Virginia phd student awarded nmfs-sea grant fellowship

The National Marine Fisheries Service and Sea Grant announced the Population and Ecosystem Dynamics and Marine Resource Economics Fellowship 2024 cohort. Rebecca Mestav, a Ph.D. student at William & Mary’s Batten School of Coastal & Marine Sciences at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, was selected as a fellow.

Mestav’s research focuses on how climate change affects the distribution of Atlantic croaker and spot, two species important to commercial and recreational fisheries in the southeastern U.S. As ocean temperatures rise, the distribution of these species may shift, potentially affecting fisheries and current management strategies. 

Her models will assess the changing patterns of spot and Atlantic croaker, exploring whether shifts in breeding areas will influence the number of new fish joining the population. Additionally, she will evaluate the effectiveness of current fishing and management strategies as these populations respond to a warming climate. 

As part of her NMFS fellowship, Mestav will collaborate with Cassidy Peterson of the NMFS Southeast Fisheries Science Center Beaufort Laboratory. Prior to her Ph.D. research, Mestav earned a bachelor’s degree in Biological Sciences from Cornell University estimating trout populations in small streams. 

“As ocean temperatures rise, we’ve seen a lot of evidence of fish populations shifting poleward or offshore. For species such as spot and Atlantic croaker that span multiple management jurisdictions and survey domains, these shifts can lead to inconsistencies in the survey indices or long-term harvest trends” said Mestav. “My research will help shed light on how we can effectively assess and manage species that are undergoing these distribution shifts associated with climate change.” 

Since 1990 the NMFS and Sea Grant have partnered to help train students through a joint fellowship program in population and ecosystem dynamics and marine resource economics, providing real-world experience to graduate students and accelerating career development. 

Story by Bayleigh Albert / Virginia Sea Grant

Header photo by Will Parson / Chesapeake Bay Program