Depredation, defined as the partial or complete removal of a hooked fish by a non-target species, has become a topic of significant concern worldwide and has escalated in frequency in the Gulf.
Historically, depredation interactions in the Gulf were primarily caused by marine mammals. However, in recent years shark depredation interactions have also been increasing, mirroring an increase in the number of fishermen on the water and the recovery of shark populations following decades of overfishing.
These interactions result in substantial economic losses for both the recreational and commercial fishing sectors (i.e., decreased catch and profits and increased fishing gear repair and replacement costs), and can also impact the accuracy of fisheries assessments and the effectiveness of fisheries management efforts. Although stakeholders (fishermen) have urged fishery managers to address these increasingly pervasive interactions, a comprehensive understanding of the nature, magnitude and extent of depredation is currently lacking in the Gulf and is preventing the implementation of effective solutions.
In April, we (the Mississippi State University Marine Fisheries Ecology Program with the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium) led a collaborative workshop funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA’s) RESTORE Science Program that fostered reciprocal knowledge exchange among social scientists, fishery managers, outreach specialists and stakeholders to characterize reef fish depredation in the Gulf. While the project team (which included members from the U.S. South Atlantic and Gulf Sea Grant programs, two universities and NOAA Fisheries) was able to gather, analyze and interpret existing Gulf of Mexico depredation-related data, the workshop also allowed stakeholders to share their combined local ecological knowledge about Gulf reef fish depredation.
More than 20 charter-for-hire captains from all five Gulf states were recruited to contribute to a unique participatory mapping process – a group-based, collaborative research method that gives stakeholders the freedom to shape discussion and share viewpoints with minimal intervention from researchers. Stakeholders identified components most important to understanding the scope of depredation, and researchers then developed regional depredation community models – visual products that capture perceptions and beliefs to describe a problem within a community – based on stakeholder input.
The result was like a food web: components that are connected via directional arrows that can increase or decrease based on changes in perceptions, actions and environmental processes. The depredation community models showed which factors increase or decrease depredation and revealed distinct differences in the perceptions and extent of depredation between Gulf of Mexico states.
But that’s not all! Through collaboration and moderated group discussion, stakeholders also identified areas where depredation is most common (called “hot-spots”), the species primarily responsible (i.e., sharks, dolphins or other predators) and the amount of catch lost to common depredators – specifically, sharks and dolphins. Continued discussion also allowed stakeholders the opportunity to assess possible solutions to Gulf of Mexico reef fish depredation, suggest future research directions and evaluate workshop effectiveness and design.
While specific solutions varied between Gulf states, the consensus was that a complex problem like depredation would benefit from a multifaceted approach to solutions and that there is a need for more collaborative research to solve current fisheries problems.
The integration of cooperative research (collaboration between stakeholders and scientists to co-produce knowledge for management purposes) can bridge perspectives between fishery managers, scientists and stakeholders, thus fostering understanding and support between these groups.
Although cooperative research has historically been underused in management, new endeavors are beginning to depend heavily upon the knowledge and experience of fishermen stakeholders to address (and begin to solve) emerging and prevalent fisheries issues in the Gulf. Our workshop enabled fishermen’s knowledge and experience to flow into the scientific process, giving them a greater capacity to contribute to science and management discussions. As such, the workshop represents an innovative first step in developing a comprehensive understanding of depredation in the Gulf of Mexico reef fish fishery.
We look forward to using the lessons learned from this workshop to continue our work with stakeholders across the Gulf to ensure the persistence of sustainable fisheries and resilient communities and economies that have shaped and defined the Gulf coast to this day.
Meet the author
Ana Wheeler
Extension Associate, Mississippi State University
Ana Wheeler conducts bottom longline surveys off Alabama and Mississippi waters, manages the data collection and analysis from the surveys and contributes to peer-reviewed journals and... Read more
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