@article{midway_scharf_dance_brown-peterson_ballenger_beeken_borski_darden_erickson_farmer_et al._2024, title={Southern Flounder: Major Milestones and Remaining Knowledge Gaps in Their Biology, Ecology, and Fishery Management}, volume={4}, ISSN={["2330-8257"]}, DOI={10.1080/23308249.2024.2341017}, abstractNote={Southern flounder are an iconic coastal finfish through the Southeast U.S. Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico. Southern flounder spend the early part of their lives in coastal and estuarine habitats, later moving offshore to spawn. Several decades of research have provided much clarity to the biology, life history, and aquaculture aspects of southern flounder—this information is summarized and reviewed in this study. Despite substantial improvement in understanding the species, major questions remain about their recruitment, offshore behaviors, captive rearing, and management. Recently, southern flounder have also been in focus because of substantial synchronous population declines throughout their range with specific concerns that recruitment failure and possibly climate change may be implicated. Management of southern flounder has thus far taken place within individual states, but coming into focus is the possibility that larger coastwide management approaches may need to be considered due to both the migratory nature of the species and the possibility of population stressors acting at regional scales. Many states have already begun aquaculture and enhancement efforts, with an eye toward supplementing wild populations. Large group efforts, like the symposium that led to this study, will likely be needed to tackle the complex challenges confronting southern flounder.}, journal={REVIEWS IN FISHERIES SCIENCE & AQUACULTURE}, author={Midway, Stephen R. and Scharf, Frederick S. and Dance, Michael A. and Brown-Peterson, Nancy J. and Ballenger, Joseph C. and Beeken, Nicolette S. and Borski, Russell J. and Darden, Tanya L. and Erickson, Kenneth A. and Farmer, Troy M. and et al.}, year={2024}, month={Apr} }
 @article{scheffel_hightower_buckel_krause_scharf_2020, title={Coupling acoustic tracking with conventional tag returns to estimate mortality for a coastal flatfish with high rates of emigration}, volume={77}, ISSN={0706-652X 1205-7533}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjfas-2018-0174}, DOI={10.1139/cjfas-2018-0174}, abstractNote={ The addition of acoustic telemetry to conventional tagging studies can generate direct estimates of mortality and movement rates to inform fisheries management. We applied a combined telemetry and tag-return design to southern flounder (Paralichthys lethostigma), a coastal flatfish that demonstrates limited movements within estuarine habitats coupled with extensive ontogenetic migrations that present unique challenges for estimating mortality rates. The fates of acoustically and conventionally tagged fish were followed during 2014–2016 to estimate annual rates of fishing mortality (F), natural mortality (M), and estuarine emigration (E). Multistate models estimated southern flounder annual F for each of the 3 years at two spatial scales (New River estuary F = 0.49–1.61; North Carolina coast F = 0.36–0.72). Annual rates of emigration were high (E = 1.06–1.67), and direct estimation of this source of loss considerably improved mortality estimates. The model estimated natural mortality as a constant annual rate (M = 0.84), which was similar in magnitude to life-history-based estimates for similar age groups. By accounting for unique behavioral attributes in the study design, the application of multistate tagging models provided robust estimates of mortality and emigration rates for a valuable coastal fishery resource that will inform future efforts to achieve yield and conservation goals. }, number={1}, journal={Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences}, publisher={Canadian Science Publishing}, author={Scheffel, Trevor K. and Hightower, Joseph E. and Buckel, Jeffrey A. and Krause, Jacob R. and Scharf, Frederick S.}, year={2020}, month={Jan}, pages={1–22} }