While thousands of anglers brought their catches to the docks during the Alabama Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo hoping to win a prize, a group of University of South Alabama graduate students used the same weekend to collect research data on Gulf fish populations. The rodeo, held annually on Dauphin Island and billed as the world’s largest deep sea fishing tournament, has become a valuable research opportunity for the university’s fisheries program. “We believe here in our science tent that science and angling go hand in hand,” said Kyran Roe-Weaver, a USA fisheries research graduate student.
More than 100 students took part in the effort this year, working out of a science tent set up at the tournament grounds. Roe-Weaver said the goal was to collect close to 500 samples over the weekend, a haul that would typically take close to a year to gather under normal research conditions. Those samples give researchers insight into the health of fish populations in the northern Gulf, information that is shared directly with rodeo organizers.
USA fisheries professor Dr. Sean Powers said the data collected at the rodeo has informed changes to the tournament itself over the years, including adjustments to which species are eligible and size requirements for species of particular conservation concern. Powers said the partnership benefits more than just the science. “The most important experience my students get is learning how to talk to the public,” he said, adding that students need to know how to both gather information from anglers and share findings back with them.