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Virginia Fishery Resource Grant Program 2022, Virginia Institute Of Marine Science, Virginia Fishery Resource Grant Program

Reports

The Virginia Fishery Resource Grant Program (VFRGP) enables members of Virginia’s seafood industries to develop ideas to protect and enhance the Commonwealth’s coastal and marine resources. Since its inception in 1999, the annually funded program has supported 143 projects, five of which were approved to start in 2022. These projects enable members of seafood industries to pursue ideas for increasing efficiency and sustainability that will benefit the entire industry, without personally bearing the cost and high risk. The VFRGP is coordinated by the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, Marine Advisory Program (VIMS MAP), in partnership with Virginia Sea Grant Marine …

Characterization Of Nursery Habitats Used By Black Sea Bass And Summer Flounder In Chesapeake Bay And The Coastal Lagoons, Mary C. Fabrizio, Troy D. Tuckey, Shannon C. Smith, Paige G. Ross, Richard A. Snyder, Harry V. Wang, Aaron J. Bever

Reports

Coastal habitats are increasingly impacted by intersecting and often competing human activities overlaid on habitat loss and degradation. These demands have prompted resource managers to implement marine spatial-planning strategies (Foley et al. 2010), but the effectiveness of this approach depends on the quality and resolution of the ecological information considered in delineating best uses of public natural resources. Many economically and ecologically important species such as summer flounder and black sea bass depend on inshore nursery habitats, yet habitat-specific utilization patterns lack the resolution needed to protect critical areas and inform ecological restoration strategies. To address these data gaps, we …

2022 Annual Report - Estimating Relative Juvenile Abundance Of Ecologically Important Finfish In The Virginia Portion Of Chesapeake Bay (1 July 2021 – 30 June 2022), Troy D. Tuckey, Mary C. Fabrizio

Reports

The Trawl Survey provides crucial data to state, regional, and national fisheries management agencies, including the Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC), the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), the Mid‐Atlantic Fisheries Management Council (MAFMC), and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). The MAFMC recognizes the juvenile trawl survey as one of the key predictors of Summer Flounder recruitment. Annual indices of juvenile abundance have been generated from trawl survey data for species of key recreational and ecological importance in the Virginia portion of Chesapeake Bay. These include Spot, Atlantic Croaker, Weakfish, Summer Flounder, Black Sea Bass, Scup, Striped Bass, White …

Annual Report - 2021 Data Collection And Analysis In Support Of Single And Multispecies Stock Assessments In Chesapeake Bay: The Chesapeake Bay Multispecies Monitoring And Assessment Program, Christopher F. Bonzek, James Gartland, Debra J. Gauthier, Robert J. Latour

Reports

Historically, fisheries management has been based on the results of single-species stock assessment models that focus on the interplay between exploitation level and sustainability. There currently exists a suite of standard and accepted analytical frameworks (e.g., virtual population analysis (VPA), biomass dynamic production modeling, delay difference models, etc.) for assessing the stocks, projecting future stock size, evaluating recovery schedules and rebuilding strategies for overfished stocks, setting allowable catches, and estimating fishing mortality or exploitation rates. A variety of methods also exist to integrate the biological system and the fisheries resource system, thereby enabling the evaluation of alternative management strategies on …

Annual Report 2022 - Data Collection And Analysis In Support Of Single And Multispecies Stock Assessments In Chesapeake Bay: The Chesapeake Bay Multispecies Monitoring And Assessment Program, Gina M. Ralph, Christopher F. Bonzek, James Gartland, Debra J. Gauthier, Jameson Gregg, Robert J. Latour

Reports

The threats affecting living marine resources are diverse, including overfishing, climate change, and pollution. In response to long-term challenges in fisheries management, a more holistic evaluation of the natural and anthropogenic drivers of populations sizes is needed. Ecosystem management (EM), a suite of strategies that incorporate ecosystem considerations into fisheries and ecosystem management, can be difficult to implement in practice. In the Mid-Atlantic, efforts to implement EM are ongoing; one output has been the annual ‘State of the Ecosystem Report’ for the region, synthesizes available data on a variety of environmental, ecological, and socioeconomic factors. Historically, the data needed for …

