Anglers who haul in Greater Amberjack may also get an unexpected $250 and an opportunity to contribute to the Greater Amberjack Count. The Gulf of Mexico Greater Amberjack recreational fishing season will reopen later this year pending a final decision by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council.
Dr. Sean Powers of the University of South Alabama is leading a 鈥淒ream Team鈥� of researchers in an $11.7 million study of the Greater Amberjack species. Similar to the Great Red Snapper Count, the Greater Amberjack Count鈥檚 overarching goal is to estimate the number of Greater Amberjack in the U.S. South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico, though additional objectives focus on understanding movement patterns and collecting biological information.
Funded by the National Sea Grant College Program and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries, the project could have significant implications for commercial and recreational fishing and coastal economies supported by those industries.
鈥淚t鈥檚 exciting to be a part of another large undertaking to improve fisheries management in our own backyard. A multifaceted study like this isn鈥檛 something we get to do very often,鈥� says Steve Murawski, PhD, a co-investigator on the project and professor at the 国产短视频 College of Marine Science (国产短视频CMS).
According to NOAA Fisheries, Greater Amberjack in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico are overfished despite a decades-long rebuilding effort. In contrast, the U.S. South Atlantic stock is not overfished. Understanding how these two separately managed stocks are connected is vital for enacting proper management guidelines.
Diving deeper into the project
Recognizing a lack of biological and ecological information about Greater Amberjack, Congress appropriated $5 million to NOAA Fisheries and $5 million to Sea Grant for the amberjack study. Matching funds from institutions bring the total budget to $11.7 million. A team of 18 scientists from 13 institutions are working on the Greater Amberjack Count. These include Auburn University, Texas A&M University, Louisiana State University and the 国产短视频. Also involved are Sea Grant programs from several states ranging from North Carolina to Texas.
The Greater Amberjack Count is well underway. Thus far, scientists have synthesized existing Greater Amberjack sightings and catch data from various fisheries datasets. This is being led by 国产短视频CMS research assistant professor, Josh Kilborn, PhD, with support from statisticians at the Virginia Institute for Marine Science. USF CMS was also part of a calibration study in May to explore how Greater Amberjack population datasets drawn from different methods compare: from a towed camera system, a stationary camera array, an ROV, and an echosounder compare to one another. This summer, they will begin a wide-scale tagging effort involving two different types of tags.
Captain Brett Falterman of Fish Research Support displays a conventionally-tagged greater amberjack before releasing the fish off the coast of Louisiana. Photo insert: Each of the small, colorful conventional tags will display a unique five-digit number and a telephone number to call to claim a $250 reward. (Photos courtesy of Dr. Michael Dance, Louisiana State University and Dr. Marcus Drymon, Mississippi State University.)
Some Greater Amberjack will be fitted with acoustic tags 鈥� electronic transmitters surgically implanted inside a fish鈥檚 body cavity. These tags emit signals unique to each fish, and the signals are recorded by an array of strategically placed underwater acoustic receivers or 鈥渓istening stations.鈥� A total of 450 acoustic tags 鈥� one per Greater Amberjack 鈥� will be deployed throughout the U.S. South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico from North Carolina to Texas.
Many more Greater Amberjack will be fitted with conventional tags. These simple, plastic-coated objects are applied externally and resemble colorful streamers. They will be deployed across the same geographical range as the acoustic tags. Some Greater Amberjack will have one conventional tag, while others will have two (鈥渄ouble-tagged鈥�). This strategy will help scientists determine how often Greater Amberjack shed their conventional tags. A total of 750 Greater Amberjack will be tagged with conventional tags during this project. Notably, all acoustically-tagged Greater Amberjack will also be tagged with one or two conventional tags.
The conventional tags used for this project are designed for high visibility, with yellow coating at the base (closest to the fish鈥檚 body) and red coating at the end. One side of the tag contains the tag number (鈥淎J鈥� followed by five digits) and instructions to clip the tag for a $250 reward. The other side contains a phone number and reprinted tag number. The conventional tags will be placed on each fish鈥檚 back beneath its second dorsal fin. If a fish is double-tagged, there will be one tag on each side of the fish.
The success of the conventional tagging study critically depends on participation from anglers of all sectors. Upon catching a conventionally-tagged Greater Amberjack, anglers should call the phone number printed on the tag(s) to report the recapture to the Greater Amberjack Count project team. In addition to the tag number(s), anglers will be asked to provide other information, including the fishing sector, date the fish was caught, fish鈥檚 length and weight, and latitude and longitude where the fish was caught. Each tagged Greater Amberjack, regardless if it has one or two tags, will carry a reward of $250.
Anglers who catch a conventionally-tagged Greater Amberjack, report their recapture information and return the conventional tag(s) to the research team will receive a $250 reward. The physical tag must be mailed in to claim the reward, so anglers should clip off and save the tag(s), even if they plan to release the fish. If a fish is double-tagged, anglers will need to clip, report and return both tags to receive the reward.
The U.S. South Atlantic Greater Amberjack recreational fishing season is currently open. Although the U.S. Gulf of Mexico season is currently closed and set to reopen later this year, anglers in the Gulf may incidentally catch conventionally-tagged Greater Amberjack while the season is closed. Even though these Greater Amberjack must be released, anglers should still clip, report, and return the conventional tags. Some sublegal Greater Amberjack will be fitted with conventional tags; the same steps should be followed for these fish.
Data from the conventional tag returns and other components of the Greater Amberjack Count will ultimately be used by scientists to estimate the number of Greater Amberjack in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.
For more information about the Greater Amberjack Count, please visit .