ME31A:
Illuminating the Twilight Zone: Understanding Mesopelagic Communities, Processes, and Ecosystem Services Before Potential Large-Scale Resource Extraction I


Session ID#: 37335

Session Description:
Mesopelagic fish biomass has recently been estimated at 7-10 billion metric tons, an order of magnitude higher than previous estimates, spawning new interest in commercial harvesting of pelagic ecosystems. Within the last year countries such as Norway and Pakistan have issued licenses for fishing the mesopelagic zone. However, we are still in the process of determining mesopelagic diversity, biogeography, food web structure, ecological process rates and production drivers and dynamics. What do we know that informs sustainable fisheries management and what are the major gaps? What ecosystem services are provided by the mesopelagic community and what are the tradeoffs that direct exploitation then presents for management? In this session we invite presentations on mesopelagic communities and processes, particularly presentations that inform our understanding of ecosystem services (e.g. vertical carbon flux, food supply for top predators) that might be impacted by potential fishing efforts.
Primary Chair:  Jeffrey Drazen, University of Hawaii, Oceanography, Honolulu, HI, United States
Co-chairs:  Tracey Sutton, Nova Southeastern University, Halmos College of Natural Sciences and Oceanography, Dania Beach, FL, United States and Kevin M Boswell, Florida International University, Department of Biological Sciences, North Miami, FL, United States
Moderators:  Tracey Sutton, Nova Southeastern University, Halmos College of Natural Sciences and Oceanography, Dania Beach, FL, United States, Jeffrey Drazen, University of Hawaii, Oceanography, Honolulu, HI, United States and Kevin M Boswell, Florida International University, Department of Biological Sciences, North Miami, FL, United States
Student Paper Review Liaison:  Kevin M Boswell, Florida International University, Department of Biological Sciences, North Miami, FL, United States
Index Terms:

4805 Biogeochemical cycles, processes, and modeling [OCEANOGRAPHY: BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL]
4815 Ecosystems, structure, dynamics, and modeling [OCEANOGRAPHY: BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL]
4817 Food webs, structure, and dynamics [OCEANOGRAPHY: BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL]
4858 Population dynamics and ecology [OCEANOGRAPHY: BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL]
Cross-Topics:
  • BN - Biogeochemistry and Nutrients
  • ES - Ecology and Social Interactions
  • F - Fisheries

Abstracts Submitted to this Session:

Marine Biogeochemistry Under The Influence of (Mesopelagic) Fish and Fisheries: An Ecosystem Modeling Study (323187)
Deniz Disa1,2, Ekin Akoglu2 and Baris Salihoglu2, (1)ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland, (2)Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey
Mesopelagic fish distributions and behaviors in the Santa Barbara Basin as observed from midwater and bentho-pelagic ROV dives (313394)
Amanda Nicole Netburn, NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, Silver Spring, United States and Nicole Raineault, Ocean Exploration Trust Inc., Narragansett, RI, United States
On the community information needed prior to mesopelagic fisheries: a low-latitude, high-diversity case study (Gulf of Mexico) (320863)
April B Cook and Tracey Sutton, Nova Southeastern University, Halmos College of Natural Sciences and Oceanography, Dania Beach, FL, United States
Evidence of dramatic and persistent declines in meso- and bathypelagic fish abundances in the Gulf of Mexico after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill (313715)
Tracey Sutton1, Rosanna Milligan2, April B Cook1, Jon Moore3 and Kevin M Boswell4, (1)Nova Southeastern University, Halmos College of Natural Sciences and Oceanography, Dania Beach, FL, United States, (2)Nova Southeastern University, Dania Beach, FL, United States, (3)Honors College, Florida Atlantic University, FL, United States, (4)Florida International University, Department of Biological Sciences, North Miami, FL, United States
A 9-Year Assessment of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons Bioaccumulation in the Gulf of Mexico Mesopelagic Ecosystem (320433)
Isabel Romero1, Tracey Sutton2, Ester Quintana-Rizzo3, Steve W Ross4, Heather Judkins5, Joseph J Torres6 and David J Hollander1, (1)University of South Florida, Saint Petersburg, FL, United States, (2)Nova Southeastern University, Halmos College of Natural Sciences and Oceanography, Dania Beach, FL, United States, (3)University of South Florida, St Petersburg, FL, United States, (4)University of North Carolina, Wilmington, Center for Marine Science, Wilmington, NC, United States, (5)University of South Florida St Petersburg, St Petersburg, FL, United States, (6)Univ South Florida, St Petersburg, FL, United States
How do warm-core eddies structure the deep-pelagic fish fauna of the Gulf of Mexico? (311894)
Rosanna Milligan, Nova Southeastern University, Dania Beach, FL, United States and Tracey Sutton, Nova Southeastern University, Halmos College of Natural Sciences and Oceanography, Dania Beach, FL, United States

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