Section : Research Article

Published Date : Jun 09,2013

Lede

Spatio-temporal Variation in Distribution and Relative Abundance of Mid-Atlantic Bight Fishes and Invertebrates off the Coast of New Jersey (USA)

Abstract

Commercial and recreational fisheries within the Mid-Atlantic Bight are an important component of the local and national economy. In 2010, commercial fisheries in New Jersey ranked sixth in value ($177,935,588) and eighth in landings (73,406 mt) in the United States. The estimated number of recreational fishing trips in New Jersey ranged from 5.4 million (2009) to 7.4 million (2007) during 2003 through 2010. Because fish communities and the habitats they rely upon can be negatively impacted by anthropogenic activities, descriptive baseline information on the coastal beach fish community beyond the surf zone must be available to marine resource managers so they can make informed decisions. Given this management need to facilitate objective informed marine resource decision-making, the main goal of this investigation was to provide a descriptive profile of the New Jersey coastal fish and invertebrate community. The specific objectives were to assess fish and invertebrate population dynamics by identifying trends (or lack thereof) in spatio-temporal variation in relative abundance and distribution for the most numerically dominant and economically valuable fish and invertebrate species found off the coast of New Jersey. The findings showed that annual relative abundance was stable among species, but there were temporal and spatial differences in overall fish and invertebrate relative abundance among specific species. In addition, results demonstrated there was a seasonal difference in species composition. Overall, butterfish and scup were the most numerically dominant species and relative abundance generally increased from spring to summer. Most fish showed a negative binominal distribution and the highest densities for butterfish and scup occurred at depths between 10 and 20 m.