Coastal habitats are declining worldwide, which has impacted economically important fisheries, especially in the Indian River Lagoon, Florida. As a result, extensive intertidal oyster reef and living shoreline restoration projects have been implemented. Restoration can also theoretically benefit predator populations, but this relationship is understudied. Here, the impact of habitat restoration on juvenile predatory fish (i.e., sportfish) populations (abundance) and communities (species richness, diversity, and assemblage) was assessed prior to and following oyster reef restoration and living shoreline stabilization for up to three years, and incorporated the influence of 17 environmental predictor variables. Juvenile sportfish abundance and richness (n = 11) were variable over time but collectively higher on restored oyster reefs compared to controls, and similar between control and stabilized shorelines. Sportfish abundance was best described by a combination of biotic features of the site (e.g., reef height and benthic substrate cover), prey abundance, decreasing distance to the nearest ocean inlet and dissolved oxygen. Results suggest future restoration site selection should emphasize adequate dissolved oxygen (~6 mg/L), oyster densities above 50/m2 and reef height above 55 mm, and minimum shoreline vegetation coverage of 50% to support macrofaunal prey and subsequently attract sportfish. These findings can help natural resource managers better use habitat restoration as a tool for enhancing fish populations in the future.
Coastal and estuarine habitats that provide crucial nursery areas for many economically and ecologically important fish species are in decline. Restoration of benthic habitats can improve fish populations, biomass, and feeding opportunities, but there is limited research on how restoration impacts growth and survival with ontogeny. To address this knowledge gap, here we examine the biometrics (size, biomass, and body condition), recruitment, size structure, and trophic shifts of a sportfish (mangrove snapper, Lutjanus griseus) at restored oyster reefs and stabilized living shorelines to better understand how fish use restored habitats as they grow. Biomass and body condition of L. griseus juveniles and subadults, and post‐settlement recruitment, at restored/stabilized sites was similar, and in some cases greater than natural sites, correlating with benthic habitat, reef location, and lunar phase at oyster reefs. Living shorelines exhibited greater recruitment potential, while oyster reefs supported more juveniles and subadults, as evidenced by differences in fish size and biomass between habitats. Dietary overlap implies subadult L. griseus likely foraged across habitats more than juveniles, while there was greater diet similarity within habitats. Furthermore, ontogenetic shifts also occurred within oyster reef habitats, highlighting the importance of quality habitat to support various sportfish life stages, which can be achieved through restoration. These findings suggest life history attributes can be indicators of habitat restoration success, and specifically provide actionable science to guide the development of more effective strategies for restoring inshore nursery habitats and thus augment production of offshore reef fisheries.
Fisheries for penaeid shrimp have historically represented one of the largest in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM). Fishing grounds include both deeper, offshore areas, which have received considerable attention from scientists and managers, as well as shallow, nearshore areas. In the eastern GOM, the nearshore fishing grounds are in highly productive seagrass beds, which serve as nursery, temporary and permanent habitats to a multitude of fishes and invertebrates, including many of economic importance. Despite concerns regarding high levels of bycatch often observed in penaeid shrimp fisheries that use trawling gears, studies of potential gear impacts to seagrass ecosystems are surprisingly limited. We combined fishery-independent and-dependent methods to examine the temporal trends in bycatch rates and catch composition for the trawling gears used by the inshore fishery as well as the intra-and inter-annual patterns in fishing effort. The proportion of bycatch was consistently high (0.74 to 0.93) across the late spring through fall months, corresponding to the period of highest primary and secondary productivity in eastern GOM seagrass beds. Fifty species were captured by the rollerframe trawls, including several species of economic concern as well as abundant fishes that serve as linkages between primary and secondary production in seagrass ecosystems. Using 24 yr of fishery data, we found long-term evidence of an intraannual shift from offshore grounds to seagrass beds during the spring through fall period of high productivity. Moreover, the proportion of total effort in seagrass beds during this period has increased in recent years, largely due to unprecedented declines in offshore effort. Extraction of both bycatch and targeted fauna from this highly productive ecosystem represents an impact that has largely been ignored. Understanding the effects of this extraction on seagrass-associated populations and communities should be considered in future ecosystem-based management and conservation efforts.
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