This first comprehensive volume on the Charleston Bump, an important geological feature in the Atlantic Ocean, brings together important new multidisciplinary research from physical scientists, fishery biologists, managers, and economists-professionals who do not often work together on fishery management problems.
Located on the Blake Plateau 100 miles southeast of Charleston, South Carolina, the Charleston Bump deflects the Gulf Stream offshore and may have a significant oceanographic effect on primary productivity, dispersal and retention of larval organisms, cross-shelf transport of nutrients and fauna, and life history of fishes. The interaction of the Charleston Bump and the Gulf Stream may play a role in the recruitment of large pelagic fishes, such as swordfish and other billfishes, to nursery areas in the vicinity. With the incidents of overfishing and the problem of bycatch, successful management of the fisheries industry surrounding the Charleston Bump may serve as a model to other fisheries. This book will present new information on the life history stages of swordfishes and other species in the Charleston Bump vicinity and will re-examine the oceanography and fisheries in light of recent developments.