Estuarine Essential Fish Habitats
About this Project
A major focus of the CSSC is assessing estuarine essential fish habitats and the vital role they play in sustaining marine populations. Over the last decade, studies have included examining the effects of seagrass fragmentation on estuarine nekton, the impact of tidal inlets to fisheries, evaluating oyster reef as essential fish habitat, assessing Black Drum population dynamics, and assessing estuarine ecosystems to explore opportunities for mitigation and restoration. To test our essential fish habitat hypotheses we often focus on estuarine-dependent sportfish as model species. Currently, our inshore work focuses on Matagorda Bay, the Colorado River Delta, the Aransas Pass inlet, and the movement and habitat use of several sportfish (Red Drum, Spotted Seatrout, Tarpon, Black Drum) as part of the TEXAAN and other projects.
Publications
Pulling an epibenthic sled through seagrass beds to sample small nekton.
Sampling a fragmented seagrass habitat using an epibenthic sled.
Setting a gill net to capture adult fishes for numerous inshore projects.
Sampling nekton habitat use of marsh edge habitat using a 1-meter square drop sampler. The fish and crustaceans are then captured using sweep nets.
Collecting subtidal oysters in Sabine Lake, Texas.
Juvenile Red Drum (25 mm) tagged using Visible Implant Elastomer (VIE) for a tag and recapture experiment in fragmented seagrass habitats.