Objectives

Successful restoration and continued management of recreational fisheries therefore depends on a good understanding of linkages between broader processes and local dynamics in the interlinked ecological and human components of this social-ecological system.

Methods

The fully integrated and spatially explicit quantitative model allowed us to evaluate the dynamic consequences of spatio-temporal variation in recruitment and fishing effort derived from gulf-wide data. The model was used to evaluate potential restoration strategies following disturbances such as oil spills and longer-term habitat loss.

Preliminary results

Multiple potential management strategies for recovery from short-term disturbances (e.g. oil spills) or long-term habitat loss were evaluated using the model. The effect of localized mortality events is dependent on meta-population connectivity, emphasizing the importance of understanding how disturbance interacts with different life history stages. Even when connectivity is low and therefore, local mortality effects relatively long-lasting, site-based harvest restrictions are better than more spatially extensive measures. Also, since angler utility is derived from multiple objectives of which harvest is only one, temporally restricting harvest may not be very detrimental in the short term and very beneficial in the longer term due to more rapid recovery of catch rates. Overall, while disturbances such as mortality events often cause great uproar, they may not call for drastic responses. Conversely, longer-term habitat loss is a more significant, but often invisible problem.

Publications

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Code

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