Southern flounder is a species of greatest conservation needsgcnstatus S2S3VULNERABLE to imperiledin the texas conservation action plan tcap and one of the mosttargeted fish in texas marine waters…

The U.S. Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service awarded a $153,816 Formula Grant under the State Wildlife Grants (CFDA 15.634) program to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD). The purpose of the grant is to update predictive models that characterize the spatial distribution and abundance patterns of the southern flounder, a species of greatest conservation need, in Texas estuaries. The project leverages TPWD's long-term fishery-independent data, such as bag seine and trawl surveys, to improve understanding of the spawning adult southern flounder habitat in relation to environmental factors. This information will aid resource managers in Texas seeking to address uncertainties and improve the conservation status of the southern flounder population. The grant period runs from January 1, 2025 to December 31, 2026.

Southern flounder is a species of greatest conservation needsgcnstatus S2S3VULNERABLE to imperiledin the texas conservation action plan tcap and one of the mosttargeted fish in texas marine waters fisheryindependent data from the texas parks andwildlife department tpwd indicate a steady population decline since the 1980S whichhas prompted numerous regulatory actions to reduce harvest and effort in the fishery thereasons for the decline are unknown but may be attributed to several factors includingoverfishing warming waters and declines in recruitment characterizing spatial andtemporal patterns of abundance is a cornerstone of the management of exploited speciesespecially as fisheries management practices in many regions are aiming toward ecosystem basedapproaches that consider aspectsincluding spatial distribution and abundancepatterns that enable identification of critical habitat or predict the effects of placebasedperturbations the purpose of this project is to update predictive models that characterizethe southern flounder distribution in texas estuaries using the tpwd fishery independentdata set EG bag seinesand trawls previous models focused on characterizing juvenilesouthern flounder habitat largely ignoring the spawning adultsthis information will helpto address uncertainties regarding spatial descriptions of species distributions in relation toenvironmental factors and fish population size which will ultimately aid resource managersseeking to improve the population status of southern flounder in texas