RESEARCH
OBJECTIVES
My research focuses on identifying environmental and anthropogenic factors influencing the spatiotemporal dynamics of fish population, exploring spatiotemporal heterogeneity in fish population dynamics, and developing stock assessment model by including the estimated spatiotemporal heterogeneity and diagnosing the need to incorporate spatiotemporal heterogeneity in population dynamics.
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EXAMPLE SPECIES
I focus on two fish species with different spatial patterns. The first is Yellow Perch (Perca flavescens) in Lake Erie. The second is River Herring including Alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) and Blueback Herring A. aestivalis) in Virginia’s rivers.
Yellow Perch serve as one of the most important commercial and recreational fisheries in Lake Erie, which is critical to the local economy and society. They show clear spatial and temporal patterns in Lake Erie.
River Herring once supported one of the oldest and most valuable fisheries in Virginia. The most recent stock assessment update for River Herring concludes that stocks coast wide are severely depleted. ​
BENEFITS
Given the importance of these two species, studies to diagnose the factors both in inter-annual (such as seasonal variation) and intra-annual (such as long-term climate oscillation) that are influencing population dynamics, and develop models to consider spatial complexity is highly valuable. They will better describe population dynamics of fish species, improve the accuracy of stock assessment, provide better recommendations for management purposes, such as setting fishing quotas to improve recovery of fish species.
Simulated spatiotemporal field of Lake Erie Yellow Perch