Attitudes And Behaviors For Understanding Compliance In Greenland's Atlantic Salmon (Salmo Salar) Fishery, Hunter T. Snyder, Rodrigo Oyanedel, Christopher S. Sneddon, Andrew M. Scheld

VIMS Articles

Noncompliance is a central challenge for conservation, but in settings with limited access to behavioral data, it can be difficult to evaluate what drives compliance. Conservationists can measure and evaluate resource users' attitudes, and in so doing, leverage a complementary, nonbehavioral measure for evaluating compliance. In Greenland, wild Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) fishers are under increasing regulatory pressure to report salmon catch because the majority of North Atlantic salmon stocks are classified as suffering. The objective of this study is to measure salmon catch reporting compliance, reporting behavior, and attitudes toward Greenland's salmon management. We surveyed Greenland's licensed salmon fishers, …

Evaluating Recruitment Of American Eel, Anguilla Rostrata, In The Potomac River (Spring 2022), Troy D. Tuckey, Mary C. Fabrizio

Reports

American Eel (Anguilla rostrata) is a valuable commercial species along the Atlantic coast of North America from New Brunswick to Florida. Landings from Chesapeake Bay typically represent 60% of the annual United States commercial harvest (ASMFC 2012). American Eel is also important to the recreational fishery as it is often used live as bait for Striped Bass (Morone saxatilis) and Cobia (Rachycentron canadum). In 2021, Chesapeake Bay commercial landings of American Eel (284,297 lbs) were 87% of the U.S. landings of yellow eel (personal communication from the National Marine Fisheries Service, Fisheries Statistics Division). …

A Cooperative High Precision Dredge Survey To Assess The Mid-Atlantic Sea Scallop Resource Area In 2019 And 2020: Final Report, Sally Roman, David Rudders

Reports

For the sea scallop, Placopecten magellanicus, current and accurate information related to the abundance and distribution of adult and juvenile scallops is essential for effective management of the resource. Scallop management is a combination of input and output controls, with a focus on spatial area management. The continued prosperity of the scallop resource and fishery is dependent on both periodic and large incoming year classes, as well as a mechanism to delineate the scale of a recruitment event and subsequently monitor the growth and abundance of these scallops over time.

Acknowledging the importance of accurate, timely, and meaningful information …

Annual Report - 2020 Data Collection And Analysis In Support Of Single And Multispecies Stock Assessments In Chesapeake Bay: The Chesapeake Bay Multispecies Monitoring And Assessment Program, Christopher F. Bonzek, James Gartland, Debra J. Gauthier, Robert J. Latour

Reports

Historically, fisheries management has been based on the results of single-species stock assessment models that focus on the interplay between exploitation level and sustainability. There currently exists a suite of standard and accepted analytical frameworks (e.g., virtual population analysis (VPA), biomass dynamic production modeling, delay difference models, etc.) for assessing the stocks, projecting future stock size, evaluating recovery schedules and rebuilding strategies for overfished stocks, setting allowable catches, and estimating fishing mortality or exploitation rates. A variety of methods also exist to integrate the biological system and the fisheries resource system, thereby enabling the evaluation of alternative management strategies on …

Virginia Fishery Resource Grant Program 2020, Virginia Fishery Resource Grant Program, Virginia Institute Of Marine Science

Reports

No abstract provided.

