Corpusfishing.com

[Ray]

Sport Fishing NCMC Fisheries Watch
August 2007

RESEARCH SHOWS CRITICAL VALUE OF GULF OF MEXICO SARGASSUM
By Ken Hinman

Anyone who has fished offshore in the northern Gulf of Mexico has likely encountered gardens of sargassum blanketing the surface. But you may be surprised to know that, with the exception of the Sargasso Sea in the western North Atlantic, the Gulf boasts more sargassum than any other body of water on the planet. Prevailing currents carry broken fragments of the brown macroalgae into the warm Gulf waters, where the plants quickly establish and multiply to form floating rafts and - where water masses converge – the “weed lines” that anglers so value.

Fishermen associate these rafts and weed lines with an abundance of game fish and good fishing. Until recently, however, the extent of sargassum habitat in the Gulf had not been thoroughly studied. Scientists from the Gulf Coast Research Laboratory at the University of Southern Mississippi are completing their final year of the first longterm (seven-year) study investigating the variety of larval and juvenile fish living in the Gulf’s floating sargassum beds.

What the lab’s scientists have discovered is remarkable. So far, they’ve found 139 species of fish associated with sargassum. Jacks topped the list of popular sport fish, followed closely by dolphin (mahi mahi), tripletail, yellowfin and blackfin tuna, and billfish. Many fish, as well as sea turtles, use it as nursery habitat, where they receive protection from predators, shade from the sun and a ready source of food. The investigators were particularly intrigued by the occurrence of larval blue marlin: Future research by the lab will complement other studies underway to gauge the importance of the Gulf as spawning and nursery habitat for this overfished species.

In 2005, the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas passed a resolution recognizing the importance of sargassum as critical nursery and feeding grounds for marlin, swordfish and tuna. It asked countries to assess activities that may adversely impact this open-ocean habitat. A year earlier, the U.S. South Atlantic Fishery Management Council had declared sargassum essential fish habitat (EFH) and enacted a ban on commercial harvest from the Florida Keys northward. The Gulf Council, which also made sargassum EFH for dolphin, cobia and other coastal pelagics, has yet to enact similar protections. The research completed by the Gulf Coast lab gives new insight into the complexities of the pelagic ecosystem in the Gulf and provides a strong case for additional measures to preserve sargassum.
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Ray

[pinsjeepster]

I'll bet Ken Hinman is not a surf fisherman .

[Ray]

He may not be but the researchers have figured out where the fish come from, and he just happened to write the report! Sargassum apparently is much like grass on the coastal flats. Tear it up and you've screwed yourself if your a fisherman.
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Ray

[rabbit]

Yeah but once it hits shore its a pain in the booty.
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Fishing and Kayaking its a rough life but somebody has to do it.

[Hardhead]

Marlin in the second gut.....Cant wait. Knew there ahd to be a + side to that suff
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Hardhead
Inside every older person is a younger person wondering "What the hell happened?"