Behavior and Ethology | Open Access Articles

Estimates Of Red Drum Mortality Via Acoustic Telemetry, T. Reid Nelson, Sean P. Powers

University Faculty and Staff Publications

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 and active relocations over 1 year. These fates were used in a Bayesian multistate model to estimate instantaneous monthly and annual mortality and emigration rates for each river and overall from both rivers. Instantaneous monthly fishing mortality (F) ranged from 0.001 to 0.112 (annual F = 0.414) in Dog River, from 0.001 to 0.126 in Fowl River (annual F = 0.309), and was 0.001–0.054 (annual F = 0.337) overall. Instantaneous monthly natural mortality (M) ranged from 0.001 to 0.002 (annual M= 0.069) in Dog River, from 0.001 to 0.036 (annual M= 0.178) in Fowl River, and from 0.001 to 0.017 (annual M= 0.090) overall. The overall annual estimate of instantaneous total mortality (Z) was 0.435. The median escapement percentage was estimated at 36.3% (95% posterior credible interval = 19.5–56.0%) using M and Z from the overall model. Unfortunately, the error on this estimate was large and inconclusive as to whether the 30% escapement goal for juvenile Red Drum to the adult population from Dog and Fowl rivers is being met. Monthly residency estimates were typically greater than 0.90, and overall annual residency was estimated at 0.716. Fishing mortality estimates from the current study are higher than recent catch curve estimates that did not include young Red Drum. These results demonstrate that young Red Drum need to be accounted for when generating mortality estimates and provide needed data for the Red Drum recreational fishery.

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Habitat Associations And Co-Occurrence Patterns Of Two Estuarine-Dependent Predatory Fishes, Mariah C. Livernois, Sean P. Powers, Mark A. Albins, John F. Mareska

University Faculty and Staff Publications

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 data set (2001–2015) to investigate the habitat associations and cooccurrence patterns of two estuarine-dependent predatory fishes, Red Drum Sciaenops ocellatus and Spotted Seatrout Cynoscion nebulosus, in coastal Alabama, USA. Both species were associated with similar environmental conditions, primarily low dissolved oxygen and low salinity, especially when temperature was …

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Estimating Exploitation Rates In The Alabama Red Snapper Fishery Using A High-Reward Tag–Recapture Approach, Dana K. Sackett, Mattgew Catalano, J. Marcus Drymon, Sean P. Powers, Mark Albins

University Faculty and Staff Publications

Accurate estimates of exploitation are essential to managing an exploited fishery. However, these estimates are often dependent on the area and vulnerable sizes of fish considered in a study. High-reward tagging studies offer a simple and direct approach to estimating exploitation rates at these various scales and in examining how model parameters impact exploitation rate estimates. These methods can ultimately provide a better understanding of the spatial dynamics of exploitation at smaller local and regional scales within a fishery—a measure often needed for more site-attached species, such as the Red Snapper Lutjanus campechanus. We used this approach to tag 724 …

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Marine Ecoregion And Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Affect Recruitment And Population Structure Of A Salt Marsh Snail, Steven C. Pennings, Scott Zengel, Jacob Oehrig, Merryl Alber, T. Dale Bishop, Donald R. Deis, Donna Devlin, A. Randall Hughes, John J. Hutchens, Jr., Whitney M. Kiehn, Caroline R. Mcfarlin, Clay L. Montague, Sean P. Powers, C. Edward Proffitt, Nicholle Rutherford, Camille L. Stagg, Keith Walters

University Faculty and Staff Publications

Marine species with planktonic larvae often have high spatial and temporal variation in recruitment that leads to subsequent variation in the ecology of benthic adults. Using a combination of published and unpublished data, we compared the population structure of the salt marsh snail, Littoraria irrorata, between the South Atlantic Bight and the Gulf Coast of the United States to infer geographic differences in recruitment and to test the hypothesis that the Deepwater Horizon oil spill led to widespread recruitment failure of L. irrorata in Louisiana in 2010. Size-frequency distributions in both ecoregions were bimodal, with troughs in the distributions consistent …

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The Role Of Citizens In Detecting And Responding To A Rapid Marine Invasion, Steven B. Scyphers, Sean P. Powers, J. Lad Akins, J. Marcus Drymon, Charles W. Martin, Zeb H. Schobernd, Pamela J. Schofield, Robert L. Shipp, Theodore S. Switzer

University Faculty and Staff Publications

Documenting and responding to species invasions requires innovative strategies that account for ecological and societal complexities. We used the recent expansion of Indo-Pacific lionfish (Pterois volitans/miles) throughout northern Gulf of Mexico coastal waters to evaluate the role of stakeholders in documenting and responding to a rapid marine invasion. We coupled an online survey of spearfishers and citizen science monitoring programs with traditional fishery-independent data sources and found that citizen observations documented lionfish 1–2 years earlier and more frequently than traditional reef fish monitoring programs. Citizen observations first documented lionfish in 2010 followed by rapid expansion and proliferation in …

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Full-Text Articles in Behavior and Ethology

Estimates Of Red Drum Mortality Via Acoustic Telemetry, T. Reid Nelson, Sean P. Powers

University Faculty and Staff Publications

Habitat Associations And Co-Occurrence Patterns Of Two Estuarine-Dependent Predatory Fishes, Mariah C. Livernois, Sean P. Powers, Mark A. Albins, John F. Mareska

University Faculty and Staff Publications

Estimating Exploitation Rates In The Alabama Red Snapper Fishery Using A High-Reward Tag–Recapture Approach, Dana K. Sackett, Mattgew Catalano, J. Marcus Drymon, Sean P. Powers, Mark Albins

University Faculty and Staff Publications

University Faculty and Staff Publications

The Role Of Citizens In Detecting And Responding To A Rapid Marine Invasion, Steven B. Scyphers, Sean P. Powers, J. Lad Akins, J. Marcus Drymon, Charles W. Martin, Zeb H. Schobernd, Pamela J. Schofield, Robert L. Shipp, Theodore S. Switzer

University Faculty and Staff Publications