Just Keep Swimming (North): Building a sustainable black sea bass fishery

Abstract

Building a sustainable and resilient black sea bass fishery in Massachusetts waters

Developing resilient and sustainable fisheries is a key challenge to the health and management of ocean ecosystems. Rapidly changing ocean conditions are driving the redistribution of marine species and “rewiring” marine food webs. These fisheries are promising opportunities for the blue economy but can be hampered by the lack of fundamental life history and demographic data required to inform effective conservation and management, particularly when the geographic range of a species is changing rapidly. This is readily apparent in black sea bass (Centropristis striata), an emblematic example of range expansion and stock productivity increases in the northwest Atlantic. A northward shift in black sea bass has been clearly linked to changing ocean conditions and is evidenced by an order of magnitude increase in fishery and survey catches in Massachusetts and nearby Long Island Sound combined with poleward shifts in the overall species biomass.

In partnership with the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries (MA DMF), we propose to conduct integrative, interdisciplinary research to address critical black sea bass knowledge gaps and support sustainable management in Massachusetts. First, acoustic telemetry will provide information on individual spatio-temporal movements which will inform population connectivity at the northern range edge. Secondly, the complementary use of genomic kinship approaches will assess dispersal and demographic connectivity between areas. Finally, combining these approaches with environmental data will provide critical connectivity information between fish north and south of Cape Cod and give insight into continued northward expansion. Additionally, we will leverage stakeholder participation in sample collection and monitoring to strengthen partnerships and facilitate science communication with coastal communities. This innovative approach will produce results essential to promoting the resiliency of an economically and ecologically important species in southeastern MA affected by rapidly changing environmental conditions. In turn, this research will support coastal communities and working waterfronts, including commercial and recreational fisheries.