CSSC To Participate in Gulf-wide Cobia, Tripletail Study with GSMFC

The Center for Sportfish Science and Conservation (CSSC) will join a newly-announced, Gulf-wide research project sponsored by the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission to conduct fishery-independent research on cobia and tripletail along the Texas coast.

The project is slated to begin in March, and CSSC researchers will tag cobia and tripletail in South Texas from Matagorda Bay to Port Isabel. The CSSC will tag 50 of each species with acoustic transmitters and four of each species with pop-off satellite tags to track movement and migration patterns across the Gulf.

Researchers will also collect 100 cobia and 100 tripletail through dockside sampling to study age and growth, reproduction, and genetic population structure.

The $5 million collaborative effort is led by Dr. Sean Powers of the University of South Alabama and brings together eight universities to help provide critical data on population exchange rates, along with genetics and responses to environmental changes.