Fisheries Recruitment in the Northcentral Gulf of Mexico: Can Important Geographic Sources of Juvenile Nursery Habitat be Determined Using Otolith Microchemistry

摘要

The degradation of coastal ecosystems and habitats will likely continue to increase with expanding coastal development. This is particularly evident along the coast of Mississippi which is experiencing unprecedented population growth. It is known that estuarine nursery habitats are essential for the growth and survival of the juveniles of many species, but it is important to spatially delineate these vital habitats and determine their relative importance as source nursery areas. This can be accomplished at both small scales such as microhabitat, and large scales, such as landscape or regional. For example, Mississippi Sound is a large estuarine system in the north central Gulf of Mexico which receives freshwater input from eight watersheds, but the relative importance of the different habitat regions within this system is not known. Indeed, different habitat regions likely contribute disproportionally to fisheries stocks in this estuary.