Gulf Coast Research Laboratory

Dr. Richard S. Fulford

Department of Coastal Sciences
University of Southern Mississippi
Gulf Coast Research Laboratory
703 E. Beach Drive
Ocean Springs, MS 39564

Phone: (228) 872-4282
Fax: (228) 872-4204

Richard.Fulford@usm.edu

Coastal Ecosystems Group

Position

Assistant Professor – Quantitative Fisheries Science

Education

2004-2005 Post-doctoral fellow – Smithsonian Environmental Research Center.
2003 Ph.D. in Zoology- North Carolina State University
1998 M.S. in Wildlife and Fisheries Science - Louisiana State University
1991 B.S. in Zoology- University of Oklahoma

Research Interests

My work involves the application of quantitative analytical techniques and numerical modeling to relevant questions in fisheries science with the objective of improving our ability to manage fisheries resources. My work covers a wide range of interest areas including habitat assessments, age and growth of fishes, larval recruitment dynamics, predator-prey interactions and bioenergetics. I work at the population, community and ecosystem level, but I am most interested in ecosystem-level questions. My recent work has involved food web modeling and what we can learn about managing whole systems by studying the effect of human activities on trophic dynamics and energy flow. In the future I plan to apply this food web approach to investigations in the Gulf of Mexico, as well as pursue more traditional quantitative analysis of fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico. I am also interested in comparative work between natural populations of the same species that reside in coastal waters of the Gulf of Mexico and off the Atlantic coast, and the quantitative assessment of ongoing stock enhancement programs.

Current Projects

Development of a food-web model for Chesapeake Bay for analysis of:

The effects of multiple stressors on fishery resources
Ctenophores as a mid-trophic level mediator of fishery production
The effects of oyster restoration strategies on trophic dynamics and community structure

Relative predation vulnerability of larvae of native and non-native oyster species in Chesapeake Bay and implications for alternative strategies for restoration of oyster populations.
Value of sub-tidal oyster reefs for sportfish production in Mississippi
Modeling fish-habitat interactions in the Pascagoula river at the landscape scale

Recent publications

Fulford, R. S., D. L. Breitburg, R. I. E. Newell, W. M. Kemp and M. Luckenbach. Effects of oyster population restoration strategies on phytoplankton biomass in Chesapeake Bay: A flexible modeling approach. Marine Ecology Progress Series in press.
Fulford, R. S., J. A. Rice and F. P. Binkowski. Examination of sampling bias for larval yellow perch in southern Lake Michigan. Journal of Great Lakes Research 32: 434-441.
Fulford, R. S., J. A. Rice, T. J. Miller and F. P. Binkowski. 2006. Elucidating patterns of size-dependent predation mortality for larval yellow perch (Perca flavescens) in Lake Michigan: an experimental and modeling approach. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 63(1) 11-27.
Fulford, R. S., J. A. Rice, T. J. Miller, F.P. Binkowski, J. M. Dettmers and B. Belonger. 2006. Foraging patterns of larval yellow perch (Perca flavescens) and prey community composition: implications for understanding changes in larval recruitment between large and small lakes. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 63(1) 28-42.
Dettmers, J. M., J. Janssen, B. Pientka, R. S. Fulford and D. J. Jude. 2005. Evidence across multiple scales for offshore transport of yellow perch larvae in Lake Michigan. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 62(12) 2683-2693
Fulford, R. S. 2003. Bridging the communications gap: Hearing-impaired professionals in fisheries science. Fisheries 28(4): 20-21.
Fulford, R .S., and D.A. Rutherford. 1999. Discrimination of larval Morone geometric shape differences with landmark-based morphometrics. Copeia 2000(4): 965-972
Fulford, R. S., and D. A. Rutherford. 1998. An economical, portable system for hatching brine shrimp Artemia spp. The Progressive Fish-Culturist 60:236-238.

Recent presentations

Fulford R. S., D.L. Breitburg, 2005. Assessing effects of overfishing and eutrophication on estuarine fishery resources: Management from a food-web perspective. Annual meeting of the American Fisheries Society. Anchorage, AK
Fulford, R. S., D. L. Breitburg, R. I. E. Newell, W. M. Kemp and M. Luckenbach. 2005. Assessing the ecological costs and benefits of oyster population recovery in Chesapeake Bay: Management from a food-web perspective. Annual meeting of the Estuarine Research Federation. Norfolk, VA.
Fulford R. S. and J. A. Rice. 2003. Selectivity patterns in the foraging of pelagic-stage larval yellow perch, Perca flavescens, and the possible consequences of offshore transport in southern Lake Michigan. Annual meeting of the International Association of Great Lakes Research Chicago, IL.
Fulford, R. S. and J. A. Rice. 2003. Is it a big lake or a small ocean? An application of early-life history data to fishery management in Lake Michigan. Yellow perch recovery and management: lessons learned from the Great Lakes and beyond. A special session held at the 3rd. International Symposium on Percid Fish Biology. Madison WI. Co-organizer and moderator for this session.
Fulford, R. S. and J. A. Rice. 2003. A face in the crowd or the leader of the pack: Investigating the relationship between characteristics of survivors and recruitment variability in a population of larval yellow perch, Perca flavescens, American Fisheries Society annual meeting Quebec City, QB Canada.
Fulford, R. S. and J. A. Rice. 2002. An investigation of factors important to predation vulnerability of larval yellow perch in southern Lake Michigan: an experimental and modeling approach. 26th Annual Larval Fish Conference Bergen, Norway.
Fulford, R. S. and J. A. Rice. 2002. Effects of alternative prey on vulnerability of larval yellow perch: towards an individual-based model. American Fisheries Society Annual Meeting Baltimore Maryland.
Fulford, R. S. and J. A. Rice. 2001. Scaling-up in the study of recruitment dynamics: An example from Lake Michigan. American Fisheries Society – North Carolina Chapter Mid-year meeting Sea Trails, North Carolina.

Professional Memberships

American Fisheries Society (AFS) since 1995
AFS Early-life History Section
AFS Education Section
Ecological Society of America
Estuarine Research Federation