Arnaud Grüss

Recommendations on the Use of Ecosystem Modeling for Informing Ecosystem‐Based Fisheries Management and Restoration Outcomes in the Gulf of Mexico

AbstractEcosystem-based fisheries management (EBFM) and ecosystem restoration are gaining momentum worldwide, including in U.S. waters of the Gulf of Mexico (GOM). Ecosystem models are valuable tools for informing EBFM and restoration activities. In this paper, we provide guidance and a roadmap for ecosystem modeling in the GOM region, with an emphasis on model development and use of model products to inform EBFM and the increasing investments in restoration. We propose eight “best practices” for ecosystem modeling efforts, including (1) identification of priority management questions, (2) scenarios as simulation experiments, (3) calibration and validation needs, (4) sensitivity and uncertainty analyses, (5) ensuring transparency, (6) improving communication between ecosystem modelers and the various stakeholders, (7) documentation of modeling efforts, and (8) maintaining the ecosystem models and codes. Fisheries management in the USA adheres to a prescriptive set of calculations. Therefore, the use of ec...

Producing distribution maps for informing ecosystem-based fisheries management using a comprehensive survey database and spatio-temporal models

Arnaud Grüss*, James T. Thorson, Elizabeth A. Babcock, and Joseph H. Tarnecki Department of Marine Biology and Ecology, Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, 4600 Rickenbacker Causeway, Miami, FL 33149, USA Fisheries Resource Assessment and Monitoring Division (FRAM), Northwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), NOAA, 2725, Montlake Boulevard E, Seattle, WA 98112, USA Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, 100 8th Ave SE, St. Petersburg, FL 33701, USA *Corresponding author: tel: þ 01 305 421 4262; e-mail: agruss@rsmas.miami.edu

Ecosystem modeling in the Gulf of Mexico: current status and future needs to address ecosystem-based fisheries management and restoration activities

Many ecosystem-based fisheries management (EBFM) measures and restoration projects have been implemented to address the stressors that have negatively affected the United States (U.S.) Gulf of Mexico (GOM). Ecosystem simulation models are useful tools for tackling EBFM and restoration questions. Here, we review the current status of ecosystem modeling efforts for the U.S. GOM and whole GOM large marine ecosystem and identify future needs to address EBFM and restoration in these regions. Existing ecosystem models of the GOM are diverse, ranging from simple conceptual and qualitative models to biogeochemical-based end-to-end models and coupled and hybrid model platforms. Many models have focused on understanding the structure and functioning of GOM ecosystems and the impacts of EBFM measures such as bycatch reduction strategies and marine protected areas. By contrast, a small number of ecosystem models have been used specifically to address the other EBFM issues of the GOM and to assess restoration efforts (e.g., marsh restoration). The demands for EBFM and state and gulf-wide restoration activities will both be increasing in the GOM. Therefore, there is a critical need to better employ and enhance existing ecosystem models of the GOM, and to develop new ecosystem models, to more comprehensively address the different EBFM and restoration needs in the region. We provide suggestions to facilitate this endeavor. The development of consistent libraries of ecosystem models and gap analyses such as ours will help fisheries scientists to effectively tackle specific resource management questions in the different marine regions of the world.

Producing distribution maps for a spatially-explicit ecosystem model using large monitoring and environmental databases and a combination of interpolation and extrapolation

To be able to simulate spatial patterns of predator-prey interactions, many spatially-explicit ecosystem modeling platforms, including Atlantis, need to be provided with distribution maps defining the annual or seasonal spatial distributions of functional groups and life stages. We developed a methodology combining extrapolation and interpolation of the predictions made by statistical habitat models to produce distribution maps for the fish and invertebrates represented in the Atlantis model of the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) Large Marine Ecosystem (LME) (“Atlantis-GOM”). This methodology consists of: (1) compiling a large monitoring database, gathering all the fisheries-independent and fisheries-dependent data collected in the northern (U.S.) GOM since 2000; (2) compiling a large environmental database, storing all the environmental parameters known to influence the spatial distribution patterns of fish and invertebrates of the GOM; (3) fitting binomial generalized additive models (GAMs) to the large monitoring and environmental databases, and geostatistical binomial generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs) to the large monitoring database; and (4) employing GAM predictions to infer spatial distributions in the southern GOM, and GLMM predictions to infer spatial distributions in the U.S. GOM. Thus, our methodology allows for reasonable extrapolation in the southern GOM based on a large amount of monitoring and environmental data, and for interpolation in the U.S. GOM accurately reflecting the probability of encountering fish and invertebrates in that region. We used an iterative cross-validation procedure to validate GAMs. When a GAM did not pass the validation test, we employed a GAM for a related functional group/life stage to generate distribution maps for the southern GOM. In addition, no geostatistical GLMMs were fit for the functional groups and life stages whose depth, longitudinal and latitudinal ranges within the U.S. GOM are not entirely covered by the data from the large monitoring database; for those, only GAM predictions were employed to obtain distribution maps for Atlantis-GOM. Pearson residuals were computed to validate geostatistical binomial GLMMs. Ultimately, 53 annual maps and 64 seasonal maps (for 32 different functional groups/life stages) were produced for Atlantis-GOM. Our methodology could serve other world’s regions characterized by a large surface area, particularly LMEs bordered by several countries.

