| SS8.03 Operational Fisheries Oceanography |
| Humston, R, , Washington and Lee University, Lexington, USA, humstonr@wlu.edu |
| Newlands, N, K, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, nnewland@pims.math.ca |
| Ault, J, S, University of Miami / RSMAS, Miami, USA, jault@rsmas.miami.edu |
| Luo, J, , University of Miami / RSMAS, Miami, USA, jluo@rsmas.miami.edu |
| Larkin, M, F, University of Miami / RSMAS, Miami, USA, mlarkin@rsmas.miami.edu |
| |
| SPATIAL MODELING OF FISH DISTRIBUTION AND ABUNDANCE: RESOLVING BEHAVIORAL RESPONSES OF FISH TO CHANGES IN THE INSHORE MARINE ENVIRONMENT. |
 |
| Spatial models that simulate fish stock distribution in relation to oceanographic features can be used to interpret catch data or evaluate management measures. Accounting for fish behavior in response to oceanographic processes may make model predictions of spatial dynamics more robust. However, identifying fish behavior in response to oceanographic processes is sufficiently complex. Incongruity of movement and environmental datasets makes it difficult to form causal links between behavior and environment. Studies that examine these processes also encounter practical limitations for data collection - from the manual rigors of sampling at high resolutions to technical and fiscal constraints on methods and equipment. We present a study of bonefish (Albula vulpes) movement as an example of recent research in this field. The data provide inferences on response patterns of bonefish, but lack conclusive evidence for proximate mechanisms. When empirical support for behavioral hypotheses is not available, management models often rely on minimalist or phenomenological approaches. Emerging methods fitting behavioral models to empirical data provide opportunities for progressing beyond minimalist structure in fish movement models. Strong collaboration between biologists and physicists will be critical to future advances in spatial models that link movement and behavior at the level of individuals to shifts in fish distribution and abundance. |
|
|