Research Interests

Michael Frisk’s research focuses on the interaction of population dynamics, ecology and life history evolution in fishes in the general areas of applied ecosystem and population modeling, basic ecological questions and meta-analyses.  He is developing a length-based statistical catch-at-age model for winter skate in the western Atlantic and a multi-species model of Delaware Bay using Ecopath and Ecosim.  Knowledge of a species’ basic vital rates and ecology is essential for development of population models and management.  For example, Frisk has estimated growth, age, fecundity and maturation for little skate and winter skate in the western Atlantic.  Lastly, meta-analyses use previously published data to develop mathematical and statistical trends of related species to gain insight into the ecology, evolution and management of animal taxa.  In this vein, Frisk’s current research focuses on developing meta-analyses for elasmobranchs and teleost species.

Upcoming talks

Annual meeting of the American Fisheries Society, Ottawa, Canada

Adult, juvenile and neonate habitat preferences of spiny dogfish, Squalus acanthias: Density, temperature and neonate range expansion in the western Atlantic. Michael G. Frisk, Thomas J. Miller, Kathy Sosebee, Jack Musick and Paul Rago.

Oceanic Distribution, Abundance and Habitat Concentration of Sub-adult Atlantic Sturgeon in the New York Bight.  Dunton, K, M.G. Frisk, A. Jordaan, and D.O. Conover.

Predatory Impact on YOY Winter Flounder, Pseudopleuronectes americanus: Comparative Dietary Analysis of Common Fish Species in Long Island Waters. Skyler Sagarese and Michael Frisk.

Growth, Mortality and Abundance of Young of Year Winter Flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus) in Two Long Island Environments. Melissa Yencho and Michael Frisk.

ICES annual science conference, Halifax, Canada

Exploring the effects of exploitation, season, and temperature on abundance-occupancy relationships for the Georges Bank finfish and shellfish community from 1963-2006. Michael G. Frisk, Daniel Duplisea and Verena Trenkel.

Selected Publications

Frisk, M.G., T.J. Miller, S.J.D. Martell, and K. Sosebee (2008). New hypothesis helps explain
elasmobranch “outburst” on Georges Bank in the 1980’s. Ecological Applications,
18(1) pp. 234-245.

Frisk, M.G. and T.J. Miller (2006). Age, growth, and latitudinal patterns of two Rajidae species in the northwestern Atlantic: little skate, Leucoraja erinacea, and winter skate, Leucoraja ocellata.  Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 63 pp 1078-1091.

Alvarado Bremer, J.R., M.G. Frisk, T.J. Miller, J. Turner, J. Viñas and K. Kwil (2005). Genetic identification of the cryptic juveniles of little skate and winter skate. Journal of Fish Biology, 66(4): 1177-1182.

Frisk, M.G., N.K. Dulvy and T.J. Miller (2005).  Life histories and vulnerability to exploitation of elasmobranchs: Inferences from elasticity, perturbation and phylogenetic analyses.  Journal of Northwest Atlantic Fishery Science: Vol. 35. Special issue from the symposium on elasmobranch population dynamics held in Spain 2002.

Miller T.J., Frisk M.G., Fogarty M.J. (2003).  Comment on Mollet and Cailliet (2002): confronting models with data. Marine and Freshwater Research: 54 (6): 737-738.

Frisk, M.G., T.J. Miller and M.J. Fogarty (2002).  The population dynamics of little skate Leucoraja erinacea, winter skate Leucoraja ocellata, and barndoor skate Dipturus laevis: predicting exploitation limits using matrix analyses.  ICES Journal of Marine Science. 59 (3): 576-586.

Frisk, M.G., T.J. Miller and M.J. Fogarty (2001).  Estimation and analysis of biological parameters in elasmobranch fishes: a comparative life history study.Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. 58(5): 969-981.

Reports

Jordaan, A, M. G. Frisk, N. H. Wolff, L. S. Incze, L. Hamlin and Y. Chen (2007). Structure of fish assemblages along the Northeastern United States based on trawl survey data: indicators of biodiversity and a basis for ecosystem and area-based management. ICES CM 2007/A:05.

Frisk, M.G., T.J. Miller, R.J. Latour and S.J.D. Martell (2005). An ecosystem model of Delaware Bay.  Prepared for PSEG, New Jersey. pp. 161.