Spatial and temporal dynamics of predator-prey species interactions off western Canada

Caihong Fu,* Norm Olsen, Nathan Taylor, Arnaud Grüss, Sonia Batten, Huizhu Liu, Philippe Verley, and Yunne-Jai Shin Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Pacific Biological Station, 3190 Hammond Bay Road, Nanaimo, BC V9T 6N7, Canada Department of Marine Biology and Ecology, Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, 4600 Rickenbacker Causeway, Miami, FL 33149, USA Sustainable Fisheries Division, Southeast Fisheries Science Center, 75 Virginia Beach Drive, Miami, FL 33149-1099, USA Sir Alister Hardy Foundation for Ocean Science, c/o 4737 Vista View Cr, Nanaimo, BC V9V 1N8, Canada Department of Computing Science, Vancouver Island University, Nanaimo, BC V9T 5S5, Canada Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), UMR MARBEC 248, Centre de Recherche Halieutique Méditerranéenne et Tropicale, Avenue Jean Monnet, CS 30171, 34203 Sète Cedex, France and Université de Montpellier, Place Eugène Bataillon, CC093,34095 Montpellier cedex 5, Bâtiment 24, 34095, France Marine Research (MA-RE) Institute and Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cape Town, Private Bag X3, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa

Q&A: The Present and the Future of World and U.S. Fisheries—Interview with Daniel Pauly

ISSN: 0363-2415 (Print) 1548-8446 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ufsh20 Q&A: The Present and the Future of World and U.S. Fisheries—Interview with Daniel Pauly Arnaud Grüss To cite this article: Arnaud Grüss (2015) Q&A: The Present and the Future of World and U.S. Fisheries—Interview with Daniel Pauly, Fisheries, 40:1, 37-41, DOI: 10.1080/03632415.2014.980903 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03632415.2014.980903

Prioritizing monitoring and conservation efforts for fish spawning aggregations in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico

In the U.S. Gulf of Mexico (U.S. GOM), the identification and characterization of transient fish spawning aggregation (FSA) sites is recognized as a regional priority for conservation, but progress is hindered by a lack of understanding of FSA distributions for most exploited species. We employed information compiled in regional databases on FSAs and monitoring for the U.S. GOM to fit species distribution models and produce maps showing the areas likely to host single- and multi-species transient FSA sites. Our results revealed two distinct regions of the U.S. GOM for prioritizing monitoring and conservation efforts for transient FSAs: the coastal waters surrounding major bay systems, particularly those of Texas and Louisiana, and portions of the continental shelf edge (the Flower Garden Banks area and the West Florida shelf edge). The next step would be to locate and characterize actual transient FSA sites in the U.S. GOM by surveying within the areas we identified.

Author Correction: Prioritizing monitoring and conservation efforts for fish spawning aggregations in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico

A correction to this article has been published and is linked from the HTML and PDF versions of this paper. The error has not been fixed in the paper.

Monitoring programs of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico: inventory, development and use of a large monitoring database to map fish and invertebrate spatial distributions

Since the onset of fisheries science, monitoring programs have been implemented to support stock assessments and fisheries management. Here, we take inventory of the monitoring programs of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico (GOM) surveying fish and invertebrates and conduct a gap analysis of these programs. We also compile a large monitoring database encompassing much of the monitoring data collected in the U.S. GOM using random sampling schemes and employ this database to fit statistical models to then map the spatial distributions of 61 fish and invertebrate functional groups, species and life stages of the U.S. GOM. Finally, we provide recommendations for improving current monitoring programs and designing new programs, and guidance for more comprehensive use and sharing of monitoring data, with the ultimate goal of enhancing the inputs provided to stock assessments and ecosystem-based fisheries management (EBFM) projects in the U.S. GOM. Our inventory revealed that 73 fisheries-independent and fisheries-dependent programs have been conducted in the U.S. GOM, most of which (85%) are still active. One distinctive feature of monitoring programs of the U.S. GOM is that they include many fisheries-independent surveys conducted almost year-round, contrasting with most other marine regions. A major sampling recommendation is the development of a coordinated strategy for collecting diet information by existing U.S. GOM monitoring programs for advancing EBFM.