The overall goal of this project is to advance ecosystem-based fisheries management by developing an assessment tool to identify potential species and fisheries of concern in the US gulf of america…

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration awarded a cooperative agreement to the University of Florida in the amount of $102,944 on June 1, 2026, under the Cooperative Research Program (CFDA 11.472) to advance ecosystem-based fisheries management in the US Gulf of America. The University of Florida will support an MSC student supervised by PI Chagaris to synthesize environmental tolerance data for key species, obtain downscaled future oceanographic projections for the Gulf of America, and run simulations across environmental and fishing scenarios. The project will develop an assessment tool to identify potential species and fisheries of concern by co-developing fisheries and environmental scenarios, utilizing an Ecopath with Ecosim and Ecospace ecosystem model to forecast potential species range shifts, and simulating harvest strategies to mitigate forecasted environmental impacts. The period of performance runs from June 1, 2026 through May 31, 2028, with work performed in Gainesville, Florida. This cooperative agreement reflects NOAA's partnership model, which pairs fishing industry and other stakeholders with federal and university scientists to improve the information base for ecosystem assessment models.

The overall goal of this project is to advance ecosystem-based fisheries management by developing an assessment tool to identify potential species and fisheries of concern in the US gulf of america (formerly the gulf of mexico). Our objectives are 1) CO-develop fisheries and environmental scenarios and synthesize data on oceanographic drivers and species environmental preferences; 2) utilize an ecopath with ecosim and ecospace (EWE) ecosystem model of the gulf of america to forecast potential range shifts and identify species of concern for the future environmental scenarios; and 3) simulate harvest strategies that mitigate the forecasted environmental impacts. This is a cooperative agreement between the university of florida (UF) and the NOAA southeast fisheries science center through the cooperative ecosystem studies unit. Funding will support a MSC student at UF who will be supervised by PI chagaris. The student will synthesize information on environmental tolerances of key species; obtain downscaled future oceanographic projections for the gulf of america; and run simulations for a suite of environmental and fishing scenarios.