Gulf menhaden are found in estuarine and coastal waters from the Yucatan Peninsula to Tampa Bay, Florida. As with
their Atlantic cousin, Gulf menhaden serve as prey for many fish, sea birds and marine mammals.
Fishery
Gulf of Mexico menhaden is a different species than its Atlantic Ocean cousin, with a shorter average lifespan.
Typically, 90 percent or more of the Gulf reduction fishery catch consists of age-1 and age-2 fish and few fish
beyond age 3 show up in the fishery. The short-lived nature of this species means that the stock could collapse
rapidly in the absence of strong recruitment, with little warning. Lack of spatial management has allowed the
fishery to become intensely concentrated in Louisiana waters, a worrisome sign.
Management
The Gulf of Mexico fishery is managed by interstate agreement though the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission
(GSMFC), which was established in 1949 as a compact of the five Gulf coastal states. According to the most recent
stock status evaluation, fishing mortality (F) has been slightly above the FTARGET, but well below the FLIMIT
threshold � therefore the stock would not appear to be subject to overfishing on a coastwide basis in the recent
past.1 However, the geographic contraction of the reduction fishery into core areas of the menhaden's range is
extremely troubling. The vast majority of the Gulf reduction fishery catch (92%) comes from the Louisiana region,
but the extent to which this reflects serial depletion of other menhaden populations around the Gulf coast is unclear.
Loss of spatially dispersed substocks along the coast could undermine the productivity of the stock as a whole over
time, and make the remaining aggregation off Louisiana vulnerable to overfishing or even extirpation.
As an initial matter, the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission should adopt annual catch limits and develop a
Multispecies Virtual Population Assessment model (MSVPA) along the lines of the model under development by Atlantic
States Marine Fisheries Commission in order to provide management advice on the predator-prey interactions affecting
menhaden when managers set annual fishery quotas.