Evaluating Recruitment Of American Eel, Anguilla Rostrata, In The Potomac River (Spring 2021), Troy D. Tuckey, Mary C. Fabrizio

Reports

American Eel (Anguilla rostrata) is a valuable commercial species along the Atlantic coast of North America from New Brunswick to Florida. Landings from Chesapeake Bay typically represent 60% of the annual United States commercial harvest (ASMFC 2012). American Eel is also important to the recreational fishery as it is often used live as bait for Striped Bass (Morone saxatilis) and Cobia (Rachycentron canadum). In 2020, Chesapeake Bay commercial landings of American Eel (218,005 lbs) were 80% of the U.S. landings (personal communication from the National Marine Fisheries Service, Fisheries Statistics Division). Since the 1980s, …

2021 Annual Report Estimating Relative Juvenile Abundance Of Ecologically Important Finfish In The Virginia Portion Of Chesapeake Bay (1 July 2020 – 30 June 2021), Troy D. Tuckey, Mary C. Fabrizio

Reports

The Trawl Survey provides crucial data to state, regional, and national fisheries management agencies, including the Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC), the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), the Mid‐Atlantic Fisheries Management Council (MAFMC), and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). The MAFMC recognizes the juvenile trawl survey as one of the key predictors of Summer Flounder recruitment. Annual indices of juvenile abundance have been generated from trawl survey data for species of key recreational and ecological importance in the Virginia portion of Chesapeake Bay. These include Spot, Atlantic Croaker, Weakfish, Summer Flounder, Black Sea Bass, Scup, Striped Bass, White …

Evaluating Recruitment Of American Eel, Anguilla Rostrata, In The Potomac River (Spring 2020), Troy D. Tuckey, Mary C. Fabrizio

Reports

American Eel (Anguilla rostrata) is a valuable commercial species along the Atlantic coast of North America from New Brunswick to Florida. Landings from Chesapeake Bay typically represent 60% of the annual United States commercial harvest (ASMFC 2012). American Eel is also important to the recreational fishery as it is often used live as bait for Striped Bass (Morone saxatilis) and Cobia (Rachycentron canadum). In 2016, Chesapeake Bay commercial landings of American Eel (728,717 lbs) were 78% of the U.S. landings (personal communication from the National Marine Fisheries Service, Fisheries Statistics Division). Since the 1980s, harvest along the U.S. Atlantic Coast …

Annual Report - 2019 Data Collection And Analysis In Support Of Single And Multispecies Stock Assessments In Chesapeake Bay: The Chesapeake Bay Multispecies Monitoring And Assessment Program, Christopher F. Bonzek, James Gartland, Debra J. Gauthier, Robert J. Latour

Reports

Historically, fisheries management has been based on the results of single-species stock assessment models that focus on the interplay between exploitation level and sustainability. There currently exists a suite of standard and accepted analytical frameworks (e.g., virtual population analysis (VPA), biomass dynamic production modeling, delay difference models, etc.) for assessing the stocks, projecting future stock size, evaluating recovery schedules and rebuilding strategies for overfished stocks, setting allowable catches, and estimating fishing mortality or exploitation rates. A variety of methods also exist to integrate the biological system and the fisheries resource system, thereby enabling the evaluation of alternative management strategies on …

Virginia Fishery Resource Grant Program 2019, Virginia Fishery Resource Grant Program, Virginia Institute Of Marine Science

Reports

No abstract provided.

2020 Annual Report Estimating Relative Juvenile Abundance Of Ecologically Important Finfish In The Virginia Portion Of Chesapeake Bay (1 July 2019 – 30 June 2020), Troy D. Tuckey, Mary C. Fabrizio

Reports

The Trawl Survey provides crucial data to state, regional, and national fisheries management agencies, including the Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC), the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), the Mid‐Atlantic Fisheries Management Council (MAFMC), and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). The MAFMC recognizes the juvenile trawl survey as one of the key predictors of Summer Flounder recruitment. Annual indices of juvenile abundance have been generated from trawl survey data for species of key recreational and ecological importance in the Virginia portion of Chesapeake Bay. These include Spot, Atlantic Croaker, Weakfish, Summer Flounder, Black Sea Bass, Scup, Striped Bass, White …

Evaluating Recruitment Of American Eel, Anguilla Rostrata, In The Potomac River (Spring 2019), Troy D. Tuckey, Mary C. Fabrizio

