Simulation of red tide and gag grouper from 2002-2021. The top panel shows interpolated monthly red tide concentrations (cells/L), and the bottom panels is the relative biomass of gag grouper by age. Warmer colors indicate higher values.
The West Florida Shelf
Fisheries Ecosystem Model
Fisheries Ecosystem Model
The West Florida Shelf (WFS) ecosystem model is a spatially explicit dynamic food web model designed to assess the effects of fishing and the environment on reef fish and the WFS ecosystem as a whole. The WFS model was developed using the Ecopath with Ecosim (EwE) ecosystem modeling software package, and was recently used to provide near-real time estimates of red tide mortality on gag grouper. That information was then incorporated into the final catch projections recommended by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council. Read more below. The model has also been used to evaluate fisheries harvest policies on the WFS, marine protected areas, and impacts of invasive lionfish. Reed more below.
Publications:
Vilas, D., Buszowski, J., Sagarese, S., Steenbeek, J., Siders, Z. and Chagaris, D., 2023. Evaluating red tide effects on the West Florida Shelf using a spatiotemporal ecosystem modeling framework. Scientific Reports, 13(1), p.2541. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-29327-z.
Vilas, D. 2022. Spatiotemporal ecosystem dynamics on the West Florida Shelf: Prediction, validation, and application to red tides and stock assessment. PhD Dissertation, University of Florida. Available: http://ufdc.ufl.edu/UFE0058578/00001.
Chagaris, D. and D. Sinnickson. 2018. An Index of Red Tide Mortality on red grouper in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico. SEDAR61-WP-06. SEDAR, North Charleston, SC. 16 pp. http://sedarweb.org/sedar-61-gulf-mexico-red-grouper-person-workshop.
Vilas, D., D. Chagaris, and Joe Buszowski. 2020. Red tide mortality on gag grouper from 2002-2018 generated by an Ecospace model of the West Florida Shelf. SEDAR72-WP-01. SEDAR, North Charleston, SC. 17 pp. http://sedarweb.org/docs/wpapers/S72_WP_01_red_tide_Mortality_Ecospace_v3.pdf.
Chagaris, D., S. Sagarese, N. Farmer, B. Mahmoudi, K. de Mutsert, S. VanderKooy., W. F. Patterson III, M. Kilgour, A. Schueller, R. Ahrens, and M. Lauretta. 2019. Management challenges are opportunities for fisheries ecosystem models in the Gulf of Mexico. Marine Policy 101:1-7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2018.11.033.
Chagaris, D., S. Binion-Rock, A. Bogdanoff, K. Dahl, J. Granneman, H. Harris, J. Mohan, M. B. Rudd, M. Swenarton, R. Ahrens, W. F. Patterson III, J. A. Morris, Jr., and M. Allen. 2017. An ecosystem-based approach to evaluating impacts and management of invasive lionfish. Fisheries 42(8):421-431. https://doi.org/10.1080/03632415.2017.1340273.
Chagaris, D., B. Mahmoudi, C. J. Walters, and M. S. Allen. 2015. Simulating the trophic impacts of fishery policy options on the West Florida Shelf using Ecopath with Ecosim. Marine and Coastal Fisheries 7:44-58. https://doi.org/10.1080/19425120.2014.966216. **2015 Best Paper Award**
Chagaris Jr, D.D., 2013. Ecosystem-based evaluation of fishery policies and tradeoffs on the West Florida Shelf. University of Florida. https://ufl-flvc.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01FALSC_UFL/6ad6fc/alma990330005590306597.
External Links:
Model and Data Access:
Chagaris, D., and D. Vilas. 2022. NOAA RESTORE Science Program: Ecosystem modeling to improve fisheries management in the Gulf of Mexico: model inputs and outputs for the West Florida Shelf, 1985-01-01 to 2018-12-31 (NCEI Accession 0242339). NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Dataset. https://doi.org/10.25921/t26e-wj91.
Chagaris, D. 2021. West Florida Shelf Ecosystem Model. Ecopath model database file. University of Florida Institutional Repository. http://ufdc.ufl.edu/IR00011604/00001.