 Decline in age , size during sexual maturity in great northern tilefish population is occurring throughout the continental shelf . In the mid @-@ Atlantic Bight , smaller sizes and younger ages at maturity were observed in 2008 , compared to the survey data from the 1980s where recorded measurements showed a larger population . The recent estimates of age and size at maturity in the southern U.S. waters were smaller than those previously reported in the late 1980s . There were also very few juvenile tilefish seen in tilefish population surveys in the southern U.S. waters in both the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico . Declines in population could negatively affect other organisms in their surrounding environment due to the fact that without tilefish , the burrows underneath the continental shelf will disappear , therefore putting an end to the symbiotic relationship with other organisms that use the tunnels as shelter . 
