Assessing Nearshore Nekton Abundance, Substrate, and Environmental Conditions in the Northern Gulf of Mexico: Are There Differences Among Three Adjacent Coastal Areas and Have There Been Changes over Three Decades (1986–2015)?

Vulnerability and resilience of living marine resources to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill: an overview

“…These analyses characterize vulnerability to a specific spill (DWH); the observed resiliency is informed by the trajectories of pre-and post-spill population dynamics. In some cases, populations (e.g., blue crab, Callinectes sapidus, in the coastal/ nearshore and lesser blue crab, Callinectes similis on the continental shelf) may have been in long-term decline since prior to the DWH spill (O'Connell et al, 2019;Patterson et al, 2023), likely due to habitat degradation or fishing pressure. Establishing causal inference regarding a single driver (e.g.…”

“…characterizing a species or an eco-type as vulnerable or resilient must be conditioned not only on the oil spill scenario but also the cumulative effects of important co-stressors (e.g., O'Connell et al, 2019). These considerations are important when developing oil spill contingency plans or reacting to an ongoing event.…”

“…To answer these questions relative to Environmental Effects (i.e., the stated goal of GoMRI "Core Area 3") we assembled a large team of experts from academia, state and federal agencies, and private research entities (i.e., the authorship of the five papers in this Research Topic). Because of the emphasis on scientific baselines, we especially included representatives of state fish and wildlife agencies, all of whom run or sponsor extensive, long-term fishery independent surveys, particularly relevant to the coastal/nearshore eco-type (e.g., O'Connell et al, 2019). As well, the federal government (primarily NOAA Fisheries) conducts parallel surveys of various types mostly focused on continental shelf resources under federal jurisdictions.…”