Long-Term Monitoring

CFRD works with local commercial crabbers to provide fishery-based biological data to support state management efforts and regional blue crab stock assessments.

CFRD conducts a population monitoring survey through the Sport Fish Restoration Program. This work is conducted by gillnet sampling that targets red drum, spotted seatrout, and sharks.

For over 40 years, CFRD has been sampling the Mississippi Sound using trawl/plankton tows and seines to assess marine fishery resources.

CFRD is the State of Mississippi’s GulfSPAN partner and conducts the seasonal inshore shark survey. This work helps refine distribution and abundance of coastal sharks and quantify coastal shark community structure in the northern Gulf of Mexico.

CFRD is the State of Mississippi’s SEAMAP partner and conducts seasonal resource surveys for shrimp and groundfish, plankton, reef fish, and sharks.

CFRD has recruited thousands of recreational anglers from throughout the southeastern U.S. to tag and release cobia, tripletail, and spotted seatrout. This collaborative effort is advancing our knowledge of the seasonal movements of these popular sport fish species.