Download or read book Oyster Reef Restoration as a Fisheries Management Tool written by and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Global declines in fish stocks over the past several decades have been caused by a combination of factors, including overfishing, habitat destruction, and water quality degradation. Despite the complexity of the problem, fisheries management traditionally focuses on effort reductions for individual fish stocks to rebuild populations. This single species management approach is often unsuccessful. Habitat restoration, however, is rarely included in management strategies and few studies have addressed the effectiveness of habitat restoration as a fisheries management tool. In the coastal southeast United States, the eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica is an economically and ecologically important species. Oysters act as ecosystem engineers by building structurally dynamic reefs, providing habitat, cycling nutrients, and filtering water, thereby increasing water clarity. Oyster population declines have motivated state agencies, academic institutions, and local communities to initiate oyster reef habitat restoration projects. In addition to augmenting oyster populations, the restored reefs also provide essential habitat for a variety of economically and ecologically important fish and shellfish including black sea bass (Centropristis striata), gag grouper (Mycteroperca microlepis), sheepshead (Archosargus probatocephalus), gray snapper (Lutjanus griseus), and stone crab (Menippe mercenaria). The potential for restored oyster reefs to enhance the abundance and population growth rate of reef associated fish, and thereby offset catch reduction, has not been fully examined. This research assessed the biological and economic effectiveness of oyster restoration as a fisheries management tool for black sea bass. We hypothesize that: (H1) population growth rate of black sea bass will increase with increasing oyster reef area; and (H2) that the extent of oyster reef necessary to reach a stable population growth rate for black sea bass would be greater than the current area of r.