{"id":22101,"date":"2023-04-18T14:47:21","date_gmt":"2023-04-18T18:47:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/currents\/?p=14076"},"modified":"2024-05-21T15:53:53","modified_gmt":"2024-05-21T19:53:53","slug":"sustaining-iconic-fish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/coastwatch\/sustaining-iconic-fish\/","title":{"rendered":"Sustaining Iconic Fish"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"image:<\/a><\/p>\n

BY EMMA MACEK<\/strong><\/p>\n

When you give a child a National Geographic video on sharks, you might just hook them on sea life.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to be a marine biologist, basically from the moment I watched a National Geographic video featuring Dr. Eugenie Clark. She was my hero growing up,\u201d says Matt Damiano, an alumnus from North Carolina State University\u2019s\u00a0Department of Applied Ecology<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Damiano started scuba diving when he was just 13 years old, earning certification when he was 15. But what he saw while diving inspired him to look beyond sharks and instead to the species they eat.<\/p>\n

\u201cSharks are big charismatic creatures, so they\u2019re a good ambassador to the 35,000-plus known species of fish that exist,\u201d Damiano explains.<\/p>\n

While earning his Ph.D. at NC\u00a0State, Damiano worked to address fishery sustainability and resource management in the face of warming oceans and changing needs of fisheries.<\/p>\n

The Path to Bogue Sound<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Damiano\u2019s path to marine biology wasn\u2019t linear. His first bachelor\u2019s and master\u2019s degrees were in linguistics with a focus on teaching English as a second language. Unable to find a job in his field, Damiano enrolled in biology courses at a community college and then transferred to Oregon State University to study fisheries, wildlife and conservation biology.<\/p>\n

\u201cI decided to do a U-turn and try and pursue what I\u2019d always wanted to do,\u201d Damiano explains.<\/p>\n

While at Oregon State, Damiano developed an interest in studying fish population dynamics, and then he earned his master\u2019s at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science studying Eastern oysters.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy heart was in research, and that\u2019s what led me to NC State.\u201d<\/p>\n

After working in fisheries management for two years, Damiano found his way to NC\u00a0State\u2019s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.<\/p>\n

\u201cI decided that management wasn\u2019t really for me,\u201d says Damiano. \u201cMy heart was in research, and that\u2019s what led me to NC\u00a0State. In 2019, I connected with\u00a0Jie Cao<\/a>\u00a0at the Center for Marine Sciences and Technology.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Center for Marine Sciences and Technology<\/a>\u00a0(CMAST) is located in Morehead City, North Carolina, on the Bogue Sound. Despite being based at CMAST, much of Damiano\u2019s research was done on the computer, mostly using simulations.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy focus is population dynamics research, which is a specific part of quantitative ecology. It\u2019s about understanding the vital rates associated with fish and shellfish populations for use in management.\u201d<\/p>\n

His research at NC\u00a0State focused on three different fish species, including black sea bass, Atlantic cobia and mahi-mahi, also known as dolphinfish. His research was funded through a\u00a0Marine Fisheries Initiative Grant<\/a>\u00a0from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Marine Fisheries Service-Sea Grant in\u00a0Fellowship in Population and Ecosystem Dynamics<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"image:<\/a>
Matt Damiano with an Atlantic cobia fish. Credit: NC State News \/ CALS.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

From Dolphinfish to Red Snapper<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The fish he studied not only play important roles in the ocean ecosystem as predators and prey, but they\u2019re also important in the hospitality and food industries.<\/p>\n

\u201cDown in Florida, dolphinfish are considered one of the most iconic fish that you can go catch. There\u2019s a lot of economic components that are relying on being able to fish dolphinfish.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, dolphinfish are facing many challenges, including changing ocean temperatures.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey like to hang out in the Gulf Stream because it has a relatively constant temperature between 70 and 80 degrees. That\u2019s the sweet spot for them. If it gets too hot, they\u2019ll move. If it gets too cold, they\u2019ll move. What we\u2019re seeing right now is that water is getting a lot hotter off of places like Florida, and it\u2019s getting a lot warmer toward the north.\u201d<\/p>\n

Damiano says fishermen in Florida are seeing fewer dolphinfish and fishermen in the Outer Banks are seeing more. Dolphinfish are available to fish at different times of the year throughout their range, which extends from northeastern United States waters down to the Caribbean Sea. To help fisheries managers improve their ability to set sustainable catches, Damiano applied a spatial model to commercial data to estimate abundance at different seasonal and regional scales.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a rapidly changing landscape of both the ocean environment and the makeup of who is going out to catch fish.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were able to model dolphinfish in a way that seems to make sense biologically and ecologically, and it matches up with local perceptions of how the fish is doing. We\u2019re still working some bugs out of the model to try and get the best estimates we can, but I think it\u2019s going to be really important in future work for dolphinfish.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, Damiano is a postdoctoral researcher in a collaboration with\u00a0NOAA\u2019s Beaufort Lab<\/a>\u00a0and the University of Miami\u2019s\u00a0Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Sciences<\/a>. His primary project is integrating close-kin mark-recapture methods with the red snapper population assessment. Red snapper are currently subject to overfishing in the Atlantic. Close-kin mark-recapture is an increasingly popular method of \u201ctagging\u201d that uses genetic information instead of traditional physical tagging methods to estimate important vital rates.<\/p>\n

Damiano\u2019s passion for fish is two-fold.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a rapidly changing landscape of both the ocean environment and the makeup of who is going out to catch fish. I\u2019m trying to keep up with those changes so we\u2019re able to maintain fishing activity, which is an important component of not just our economy but our identity as a species. It\u2019s an integral component of the way we feed ourselves.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy personal focus is I just like fish. I think they\u2019re cool, and I want them to stick around.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

More<\/p>\n

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Marine Fisheries Initiative Grant<\/a><\/p>\n

National Marine Fisheries Service-Sea Grant in Fellowship in Population and Ecosystem Dynamics<\/a><\/p>\n

Lead Photo: Matt Damiano, courtesy of NC State CALS NEWS.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

adapted from a story from\u00a0NC State CALS.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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