Gulf Menhaden (Brevoortia patronus) is an abundant forage fish distributed throughout the Northern Gulf of Mexico (NGOM). Gulf Menhaden support the second largest fishery, by weight, in the United States and represent a key linkage between upper and lower trophic levels. Variation in the population dynamics can, therefore, pose consequences for the ecology and economy in the NGOM. Here we aim to understand variation in the individual and population dynamics of Gulf Menhaden throughout ontogeny and how such variation relates to environmental processes. We utilized a suite of fishery-dependent and –independent, remote sensing, modeled, and in situ data to explicitly model the relationship between the condition, distribution, and growth of Gulf Menhaden and river discharge, climate, temperature, wind, mesoscale circulation, and hypoxia using a series of regression techniques. Results presented here advance our understanding of the biology and ecology Gulf Menhaden and can be used to inform future ecosystem based fisheries management in the NGOM.
","abstract_html":"<p>Gulf Menhaden (<em>Brevoortia patronus</em>) is an abundant forage fish distributed throughout the Northern Gulf of Mexico (NGOM). Gulf Menhaden support the second largest fishery, by weight, in the United States and represent a key linkage between upper and lower trophic levels. Variation in the population dynamics can, therefore, pose consequences for the ecology and economy in the NGOM. Here we aim to understand variation in the individual and population dynamics of Gulf Menhaden throughout ontogeny and how such variation relates to environmental processes. We utilized a suite of fishery-dependent and –independent, remote sensing, modeled, and <em>in situ</em> data to explicitly model the relationship between the condition, distribution, and growth of Gulf Menhaden and river discharge, climate, temperature, wind, mesoscale circulation, and hypoxia using a series of regression techniques. Results presented here advance our understanding of the biology and ecology Gulf Menhaden and can be used to inform future ecosystem based fisheries management in the NGOM.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Adams, Grant D."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science (MS)","degree_level":"Masters Thesis","degree_discipline":"Ocean Science and Technology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Robert T. Leaf","Frank J. Hernandez","Wei Wu"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2017,"date_issued":"2017-08-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2017-08-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:44:41Z","subjects":["Gulf Menhaden","Gulf of Mexico","Generalized Additive Model","Mississippi River discharge","Fisheries Oceanography","Applied Statistics","Longitudinal Data Analysis and Time Series","Oceanography","Population Biology","Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology","Water Resource Management"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/307","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Robert T. Leaf","Frank J. Hernandez","Wei Wu"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Adams, Grant D."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2017-06-26T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Ocean Science and Technology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Masters Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science (MS)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Gulf Menhaden","Gulf of Mexico","Generalized Additive Model","Mississippi River discharge","Fisheries Oceanography","Applied Statistics","Longitudinal Data Analysis and Time Series","Oceanography","Population Biology","Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology","Water Resource Management"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/307"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Gulf Menhaden (Brevoortia patronus) is an abundant forage fish distributed throughout the Northern Gulf of Mexico (NGOM). Gulf Menhaden support the second largest fishery, by weight, in the United States and represent a key linkage between upper and lower trophic levels. Variation in the population dynamics can, therefore, pose consequences for the ecology and economy in the NGOM. Here we aim to understand variation in the individual and population dynamics of Gulf Menhaden throughout ontogeny and how such variation relates to environmental processes. We utilized a suite of fishery-dependent and –independent, remote sensing, modeled, and in situ data to explicitly model the relationship between the condition, distribution, and growth of Gulf Menhaden and river discharge, climate, temperature, wind, mesoscale circulation, and hypoxia using a series of regression techniques. Results presented here advance our understanding of the biology and ecology Gulf Menhaden and can be used to inform future ecosystem based fisheries management in the NGOM.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Environmentally-Driven Variation in the Population Dynamics of Gulf Menhaden (Brevoortia patronus)"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Robert T. Leaf","Frank J. Hernandez","Wei Wu"],"dc:creator":["Adams, Grant D."],"dc:date.available":["2017-06-26T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Gulf Menhaden (Brevoortia patronus) is an abundant forage fish distributed throughout the Northern Gulf of Mexico (NGOM). Gulf Menhaden support the second largest fishery, by weight, in the United States and represent a key linkage between upper and lower trophic levels. Variation in the population dynamics can, therefore, pose consequences for the ecology and economy in the NGOM. Here we aim to understand variation in the individual and population dynamics of Gulf Menhaden throughout ontogeny and how such variation relates to environmental processes. We utilized a suite of fishery-dependent and –independent, remote sensing, modeled, and in situ data to explicitly model the relationship between the condition, distribution, and growth of Gulf Menhaden and river discharge, climate, temperature, wind, mesoscale circulation, and hypoxia using a series of regression techniques. Results presented here advance our understanding of the biology and ecology Gulf Menhaden and can be used to inform future ecosystem based fisheries management in the NGOM.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/307"],"dc:subject":["Gulf Menhaden","Gulf of Mexico","Generalized Additive Model","Mississippi River discharge","Fisheries Oceanography","Applied Statistics","Longitudinal Data Analysis and Time Series","Oceanography","Population Biology","Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology","Water Resource Management"],"dc:title":["Environmentally-Driven Variation in the Population Dynamics of Gulf Menhaden (Brevoortia patronus)"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Ocean Science and Technology"],"thesis:degree_level":["Masters Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science (MS)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:44:41Z"}