Stock structure of red snapper in the
northern Gulf of Mexico: Is their management as a single unit stock
justified based on spatial and temporal patterns of genetic variation,
otolith microchemistry, and growth rates?
William F. Patterson, III
Coastal Fisheries Institute, 204 Wetland Resources Building,
Louisiana State University, 70808; Phone: (225) 388-5317; Fax: (225)
388-6513; E-mail: wpatte2@LSU.edu
James H. Cowan, Jr.
Department of Marine Sciences, University of South Alabama, Box
369, Dauphin Island, AL 36528; Phone: (334) 861-7535; Fax (334)
861-7540; E-mail: jcowan@jaguar1.usouthal.edu
John R. Gold
Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences, Texas A&M
University, College Station, TX 77843-2258; Phone: (409) 845-5777;
Fax: (409) 845-3786; E-mail: goldfish@tamu.edu
Charles A. Wilson
Coastal Fisheries Institute, CCEER, Louisiana State University, Baton
Rouge, LA 70808-7503; Phone: (225) 388-6283; Fax (225) 388-1805;
E-mail: wilsonLSU@aol.com
We are examining stock structure of red snapper, Lutjanus
campechanus, in United States' waters of the Gulf of Mexico (Gulf)
along three interdependent, but not mutually exclusive, lines of
investigation. Lines of investigation include examining
nuclear-encoded microsatellite DNA loci to determine if discrete
subpopulations of red snapper occur in the northern Gulf; examining
movement patterns and mixing rates of adult red snapper using otolith
microchemical fingerprints of age-0 nursery habitats; and, examining
growth and reproduction to determine if differences in population
dynamics parameters exist east and west of the Mississippi River
delta. In this our first year of sampling, we have collected otoliths,
gonads, and tissues for genetic analysis from 2,000+ fish that were
caught in the recreational fishery and landed in Alabama, Louisiana,
and Texas. Additionally, age-0 red snapper from nursery areas around
the northern Gulf will be collected aboard the National Marine
Fisheries Service's Fall Groundfish Survey. Methods employed and
preliminary results from each line of investigation will be discussed.
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