162 
National Marine 
Fisheries Service 
NOAA 
Fishery Bulletin 
@ established in 1881 -< 
Spencer F. Baird 
First U.S. Commissioner 
of Fisheries and founder 
of Fishery Bulletin 
Abstract—In the Gulf of Mexico, the 
red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus) is an 
immensely popular sportfish, yet the 
Gulf of Mexico stock is currently man- 
aged as data-limited in federal waters. 
The results of the federal stock assess- 
ment conducted in 2016 for Gulf of 
Mexico red drum were not recommended 
for providing management advice. Con- 
sequently, we sought to address data 
gaps highlighted in the assessment by 
producing up-to-date overall and sex- 
specific growth models, standardized 
indices of relative abundance, and pre- 
dictions of habitat suitability and by 
updating estimates of natural mortality. 
Using a time series for the period of 
2006-2018, we assigned ages of 0-36 
years to 1178 red drum. A negative bino- 
mial generalized linear model including 
variables for year, depth, surface tem- 
perature, dissolved oxygen, and bottom 
salinity was used to standardize an 
index of relative abundance. Examina- 
tion of catch per unit of effort revealed 
that adult red drum were significantly 
more abundant in state waters than 
in federal waters. These findings were 
explained by habitat suitability models, 
which were used to identify surface cur- 
rent velocity, surface temperature, and 
depth as the strongest predictors of rela- 
tive abundance. The results of our inves- 
tigation reveal that the adult spawning 
stock of red drum in the Gulf of Mexico 
is not fully protected by the catch mora- 
torium in federal waters. 
Manuscript submitted 1 November 2021. 
Manuscript accepted 9 May 2022. 
Fish. Bull. 120:162-175 (2022). 
Online publication date: 19 May 2022. 
doi: 10.7755/FB.120.2.6 
The views and opinions expressed or 
implied in this article are those of the 
author (or authors) and do not necessarily 
reflect the position of the National 
Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA. 
Population dynamics, relative abundance, 
and habitat suitability for adult red drum 
(Sciaenops ocellatus) in nearshore waters of 
the north-central Gulf of Mexico 
Crystal L. Hightower’? 
J. Marcus Drymon?* 
Amanda E. Jefferson** 
Matthew B. Jargowsky** 
Email address for contact author: spowers@disl.edu 
" Department of Marine Sciences 
University of South Alabama 
5871 USA Drive North 
Mobile, Alabama 36688 
* Dauphin Island Sea Lab 
101 Bienville Boulevard 
Dauphin Island, Alabama 36528 
3 Coastal Research and Extension 
Center 
Mississippi State University 
1815 Popp’s Ferry Road 
Biloxi, Mississippi 39532 
Advances in approaches to data col- 
lection and statistical techniques have 
ushered in the next generation of stock 
assessments (Lynch et al., 2018). For 
data-rich species, stock assessments 
can incorporate ecosystem-based inputs 
(Lynch et al., 2018), often through the 
use of spatially explicit approaches 
(e.g., Goethel et al., 2011; Berger et al., 
2017). Despite these advances, more 
than half of U.S. stocks remain data- 
limited (Newman et al., 2015). Enhanc- 
ing basic data inputs is imperative 
for improving assessments for these 
stocks. For stocks under aggressive 
rebuilding schedules, those for which 
catch data may not reflect population 
trends or for which catch is completely 
restricted, the need for reliable time 
series that track abundance is even 
more critical. 
Emily A. Seubert? 
Simon Dedman?® 
John F. Mareska® 
Sean P. Powers (contact author)"’” 
* Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium 
703 East Beach Drive 
Ocean Springs, Mississippi 39564 
> Hopkins Marine Station 
Stanford University 
120 Oceanview Boulevard 
Pacific Grove, California 93950 
® Marine Resources Division 
Alabama Department of Conservation and 
Natural Resources 
PO Box 189 
Dauphin Island, Alabama 36528 
In the Gulf of Mexico (GOM), the red 
drum (Sciaenops ocellatus) is a highly 
prized species supporting valuable 
recreational fisheries. Recreational 
catch of red drum is permitted in all 
state waters in the GOM (out to 3 nau- 
tical miles [nmi] in Louisiana, Missis- 
sippi, and Alabama and out to 9 nmi 
in Texas and Florida), but a catch mor- 
atorium in federal waters has been in 
place since 1987. In addition, commer- 
cial fishing of this species is prohibited 
in all GOM states except Mississippi. 
Consequently, the data sources that 
would be useful for assessing GOM red 
drum (e.g., commercial landings) are 
lacking (Powers et al., 2012). There- 
fore, despite a wealth of knowledge on 
population connectivity (e.g., Rooker 
et al., 2010), movement and recruit- 
ment (e.g., Burnsed et al., 2020), and 
