What do forests and fish have in common? As our team's focus on ending and preventing overfishing evolves into pursuing an ecosystem-based approach to fisheries management, you might say we're looking at the forest instead of the trees. This broader perspective allows us to work with scientists and managers - and you! - to explore more proactive ways of managing fish and bringing more people into the process. Read on for highlights from the early part of this evolution.

Spawning Fish Need a Break

Ever wonder about the love lives of fish? Some species of snapper and grouper get together in large groups, or aggregations, to reproduce. This happens at the same place and time year after year, making spawning aggregation sites both predictably good fishing grounds and especially vulnerable to overfishing. Last summer we highlighted good news for spawning Cayman Islands Nassau grouper who won protections during their annual winter spawns.

Save the Prey: Leaving a Third for the Birds   

New research underscores the importance of leaving enough prey in the ocean to support healthy seabird populations. From seabirds to whales to snapper and grouper, important marine animals eat smaller fish and organisms to survive. Prey's role in the food web is critical to a healthy, robust ocean ecosystem. 

French researcher Philippe M. Cury and colleagues recently found that when some prey abundance falls below one-third of its historic size, breeding rates decrease for seabirds like gulls, terns, puffins and penguins, and possibly for some predatory fish and marine mammals as well. Please click here to read the full study.

Noted marine naturalist and writer Carl Safina blogged about implications of the study, arguing that protecting the prey base for sea birds, marine mammals and "ocean super-fishes" like tuna must coincide with a hard look at population growth and increasing demand for these and other resources.

Gulf Menhaden Get a Checkup  

And speaking of prey . . . Oily little fish called menhaden, also known as pogies, are one of the most important foods for numerous top marine predators including mackerels, sharks and sea trout. Hundreds of millions of pounds of the fish are harvested and ground up for livestock feed and fishmeal, as well as in omega-3 caplets and cosmetics. The latest regional assessment of the Gulf of Mexico menhaden population will be presented March 6 to the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission's Menhaden Technical Advisory Committee in Gulfport, Miss. 

Early indications signal that the population is not overfished nor that fishing effort is too high.  However, the assessment doesn't take into account the ecological role that menhaden play in the Gulf as filter feeders and prey. The commission will revise the regional fishery management plan for menhaden and make any recommendations for action to each Gulf state.