Toward dynamic marine spatial planning tools: An example with butterfish assessment in the mid-atlantic bight

Since marine organisms are tightly coupled to the properties of the turbulent ocean fluid, the locations of critical habitat can change rapidly in time and space. Historically it has been difficult to measure these dynamic properties, but advances in ocean observing technologies allow us to measure many aspects of habitat (e.g. surface temperature, currents) and model others (e.g. bottom temperature, phytoplankton, zooplankton) over large spatial scales with fine temporal resolution. We observed a strong relationship between bottom temperature and butterfish (Peprilus triacanthus) abundance on the Mid Atlantic Bight continental shelf and used modeled temperature from 1958-2007 to observe changes in the spread of predicted habitat. Predicted habitat maps showed high seasonal and high interannual variability. These models can influence stock assessments used for management, and we are on track to have these findings considered in the December 2013 butterfish stock assessment. Similar environmental relationships are observed in other species (e.g. longfin squid), so we expect many species would also have similar habitat patterns.