Mote Marine Laboratory
CENTER FOR FISHERIES ENHANCEMENT
Center Approach and Philosophy
The mission of the Center for
Fisheries Enhancement at Mote Marine Laboratory is to substantially increase knowledge of
how to preserve and responsibly enhance coastal fish and invertebrate populations. We
aspire to become a Center that is widely recognized as a world leader in the fields of
fisheries ecology, marine fisheries enhancement and fisheries management strategies
through achievements in innovative and high-quality research, traingin, and promoting
sustainable fishing practices
For too long fisheries management has relied too heavily on regulation of catch to manage
fisheries. It is now appreciated that a more comprehensive and integrated management
approach is needed to ensure sustainable fisheries. Under the direction of Dr. Kenneth M.
Leber, Charles M. Breder Chair in Fisheries Ecology, the Center for Fisheries Enhancement
is organized around the four main approaches available for managing fisheries: hatchery
releases, habitat protection, fishing regulations, and ecosystem management. As part of
integrating these approaches, Center research will evaluate and help (1) develop the
science of stock enhancement to enable more effective and responsible approaches to
replenishing depleted stocks through stocking cultured fishes and invertebrates,
(2) understand how to recognize and protect essential or critical habitat for key
fisheries stocks, (3) develop a better understanding of life-history and ecological
requirements, and how to use this knowledge to develop sound regulations, and (4) advance
understanding of current trends in fisheries stock assessment and modeling, and develop
innovative methods for monitoring fish abundances and exploitation rates.
The Center for Fisheries Enhancement includes four interrelated research programs:
By including all of these approaches, this Center has positioned Mote
Marine Laboratory at the forefront of a new integrative, enhancement-centered science of
fisheries management. Strengthened ties with other centers of excellence in the U.S. and
abroad, plus co-hosting new International Symposia in this field, will ensure that the
Center remains at the forefront with new ideas and methods for enhancing and sustaining
fisheries. Building stronger ties with graduate students and postdoctoral scientists from
leading universities will provide new talent to help achieve our goals. Strengthening ties
with eminent fisheries scholars and management agencies, e.g., Florida's Fish and
Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), will help ensure the utility and application of
Center research findings.
The Center has formed key partnerships (1) with management agencies
(e.g. NOAA Fisheries and FWC's Florida Marine Research Institute), (2) with universities
and independent research laboratories, (3) with the Science Consortium for Ocean
Replenishment and with the US Gulf of Mexico Marine Stock Enhancement Research Consortium,
and (4) with Mote's Center for Aquaculture Research and Development.
The Center is also actively engaged with Florida State University (FSU)
through the William R. and Lenore Mote Eminent Scholar Chair in Fisheries Ecology and
Enhancement, an endowment established at FSU by Mr. William R. Mote, which includes a
semi-annual International Symposium on key research issues in this field of science. The
Mote endowment brings distinguished scholars in fisheries ecology and enhancement into
Florida on a regular basis to work for 6 - 12 months alongside Mote and FSU scientists and
faculty. The endowment also provides a 3-month stipend for the Mote Eminent Scholar Chair
Intern, which funds an undergraduate from FSU to provide hands-on experience in fisheries
ecology and stock-enhancement research at Mote Marine Lab.
Marine Stock Enhancement Program
The rapid rise in human population size occurring in Florida and the rest of the world is coupled with a limit reached in 1990 on growth of the worldwide annual fishery catch. This will cause a deficit by 2025 of some 60-million metric tons of seafood needed to meet per-capita fish and shellfish consumption. The Challenge to humankind is to respond to the growing demand for aquatic organisms in a manner that sustains our natural resources. This requires new approaches, and linkages between sustainable fisheries and a sustainable aquaculture industry. Marine aquaculture must expand to alleviate the future shortage in supply of aquatic protein. Stock enhancement (hatchery releases to increase abundance of wild stocks) is a promising approach to shore up traditional fishery management. However, very little success has been documented in this branch of fisheries science. Our Stock Enhancement Program is dedicated to advancing the level of scientific study and achievement in this rapidly emerging field.
