Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Variability In Red Snapper Otolith Microchemistry Among Gulf Of Mexico Regions, Michelle Zapp Sluis

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Red snapper, Lutjanus campechanus, has been an economically important reef fish in the Gulf of Mexico (Gulf) for over 150 years and is currently overfished. Catch statistics and demographic differences have lead to the population being categorized into eastern and western substocks divided by the Mississippi River, but data is recombined to set a Gulf-wide annual catch limit. The two objectives of this study were to apply otolith nursery chemical signatures to estimate red snapper mixing dynamics in the western Gulf, and to determine if signatures based upon trace metals associated with oil and gas platforms could discriminate between region …