Comparison of the age and growth of red snapper (Lutjanus campechanus) amongst habitats and regions in the Gulf of Mexico (original) (raw)

Geaghan. Dr. Powers provided valuable insight into fisheries management and stock assessment. Dr. Bargu Ates has provided useful comments and guidance throughout this process and Dr. Geaghan has been a wonderful source of statistical knowledge. I want to thank all of my committee members for the time and effort that they have given to my thesis. This project would not have been possible without the help and support of my fellow lab mates. I am extremely grateful for Dannielle Kulaw, for all of her help in the field and in the laboratory, reading thousands of otoliths, and for her friendship. I especially want to thank to Andy Fischer for teaching me nearly everything I know about otoliths and age and growth research, and Dr. Kevin Boswell for all of his guidance and encouragement throughout my graduate studies. Dr. Boswell has been a wealth of information, from fieldwork advice to statistical analysis and writing. I am also very grateful for the advice, support, field-help, and friendship that Michelle Zapp Sluis has offered me. In addition, I would like to thank Melissa Hedges Monk, Kirsten Simonsen, Sara Terrebonne Daigle, and Dr. Matthew Campbell for all of their help, support, advice, and friendship throughout my graduate studies. I would also like to thank Grace Harwell and Elise Roche for spending countless summertime hours covered in fish guts, sampling red snapper with Dannielle and me. I would also like to thank Steve Garner, Kari Klotzbach, Kim DeMutsert and Kristy Lewis for their support, insight, and friendship. iii Finally, I would like to thank my husband, parents, grandparents, and in-laws for all of their love and support throughout my graduate studies. I could not have done this without them. I'm extremely grateful for all of the love, encouragement, and patience that my husband, Josh Saari, has shown me throughout my graduate studies. Josh has also provided me with a tremendous amount of field support, for which I am very grateful. This project was funded by Lousiana SeaGrant, NOAA's Marine Fisheries Initiative (MARFIN), and the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. v 3.6 Literature Cited .