Year: 2019
Project(s):
Relevance
Atlantic tarpon (Megalops atlanticus) are long lived, highly migratory, prized recreational sport fish with deep cultural significance for residents of the Gulf of Mexico region. Once abundant throughout the coastal waters of the northern Gulf of Mexico, tarpon have experienced substantial declines, likely due to a combination of habitat loss and fishing mortality. Understanding tarpon migration patterns is essential for informing future conservation and sustainability efforts for this species.
Response
In 2018 and 2019, tarpon angling experts caught tarpon in the northern Gulf of Mexico and Sea Grant-funded specialists applied Wildlife Computers Smart Position and Temperature (SPOT) tags to the tarpon. Specialists then analyzed real-time data from these tags, created maps detailing tarpon movements and posted them on the Mississippi State University Marine Fisheries Ecology Facebook page. The popularity of these posts highlighted the lack of fishing regulations for the species in Mississippi waters.
Results
The tarpon maps received more than 220K views in total and garnered interest from recreational anglers. In spring 2019, several anglers donated funds toward the purchase and deployment of four additional tarpon satellite tags, which were deployed that same year. The Facebook maps of the migration patterns caught the attention of local fishery managers, who worked with the Sea Grant-funded specialists to generate recreational and commercial fishing regulations limiting tarpon harvest in Mississippi waters.
Recap
Findings from successful 2018 tarpon tagging efforts generated leveraged funds to expand the tarpon tagging study in 2019 and prompted the Mississippi Commission on Marine Resources to alter Title 22 Part 07, thereby limiting the previously unregulated take of tarpon in Mississippi waters. (2019)