The Importance of Stakeholder Collaboration to Marine Fisheries Research in Mississippi

Collaboration between fisheries scientists and community stakeholders is an emerging practice in the collection of data critical to the assessment and management of fishery resources. Scientists at The University of Southern Mississippi’s Gulf Coast Research Laboratory (GCRL) have been working closely with fishing communities for over 40 years. This relationship has proved to be critical to data collection on many recreational and commercial fishery species in the Gulf of Mexico and western North Atlantic Ocean. Early collaborations included tag/release programs involving anglers from all U.S. Gulf and south Atlantic coastal states, resulting in seasonal movement data for popular sportfish species (cobia, speckled trout, tripletail). Collaborations then expanded to include life history investigations for multiple species (cobia, tripletail, yellowfin tuna, blacknose and finetooth sharks) and more recently to augment post-catch mortality projects (red snapper and blacktip sharks). Data generated by these projects are provided to resource managers and stock assessment panels in support of sustainable fisheries. These highly valued collaborations with knowledgeable and invested stakeholders are indispensable to the success of GCRL fisheries research and the fisheries management process.