynesia. We assessed the length‐frequency

Atlantic Herring Clupea harengus are iteroparous (repeat spawners) with group‐synchronous oocyte development and determinate fecundity, and they are total spawners. However, they also exhibit plasticity in other aspects of their reproductive biology including spawning seasonality and skipped spawning. Previous studies in other regions have reported skipped spawning and errors in macroscopic classifications

Reducing 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

In partially protected marine areas, such as recreational fishing havens (RFHs), fishery‐independent surveys and recreational angler surveys represent two of the few available methods of collecting length‐frequency data to monitor population responses to protection from commercial fishing and the impacts of ongoing recreational fishing. Although length data plays an important role in facilitating stock

The Aleutian Islands ecosystem is a highly dynamic marine environment that supports commercially important fish species, such as Atka Mackerel Pleurogrammus monopterygius and Northern Rockfish Sebastes polyspinis, and several large marine mammals, including the Steller sea lion (SSL) Eumetopias jubatus. To protect SSL foraging behavior and prey, trawl exclusion zones (TEZs) were established around

Information on the movement patterns of fishes is essential for managers that are making critical resource decisions. We examined the frequency of a keystone species, Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha that migrated from different marine basins to the Nisqually River estuary, which lies within the southernmost marine basin (hereafter, “South basin”) in Puget Sound (Washington, USA). Hatchery‐reared

Trip limits are frequently used as a management measure to control or reduce harvest by restricting harvest to a maximum amount. The goal of trip limits is often to lengthen the fishing season relative to the annual catch limit by slowing the landings rate or incentivizing fishers to target another species. Two recent commercial trip limits implemented in the southeastern USA were examined to determine

Mixed‐stock fisheries simultaneously exploit populations that may differ in their conservation status, and uncertainty in stock‐specific harvest rates can hamper evaluations of recovery prospects for depressed populations. These difficulties are exemplified in the Sockeye Salmon population from the Atnarko watershed, which collapsed in the early 2000s, causing cultural and economic hardship. A recovery

Food habits in Pamlico Sound, North Carolina, are poorly described despite the estuary's large size and importance as nursery and fisheries habitat. We conducted the first multi‐year, multispecies food habits study in Pamlico Sound, sampling the stomach contents of 16,913 predators representing 25 species. Predators were sampled from fisheries‐independent trawl and gill‐net surveys. We used multivariate

Juvenile Pacific salmon Oncorhynchus spp. experience high mortality at marine entry, yet our quantitative understanding of predation during this critical period is limited. We evaluated spatial, temporal, and size‐based patterns of predation on hatchery‐ and wild‐born juvenile Chum Salmon O. keta by two abundant predators in Southeast Alaska estuaries: the Pacific Staghorn Sculpin Leptocottus armatus

The Hardhead Catfish Ariopsis felis and Gafftopsail Catfish Bagre marinus are marine catfishes that have low recreational and commercial landings in U.S. waters, although they are among the most abundant species in coastal waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Few biological studies exist on marine catfishes, with most studies focusing on their unique reproductive biology. This study evaluated weight–length

The Windowpane Scophthalmus aquosus stock in Georges Bank and the Gulf of Maine is considered overfished despite the lack of a directed fishery. Windowpane stocks are assessed using an index‐based method relying on the Northeast Fisheries Science Center's (NEFSC; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) fall trawl survey. From 2013 to 2016, the School for Marine Science and Technology (SMAST;

Catch per unit effort (CPUE) was computed from fisheries‐independent monitoring data collected from 1996 through 2013 in the lower Peace River and Charlotte Harbor, Florida. Seasonal habitat suitability modeling (HSM) based on delta‐gamma generalized additive models was prepared for eight fish and invertebrate species life stages with affinities for either low or moderate salinities. Using a geographic

Knowledge of the life history of populations at the warm edge of their distributional range can provide a better understanding of how they will adapt to climate warming, including potential poleward redistribution. The range of Gray Snapper Lutjanus griseus has the potential to expand along its northern temperate fringe, but little is known about this species in the warmest portion of its range. We

Age‐structured data are commonly needed in stock assessments but are unavailable for the majority of existing fisheries, while fish size (length or weight) data are most readily accessible and carry critical information of population status. However, the performances of assessment methods based on size‐frequency data have been less well understood. This study evaluated the reliability of two size‐frequency‐based

In this study, we investigated luminescent netting as a means to improve the catch rates of snow crabs Chionoecetes opilio. A laboratory experiment was conducted to investigate the intensity and duration of luminescence using time‐lapse photography. We exposed experimental traps to five different treatments of UV light to excite the luminescent fibers in the netting. Our results showed that luminescent

In Nigerian coastal waters (NCW), fishing has increased steadily over the last seven decades. Artisanal fisheries cover the entire 850‐km length of the coast, where over 1 million fishermen exploit estuarine and oceanic resources up to 40 m deep, and approximately 250 industrial trawlers target fish resources in deeper waters beyond the first 9.26 km (5 nautical miles) from shore. We investigated the

Predicted increases in temperatures over the next century have raised many concerns about changes in the life history traits and geographical distributions of anadromous fishes. Anadromous fishes are particularly vulnerable to human activities due to the diverse array of habitats needed to complete their life cycle and the proximity of essential habitats to large human population centers. To understand

Understanding distribution patterns and habitat characteristics of ecologically or economically important species in marine protected areas is critical for identifying ecological boundaries and optimizing management strategies. However, studies on groundfish resources around marine protected areas are often limited because of economic, geographic, or jurisdictional constraints. This study investigated

During daily fishing operations, spanner crab Ranina ranina catch rates can fluctuate substantially, but the environmental drivers responsible for these fluctuations largely remain unresolved. Earlier research suggests that spanner crab catchability increases with strengthening currents, but uncertainties surround the magnitude of the measured current speeds and, consequently, their relationship with

The overexploitation and decline of groundfish populations throughout the 1980s and 1990s resulted in a regime shift on Georges Bank and southern New England, which was characterized by subsequent exponential increases in the observed biomass of Winter Skate Leucoraja ocellata in the region. Recent work suggested that the rate of the Winter Skate biomass increase cannot be fully explained by internal

The Red Drum Sciaenops ocellatus stock is heavily targeted in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) by recreational fishers and supports a small commercial fishery in Mississippi. Despite their popularity, little recent work has been done to describe their life history. In this work, we describe sex‐specific growth and reproductive dynamics of Red Drum collected from the northern GOM from September 2016 through

The Knobbed Porgy Calamus nodosus, an important secondary species in reef fish catches of the southeastern United States, was recently the subject of a fishery closure due to the porgy complex quota being exceeded. Knobbed Porgy (n = 448) were aged using sectioned sagittal otoliths. Opaque zones on otolith sections were annular, forming in March–July (peaking in May). Knobbed Porgy ranged from 1 to

Most efforts to establish precautionary guidelines for fisheries management use essentially ad hoc impressions as to what constitutes conservative management. Such approaches, however, fail to take into account the magnitude of the uncertainty about particular systems. One alternative approach to precautionary management is robust control, in which decision makers attempt to maximize an outcome under

Tropical estuaries are diverse and productive habitats with respect to their fish assemblages and associated fisheries, but these ecosystems and fisheries are imperiled by multiple anthropogenic threats. Despite the economic, social, and biodiversity value of tropical estuarine fish assemblages, they are poorly understood, especially those on Caribbean islands. We sampled the fish assemblages of four