Aquatic Sciences Meeting, Albuquerque 2001

SS42 American Fisheries Society/ASLO Joint Session: Scaling Fisheries From Egg to Adult and Back Again (Spatial and Temporal Connections)

Date: Wednesday, February 14, 2001, Time: 11:30:00 AM

Location: Sandia/Santa Ana

Lamkin, J, T, NOAA-Southeast Science Fisheries Center, Miami, USA, John.Lamkin@noaa.gov

Govoni, J, J, NOS- Beaufort Laboratory, Beaufort, USA, jeff.govoni@noaa.gov

Leming, T, , NMFS, Stennis Space Center, USA, tom@bluefin.ssc.nmfs.gov

Lyczkowski-Shultz, J, , NMFS , Pascagoula, USA,

MESO-SCALE EDDIES OF THE GULF LOOP CURRENT AS SPAWNING AND NURSERY HABITAT FOR SCOMBRID FISHES

Bluefin tuna, Thunnus thynnus and other scombrids spawn in the Gulf of Mexico in Late April, May, and into early June. The relationship between larval bluefin tuna and thermal fronts has been established through previous studies, while an assessment of eddies and their associated fronts as spawning and nursery habitat has not been undertaken. The coupling of physical, biological, and fisheries oceanography is requisite for the proper assessment and description of these features as spawning and nursery habitat. MESHES, Mesoscale Eddy Scombrid Habitat Ecological Study, was designed to identity and describe eddies as spawning and nursery habitat. In 1995 we began a three year effort to examine cold-core cyclonic eddies in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. A large cyclonic eddy was present in 1996, and 1997, and we present preliminary data from one transect through the eddy in 1996. Preliminary results indicate that scombrid larvae were located in the upper 25 meters, and were most abundant near the cold-core ring - Loop current interface, rather than in the core of the eddy.

This Session Listing

Aquatic Sciences Meeting, Albuquerque 2001

Quicklinks