Abstract

The Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi was very pleased and honored to host the 66th Annual Meeting of the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute in Corpus Christi, Texas, during 4 - 8 November 2013 at the Omni Bayfront Corpus Christi Hotel. The selected theme of the conference was “Natural and Artificial Reef Fisheries, Research, and Conservation”. The focus on natural and artificial reefs at GCFI drew attention to the importance of this segment of fisheries, research, and conservation in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean. Natural reefs have provided hotspots of biodiversity and productivity for centuries in this region, and now artificial reefs are very important in some areas. However, there is not clear agreement on function and use of artificial reefs in fisheries manage-ment, and there are now heated issues on the role and function of some artificial habitats, such as oil and gas plat-forms. Addressing the issues of connectivity, fisheries management, conservation, and related issues at the GCFI confer-ence provided the current state of knowledge and aided in the debate of these critical issues at this time facing both our natural and artificial reefs.

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