Abstract. -Tlie impact of oil and 

 gas development on fish populations 

 off Louisiana is presumed significant 

 but poorly understood. This study 

 was undertaken to determine the ap- 

 plicability of a logbook program in 

 developing a long-term database 

 of species composition and relative 

 abundance of fish associated with oil 

 and gas structures. A pilot logbook 

 program involving 120 private vessel 

 owners and 25 chartei'boat operators 

 was conducted between March 1987 

 and December 1988. Participants 

 recorded date, fishing time, fishing 

 method, number of anglers, and 

 catch composition at each structure 

 fished. Logbooks from a total of 55 

 private vessel owners and 10 charter- 

 boat operators were used in the anal- 

 ysis. Data collected included 15780 

 angler hours of fishing effort and 

 61227 fish caught over the study 

 period. A total of 1719 trips were 

 made to 589 different oil and gas 

 structures with at least 46 different 

 species of fish caught. Red snapper 

 and spotted seatrout were the most 

 commonly caught species and had 

 the highest catch rates. Results dif- 

 fered from past logbook programs 

 and creel surveys, possibly indicating 

 a change in the community of fish 

 associated with oil and gas struc- 

 tures. 



A Fishery-dependent Based Study 

 of Fish Species Composition and 

 Associated Catch Rates Around 

 Oil and Gas Structures Off 

 Louisiana* 



David R. Stanley 

 Charles A. Wilson 



Coastal Fisheries Institute, Center for Wetland Resources 

 Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803-7503 



Louisiana has long been revered as 

 a "Sportsman's Paradise" and justi- 

 fiably so, as evidenced by the abun- 

 dant recreational fishing opportun- 

 ities. A contributing factor to this 

 "paradise" is the large number of oil 

 and gas platforms acting as defacto 

 artificial reefs. There are approx- 

 imately 3700 oil and gas structures 

 that constitute 28% of the known 

 hard substrate off Louisiana and 

 Texas (Gallaway 1984). Since the 

 nearest natural hardbottom habitat 

 is approximately 92 km off the Loui- 

 siana coast (Sonnier et al. 1976), oil 

 and gas platforms provide the only 

 source of hardbottom habitat (i.e., ar- 

 tificial reefs) close to shore. 



Oil and gas platforms are unique as 

 artificial reefs because they extend 

 throughout the entire water column. 

 Due to the size and shape of the 

 structures they are thought to affect 

 benthic, demersal, and pelagic fishes 

 (Gallaway et al. 1981, Continental 

 Shelf Associates 1982). Pelagic bait- 

 fish (i.e., round scad Decaptarus 

 punctatus, Spanish sardine Surdi- 

 nella anchovia, and scaled sardine 

 Harengula pensacolae) often main- 

 tain a position from near the surface 

 to mid-depth within or upcurrent 

 from oil and gas structures, while 

 large predatory pelagic fishes (i.e.. 



Manuscript accepted 23 May 19;i0. 

 Fishery Bulletin, U.S. 88:719-7.30. 



'Contribution No. LSU-CFI-9()-()l, Louisiana 

 State LIniversity, Coastal Fisheries Institute. 



king mackerel Scombermorous caval- 

 la. and blue runner Caranx crysos) 

 were reported to swim from the sur- 

 face to mid-depth around structures 

 (Hastings et al. 1976, Gallaway et al. 

 1981). 



Evidence for the success of plat- 

 forms as artificial reefs comes from 

 sportfishing which is concentrated 

 around these structures off the coast 

 of Louisiana. An estimated 37% of 

 the total saltwater angling effort and 

 over 70% of all recreational angling 

 trips that venture into the Exclusive 

 Economic Zone (more the 3 miles 

 from shore) off Louisiana occur 

 around platforms (Witzig 1986, Reg- 

 gio 1987). 



In general there is little known about 

 the species associated with oil and 

 gas structures. Reported catch com- 

 position of charter boat operators 

 fishing oil and gas platforms included 

 (unranked): snapper (Family Lutja- 

 nidae), seatrout Cynoscion sp., Atlan- 

 tic croaker Micropogonias undulatus, 

 red drum Scia£nops ocellatus, king 

 mackerel, cobia Rachycentron cana- 

 dum, bluefish Pomatomus saltatrix, 

 and sharks (Order: Selachii) based on 

 studies by Dugas et al. (1979) and 

 Ditton and Auyong (1984). Similar 

 catch compositions were reported for 

 private vessel anglers (Ditton and 

 Auyong 1984, Stanley and Wilson 

 1989). In general, bottom fishing was 

 reported to be the predominant fish- 



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