The Minerals Management Service (MMS), Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, announces the availability of a new study report, Proceedings: Gulf of Mexico Fish and Fisheries: Bringing Together New and Recent Research.

This report presents the results of a workshop held October 24-26, 2000, in Kenner, Louisiana, that brought together many experts to discuss widely ranging research topics on fisheries biology and ecology of the Gulf of Mexico. One of the topics was the relationship between Gulf fisheries and the oil and gas industry. More than 1,000 species of finfish inhabit the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Although only a small fraction are considered economically important, in 1998 finfish represented a substantial commercial resource valued at more than $145 million. Recreational use of this natural resource from scuba diving to fishing is also substantial. Offshore energy structures are an important influence on Gulf of Mexico fisheries. In the Gulf region a unique relationship exists between the oil and gas industry, user groups, researchers, and managers. Now numbering in the neighborhood of 4,000 structures, petroleum platforms play a role as artificial reefs and also directly impact fisheries through enhancement of productivity, as attraction devices, and as a mechanism allowing dispersal of species across the Gulf. Fisheries research has had a relatively short history in the Gulf of Mexico and workshops directed specifically at bringing together all aspects of fisheries issues have been uncommon. The proceedings from this workshop are an important reference for the current state of knowledge for many aspects of Gulf of Mexico fisheries issues.

You can obtain copies of the report on CD-ROM from the Minerals Management Service, Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, at a charge of $15.00 by referencing OCS Study MMS 2002-004. You will be able to obtain this report also from the National Technical Information Service in the near future. Here are the addresses. You may also inspect copies at selected Federal Depository Libraries.