METHODS FOR ASSESSING MULTISPECIES FISHERIES OF THE GULF OF MEXICO AND THEIR INTERATIONS.MANY FISHERIES IN…

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METHODS FOR ASSESSING MULTISPECIES FISHERIES OF THE GULF OF MEXICO AND THEIR INTERATIONS.MANY FISHERIES IN TEH FULF OF MEXICO INVOLVE SEVERAL GERAR,TARGETING MULTIPLE SPECIES. BECAUSE OF THE PAUCITY OF INFORMATION AND THE AGGREGATION OF CATCH DATA,OFTEN SINGLE-SPECIES ASSESSMENT CANNOT BE DONE. ADDITIONALLY,SINGLE-SPECIES APPLIED TO SPECIES COMPLEXES MAY IGNORE IMPORTANT EXOLOGICAL INTERACTIONS. TYPICAL EXAMPLES OF THES PHENOMENA IN THE GULF OF MEXICO INCLUDE THE SNAPPER COMPLEX, THE GROUPER COMPLEX AND THE AGGREGATES OF LARGE AND SMALL COASTAL SHARKS. FISHERIES ON INDIVIDUAL SPECIES WITHIN THESE GROUPS ARE NOT VERY SIGNIFICANT EITHER IN TERMS OF BIOMASS OR OF FISHERIES PRODUCTION. HOWEVER THE AGGREGAE OF THESE SPECIES GROUPS ARE IMPORTANT, BOTH EXOLOGICALLY AND ECONOMICALLY AND FORM A SIGNIFICANT MANAGEMENT ISSUE OF THE GULF OF MEXICO FISHERY MANAGEMENT COUNCIL AND OTHER MANAGEMENT BODIES.THE RESEARCH SHALL BUILD UPON PREVIOUSLY EFFORTS OF THE PI TO QUANTIFY EXOSYSTEM IMPACTS OF FISHING AND DEVELOP FISHERY MANAGEMENT CRITERIA FOR MODEL ECOSYSTEMS. METHODS THAT ARE LIKELY TO BE USEFUL IN THIS REGARD ARE EXTENSIONS OF SURPLUS PRODUCTION MEDELS WITH EXPANDED PARQMETER SETS. AGE-STRUCTURED PRODUCTION MODELS AND BAYESIAN APPLICATIONS TO BOTH SHALL ALSO BE EXPLORED. THE MODELINGH APPROACH SHALL BE TO UTILIZE DATA ON COMMUNITY/COMPLEX STRUCTURE WITHIN THE ESTIMATION PROCESS. THE RESULTS SHALL BE TESTED AGAINST LARGE SCALE SIMULATIONS SUCH AS LOTKA-VOLETERRA SYSTEMS OR ECOPATH/ECOIM APPLICATIONS TO THE GULF OF MEXICO. THE RESEARCH SCHEDULE SHALL BE AS FOLLOWS: CONSULTATION WITH NOAA AND GULF COUNCIL PERSONNEL TO DETERMINE THE SCOPE AND SCALE OF THE BASIC DATA AVAILABLE FOR ASSESSMENTS OF APPROPRIATE SPECIES COMPLEXES;MODIFICATION AND DEVELOPEMTN OF THE SIMULATION PLATFORM FOR TESTING OF THE ASSESSMENT MODELS PERFORMANCE; INITIATION OF ASSESSMENT MODEL DEVELOPMENT; EXDPLORATION OF THE PRECISION AND ROBOUSTNESS OF THE ASSESSMENT MODELS AGAINST THE OPERATING SUMULATION COMPLETION OF MODELING AND SIMULATION TESTS AND SUBMISSION OF A FINAL REPORT. THE PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE SHALL BE ONE YEAR.