The goal of stock enhancement research at Mote Marine Laboratory is to overcome impediments to development of a responsible and effective marine stock enhancement technology that can be used (1) to restore depleted marine fish populations, (2) to augment fishery yields, (3) to provide a tool for advancing basic knowledge about wild stocks, and (4) to establish new fisheries in artificial habitats.
We want to attract some of the finest scientific talent available to help evaluate and advance the potential for stock-enhancement to be an effective fishery-restoration tool. To attract and support talented new scientists, we are developing a post-doctoral fellowship program on a one or two year cycle, and we are also working to expand research grants to supplement core funding for our stock enhancement research. Our core funding is through the United States Gulf of Mexico Marine Stock Enhancement Consortium. Researchers in the consortium are working together to resolve key research questions and bottlenecks in this field. Currently, the consortium partners include Mote Marine Laboratory, the University of Southern Mississippi Institute of Marine Sciences, and The Oceanic Institute in Hawaii. The consortium is expected to expand in the future to include several other states.
Another key partner in our stock enhancement and aquaculture research is the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's Florida Marine Research Institute (FMRI), which manages the state's marine stock enhancement program. This partnership with Mote Marine Laboratory was established to help further the development and effectiveness of Florida's marine stock enhancement program, which is centered at FMRI's field station in Port Manatee, at the Stock Enhancement and Research Facility (SERF). This unique partnership provides a vehicle for translating results of research by Mote Marine Laboratory scientists into additional fisheries-management alternatives for Florida. By helping the state evaluate and improve the effectiveness of their enhancement efforts, we can field test the potential of marine stock enhancement at an operational scale. The results of such tests provide the fodder for adaptive management and help focus and prioritize research needs.
Notwithstanding important collaborations with the other programs in our
Center for Fisheries Enhancement, the Stock Enhancement Program's key partner at Mote
Marine Laboratory is Mote's
Center for Aquaculture Research and Development (CARD), which is a very important
linkage. Working closely with CARD allows us to incorporate new species for stock
enhancement research, and to pursue new funding together for stock enhancement research
and development at Mote Marine Laboratory. We need to develop and refine production
technology for priority species that have never been mass produced before in hatcheries.
The partnership with CARD is also critical for expansion of current aquaculture production
capabilities. Such expansion is essential to support the production of the hundreds of
thousands of fish needed for our field research to advance the potential for marine
stock-enhancement to be an effective fishery-management tool in Florida.
Fisheries Assessment and Ecosystem Management
(This Section Under Development)
Fisheries Habitat
Ecology Program
This program was established in 1998 as one of the core research programs in the Center for Fisheries Enhancement. The program is directed by Dr. Aaron Adams. The aim of this program is to elucidate the role of habitat in fisheries productivity. Internal partnerships include those with the Center for Coastal Ecology.
(This Section Under Development)
Focused primarily on improving fishing regulations through better understanding of life-history characteristics of key fish stocks, this program is making a name for itself with Florida and Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Councils. The effectiveness of conducting past research projects, awarded by the management councils, has directly impacted this program's ability to secure grant funds. Nowhere is this more obvious than the newest project funded by NMFS at Mote Marine Laboratory -- a two year collaboration involving Ms. Karen Burns and NMFS and FSU scientists to evaluate hook-release mortality of groupers and snappers, and their movement and migration patterns in the Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic.
Ms. Burns represents Mote Marine Laboratory as a member of the Special
Mackerel Scientific and Statistical Committee of the Gulf of Mexico Fisheries Management
Council, and continues to manage several research projects investigating movement and
migration patterns, and life-history information for important fisheries species in the
Gulf of Mexico. These studies include reef fish as well as pelagic species.
For information on Mote's aquaculture research center see:
Center for Aquaculture Research and Development (CARD) Homepage:
Kevan L. Main, Ph.D., Director
Under the guidance of Dr. Kevan Main, Mote Marine Lab's Center for
Aquaculture Research and Development was formed to establish a state-of-the-art
aquaculture research capability at Mote Marine Laboratory to advance aquaculture
technology for common snook and other valuable sport and commercial fish species.
Mote's aquaculture center is a key partner in the Center for Fisheries Enhancement's
research to evaluate and advance marine stock enhancement potential.