Nekton from Fishery-Independent Trawl Samples in U.S. Gulf of Mexico Estuaries: A Comparative Assessment of Gulf Estuarine Systems (CAGES), 1973-2007 (NCEI Accession 0115183)

Users are advised to review the individual metadata report for each state for specific notes on data collection, data processing details, omissions and issues.

1. The Mississippi dataset includes data from trawls collected by the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources and the University of Southern Mississippi's Gulf Coast Research Laboratory (MDMR/GCRL), as well as associated hydrographic data. Trawl data were used to calculate CPUE (catch per unit effort) at each station for the years 1973 through 2005.

2. The Alabama data set includes data from trawls collected by the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR) and Gulf Coast Research Laboratory (GCRL), as well as associated hydrographic data. Trawl data were used to calculate CPUE (catch per unit effort) at each station for the years 1981 through 2007.

3. The Florida data set includes trawl and associated hydrographic data collected under the Fisheries-Independent Monitoring (FIM) Program, part of the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute (FWRI) of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FFWCC). Trawl data were used to calculate CPUE (catch per unit effort) at each station for the years 1989 through 2005.

4. The Louisiana data set includes data from trawls collected by the Marine Fisheries Division of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF), as well as associated hydrographic data. Trawl data were used to calculate CPUE (catch per unit effort) at each station for the years 1986 through 2007.

5. The Texas dataset includes data from trawls collected by the Coastal Fisheries Division of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD), as well as associated hydrographic data. Trawl data were used to calculate CPUE (catch per unit effort) data for 26 target species at each sampling site, measured in number of organisms per hectare. Data presented here show the mean CPUE at each TPWD station for the years 1982 through 2005.

Estuaries along the U.S. Gulf of Mexico that were analyzed for nekton abundance: Lower Laguna Madre, Upper Laguna Madre, Corpus Christi Bay, Aransas Bay, San Antonio Bay, East Matagorda Bay, Galveston Bay, Sabine Lake, Lake Calcasieu, Vermilion and Cote Blanche Bays, Terrebone and Timbalier Bays, Barataria Bay, Breton and Chandelier Sounds, Lake Borgne, West Mississippi Sound, East Mississippi Sound, Mobile Bay, Perdido Bay, Apalachicola Bay, Suwannee Sound, Cedar Key, Tampa Bay, Charlotte Harbor