Reports

American Eel (Anguilla rostrata) is a valuable commercial species along the Atlantic coast of North America from New Brunswick to Florida. Landings from Chesapeake Bay typically represent 60% of the annual United States commercial harvest (ASMFC 2012). American Eel is also important to the recreational fishery as it is often used live as bait for Striped Bass (Morone saxatilis) and Cobia (Rachycentron canadum). In 2016, Chesapeake Bay commercial landings of American Eel (728,717 lbs) were 78% of the U.S. landings (personal communication from the National Marine Fisheries Service, Fisheries Statistics Division). Since the 1980s, harvest along the U.S. Atlantic Coast …

Annual Report - 2018 Data Collection And Analysis In Support Of Single And Multispecies Stock Assessments In Chesapeake Bay: The Chesapeake Bay Multispecies Monitoring And Assessment Program., Christopher F. Bonzek, James Gartland, Debra J. Gauthier, Robert J. Latour

Reports

Historically, fisheries management has been based on the results of single‐species stock assessment models that focus on the interplay between exploitation level and sustainability. There currently exists a suite of standard and accepted analytical frameworks (e.g., virtual population analysis (VPA), biomass dynamic production modeling, delay difference models, etc.) for assessing the stocks, projecting future stock size, evaluating recovery schedules and rebuilding strategies for overfished stocks, setting allowable catches, and estimating fishing mortality or exploitation rates. A variety of methods also exist to integrate the biological system and the fisheries resource system, thereby enabling the evaluation of alternative management strategies on …

Virginia Fishery Resource Grant Program 2018, Virginia Fishery Resource Grant Program, Virginia Institute Of Marine Science

Reports

No abstract provided.

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Whose Fish? Subjects: Life Science, Environmental Science, Marine / Ocean Science, Shelby White

Reports

This activity invites students to assume the role of various stakeholders in fisheries management and actively discuss the influence of economics, ecology and human interactions in decision-making.

Students will demonstrate their argument for/against a certain regulation by participating as a specific stakeholder (i.e. commercial fisher, recreational fisher, scientists/researcher, environmental group, management agency, and citizen). Students will recognize that stakeholders tend to advocate based on their individual needs, often making it difficult for proposed policies to satisfy the needs of all stakeholders and achieve sustainability goals.

Virginia Shellfish Aquaculture Situation And Outlook Report: Results Of The 2018 Virginia Shellfish Aquaculture Crop Reporting Survey, Karen Hudson, Virginia Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program

Reports

No abstract provided.

2019 Annual Report Estimating Relative Juvenile Abundance Of Ecologically Important Finfish In The Virginia Portion Of Chesapeake Bay (1 July 2018 – 30 June 2019), Troy D. Tuckey, Mary C. Fabrizio

Reports

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Trawl Survey provides crucial data to state, regional, and national fisheries management agencies, including the Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC), the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), the Mid-Atlantic Fisheries Management Council (MAFMC), and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). The MAFMC recognizes the juvenile trawl survey as one of the key predictors of Summer Flounder recruitment. Annual indices of juvenile abundance have been generated from trawl survey data for species of key recreational and ecological importance in the Virginia portion of Chesapeake Bay. These include Spot, Atlantic Croaker, Weakfish, Summer Flounder, Black Sea Bass, Scup, Striped …

2018 Annual Report Estimating Relative Juvenile Abundance Of Ecologically Important Finfish In The Virginia Portion Of Chesapeake Bay (1 July 2017 – 30 June 2018), Troy D. Tuckey, Mary C. Fabrizio

Reports

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1 July 2017 – 30 June 2018

The Trawl Survey provides crucial data to state, regional, and national fisheries management agencies, including the Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC), the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), the Mid-Atlantic Fisheries Management Council (MAFMC), and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). The MAFMC recognizes the juvenile trawl survey as one of the key predictors of Summer Flounder recruitment. Annual indices of juvenile abundance have been generated from trawl survey data for species of key recreational, ecological, and commercial importance in the Virginia portion of Chesapeake Bay. These include Spot, Atlantic Croaker, …

Evaluating Recruitment Of American Eel, Anguilla Rostrata, In The Potomac River (Spring 2018), Troy D. Tuckey, Mary C. Fabrizio

Reports

No abstract provided.

