Brown-Peterson et al.: Reproductive biology of Brevoortia patronus in the Gulf of Mexico 
297 
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170 180 190 200 
Fork length (mm) 
Figure B 
Fork length in relation to specific annual fecundity of Gulf menha- 
den ( Brevoortia patronus) collected from the northern Gulf of Mex- 
ico during 2014 through 2016. Thick lines are fitted to gray (high 
estimate, spawning frequency of 2.1 days) and black (low estimate, 
spawning frequency 4.3 days) points. The thin line is the length- 
specific fecundity estimate from Lewis and Roithmayr (1981). 
stock status. Our results indicate that even in the face 
of the intense fishing pressure during the early and 
mid-1980s, the proportion of spawners-per-recruit has 
remained near 30% or less for the duration of the as- 
sessment history. Selectivity and catchability parame- 
ters changed only a small amount. The small reduction 
in the estimated catchability parameters for each gear 
followed the estimated increases for numbers-at-age 
observed throughout the time series. 
Overall, the condition of the Gulf menhaden stock 
has remained relatively constant over the past 50 
years despite heavy fishing pressure because the 95% 
Bayesian credible intervals of the historical length- 
weight relationships generally encompass the constant 
slope and intercept values from Schueller et al. (2012). 
Although growth has been variable over time, the data 
indicate that there has not been a directional change 
in growth with harvest pressure over time. The stock 
seems to be resilient to changes in harvest pressures — 
a feature that adds to its sustainability (Schueller 3 ). 
We note that the effects on the ecosystem of the 
estimated increase in fecundity could be profound, al- 
though it was not evaluated in this work. Forage fish 
biomass is often considered to be critical in ecosystem 
structure and function and have beneficial effects on 
higher trophic levels (Cury et al., 2011). Research by 
Fuiman et al. (2015) has highlighted the potential im- 
portance of “egg boons” in marine systems; eggs rich in 
lipids and containing essential free fatty acids that are 
not able to be synthesized by fish but are consumed by 
predators likely play an important role in food webs. 
Thus, the new data provided here suggests 
that the dramatically greater estimated 
reproductive output of Gulf menhaden not 
only has potentially positive impacts at the 
ecosystem level, but also helps explain a 
continued robust Gulf menhaden stock de- 
spite high fishing pressure. 
Acknowledgments 
We thank K. Herbert (Omega Protein), 
T. Bui (Louisiana Cooperative Extension 
Service), C. Dean (Louisiana Department 
of Wildlife and Fisheries), and W. Dempster 
(USM CFRD) for assistance in obtaining 
Gulf menhaden, C. Jones (USM) for data 
collection, E. Hall and J. Potts (NMFS Beau- 
fort Laboratory) for providing ages, and 
J. W. Smith (NMFS Beaufort Laboratory) 
for project facilitation and oversight. This 
research was funded by Cooperative Re- 
search Program grant #NA14NMF4540064 
from the NMFS to the senior author and R. 
Leaf. 
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