Length-weight relationships, location, and depth distributions for select Gulf of Mexico reef fish species

The NMFS Galveston Reef Fish Observer Program began mandatory coverage of the Gulf of Mexico commercial reef fish fishery in July 2006. Since that time the program has recorded catch data from vessels using multiple gear types (vertical line, bottom longline, spearfishing, and buoy fishing) across broad spatial and temporal scales (Scott-Denton et al., 2011; Scott- Denton and Williams, 2013). While at-sea, fishery observers record characteristics of individual captured fish such as length, weight, discard disposition, location, and other environmental factors (NMFS, 2016). Length and weight data obtained from at-sea fishery observer programs are often useful because they include information about species not landed, e.g. non-target species, or for size ranges of target species typically discarded at-sea. Length-weight regression models are used extensively to estimate weight from length because of the technical difficulties in obtaining accurate weights while in the field. The purpose of this document is to provide length-weight relationships, location, and depth distributions for target and non-target reef fish species using data collected by the Galveston Reef Fish Observer Program from July 2006 through December 2015.