Virginia Shellfish Aquaculture Situation And Outlook Report: Results Of The 2017 Virginia Shellfish Aquaculture Crop Reporting Survey, Karen Hudson, Virginia Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program

Reports

No abstract provided.

An Assessment Of Sea Scallop Abundance And Distribution In Georges Bank Closed Area Ii And Surrounds : Final Report, David Rudders, Sally Roman

Reports

For the sea scallop, Placopecten magellanicus, the concepts of space and time have emerged as the basis of an effective management tool. The strategy of closing or limiting activities in certain areas for specific lengths of time has gained support as a method to conserve and enhance the scallop resource. In the last decade, rotational area management has provided a mechanism to protect juvenile scallops from fishing mortality by closing areas based upon scallop abundance and age distribution. Approximately half of the sea scallop industry’s current annual landings come from areas under this rotational harvest strategy. While this represents a …

Estimating Relative Abundance Of Young‐Of‐Year American Eel, Anguilla Rostrata, In The Virginia Tributaries Of Chesapeake Bay (Spring 2017), Troy D. Tuckey, Mary C. Fabrizio

Reports

No abstract provided.

History Of The Virginia Oyster Fishery, Chesapeake Bay, Usa, David M. Schulte

VIMS Articles

Oyster populations in Virginia's waters of Chesapeake Bay were lightly exploited until the early 1800s, when industrial fishery vessels first arrived, driven south from New England due to the collapse of northeastern oyster fisheries. Early signs of overexploitation and habitat degradation were evident by the 1850s. The public fishery, where oyster fishers harvest on state-owned bottom, rapidly developed after the Civil War and peaked in the early 1880s. Declines were noted by the late 1880s and eventually prompted the creation of Virginia's shell-planting and oyster-seed (young-of-the-year, YOY) moving repletion program in the 1920s. Despite management and increasing repletion efforts, the …

Annual Report - 2016 Data Collection And Analysis In Support Of Single And Multispecies Stock Assessments In Chesapeake Bay: The Chesapeake Bay Multispecies Monitoring And Assessment Program, Christopher F. Bonzek, James Gartland, Debra J. Gauthier, Robert J. Latour

Reports

Historically, fisheries management has been based on the results of single‐species stock assessment models that focus on the interplay between exploitation level and sustainability. There currently exists a suite of standard and accepted analytical frameworks (e.g., virtual population analysis (VPA), biomass dynamic production modeling, delay difference models, etc.) for assessing the stocks, projecting future stock size, evaluating recovery schedules and rebuilding strategies for overfished stocks, setting allowable catches, and estimating fishing mortality or exploitation rates. A variety of methods also exist to integrate the biological system and the fisheries resource system, thereby enabling the evaluation of alternative management strategies on …

Northeast Area Monitoring And Assessment Program (Neamap) 2016 Data Collection And Analysis In Support Of Single And Multispecies Stock Assessments In The Mid‐Atlantic: Northeast Area Monitoring And Assessment Program Near Shore Trawl Survey, Christopher F. Bonzek, James Gartland, Debra J. Gauthier, Robert J. Latour

Reports

Concerns regarding the status of fishery‐independent data collection from continental shelf waters between Cape Hatteras, North Carolina and the U.S. / Canadian border led the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s (ASMFC) Management and Science Committee (MSC) to draft a resolution in 1997 calling for the formation of the Northeast Area Monitoring and Assessment Program (NEAMAP) (ASMFC 2002). NEAMAP is a cooperative state‐federal program modeled after the Southeast Area Monitoring and Assessment Program (SEAMAP), which has been coordinating fishery‐independent data collection south of Cape Hatteras since the mid‐ 1980s (Rester 2001). The four main goals of this new program directly address …