Mosquito Lagoon Fisheries Monitoring

Adams, Douglas; Paperno, Richard

Mosquito Lagoon (CANA) supports a diverse fish community which includes some of the most valuable fisheries in the region. This study utilized stratified-random sampling to provide comprehensive abundance and distribution data on fishes that occur in Mosquito Lagoon. A total of 79,975 fishes and selected invertebrates were collected from 250 Mosquito Lagoon samples between January and December 2008. As detailed in the report, the community can be described as being dominated by seagrass-associated and forage species along with seasonal recruits. Salt marsh taxa also continued to be a dominant component of the fish fauna. Continued research is particularly critical now that the no-motor (pole/troll only areas) have been instituted and other management measures are being considered.