Oil Platform Vertical Line Survey (2007)

The Southeast Fisheries Science Center Mississippi Laboratories conducts standardized fisheries independent resource surveys in the Gulf of Mexico, South Atlantic, and U.S. Caribbean to provide abundance and distribution information to support regional and international stock assessments. A pilot survey was conducted in 2007 to determine the abundance of reef fish associated with oil and gas platforms in the northern Gulf of Mexico. The fishing gear employed was bandit reels that used a 1.6-mm stainless steel wire main line and ten, 50-lb fluorocarbon gangions with 11/0 circle hooks. Captured fish were identified, counted, weighed and measured. Otoliths and gonads were removed from red snapper and other reef fish species to determine age and fecundity.