Aquaculture and Fisheries Commons^™

Assessment Of The Economic Impacts Of Recreational Boating In Virginia, Thomas J. Murray

Reports

Virginia is home to more than 200,000 recreational boats, providing a gateway to marine recreation in Chesapeake Bay and offshore waters. Virginia’s importance to boating access carries with it an expanding economy related to boating and boating related industries.

In addition to the large group of boater-citizens who reside in Virginia, local marine businesses such as marinas also provide access and berthing to many non-locally owned watercraft. While watercraft registrations provide a partial and useful estimate of the stock of boats in a region, the true economic impact arising from recreational boating primarily depends upon the type of boats as …

Reducing Yellowtail Flounder Bycatch In The Sea Scallop Dredge Fishery: Twine Top Modifications, Kelli Milleville Wright, David Rudders, William D. Dupaul

Reports

No abstract provided.

Harmful Algal Bloom (Hab) Primer For The Virginia Shellfish Industry, Kimberly S. Reece, Karen Hudson

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No abstract provided.

Blue Crab Industry - Oyster Aquaculture Training And Transition June 2011- June 2012 Final Report, Matthew Richmond

Reports

No abstract provided.

2012 Cultchless (Single Seed) Oyster Crop Budgets For Virginia User Manual, Karen Hudson, Dan Kauffman, Thomas J. Murray, Alexander Solomon

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No abstract provided.

A Pilot Project For Assessing The Socioeconomic Issues Facing Maryland’S Working Waterfront; An Inventory Of The Choptank River Watershed, Thomas J. Murray

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No abstract provided.

Simulated Performance Of Catch Curve Methods For Estimating Total Mortality Rate, Matthew W. Smith, John M. Hoenig

Reports

This document has been issued as VIMS Data Report 60 and provides additional simulation results for Smith et al. (2012) published in the North American Journal of Fisheries Management. Catch curve methods are a basic tool of population dynamics for estimating total mortality rate from age composition. There are a number of methodological issues which remain unresolved. Smith et al. (2012) attempts to provide guidelines on the use of these methods based on extensive Monte Carlo simulations. This report presents additional simulation results to supplement the results in the journal article. The estimators, evaluation criteria, simulation procedures, and conditions simulated …

Evaluating Recruitment Of American Eel, Anguilla Rostrata, In The Potomac River (Spring 2012), Troy D. Tuckey, Mary C. Fabrizio

Reports

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) adopted the Interstate Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for the American eel in November 1999. The FMP focuses on increasing coastal states’ efforts to collect American eel data through both fishery-dependent and fishery-independent studies. Consequently, member jurisdictions agreed to implement an annual survey for young-of-year (YOY) American eels. The survey is intended to “…characterize trends in annual recruitment of the YOY eels over time [to produce a] qualitative appraisal of the annual recruitment of American eel to the U.S. Atlantic Coast” (ASMFC 2000). The development of these surveys began in 2000 with full implementation …

An Assessment Of Sea Scallop Abundance And Distribution In Selected Areas: Nantucket Lightship Closed Area, Hudson Canyon Closed Area, And The Delmarva Closed Area, David Rudders, William D. Dupaul, Jessica Bergeron

Reports

No abstract provided.

The Role Of Mycobacteriosis In Elevated Natural Mortality Of Chesapeake Bay Striped Bass: Developing Better Models For Stock Assessment And Management : A Final Report, Wolfgang K. Vogelbein, John Hoenig, David Gauthier, Matthew Smith, Phil Sadler, Howard Kator, Martha Rhodes

Reports

Mycobacteriosis is a chronic systemic disease of fishes caused by bacteria belonging to the genus Mycobacterium. The disease currently affects striped bass throughout Chesapeake Bay and prevalence is higher than 90% in certain age groups. Two recently described species, M. shottsii and M. pseudoshottsii, are the most common isolates obtained from diseased fish and are considered the primary etiologic agents. Recent indications that natural mortality (M) has become elevated in Chesapeake Bay striped bass and that mycobacteriosis may be the underlying cause, has caused concern among fishermen, fisheries managers and scientists. However, fundamental questions, such as transmission mode, duration of …

Final Report: An Assessment Of Sea Scallop Abundance And Distribution In A Selected Closed Area: Georges Bank Closed Area Ii, David Rudders, William D. Dupaul

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No abstract provided.

Final Report : An Assessment Of Sea Scallop Abundance And Distribution In Open Access Areas: New York Bight And The Southern New England Area, David Rudders, William D. Dupaul

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No abstract provided.

An Assessment Of Sea Scallop Abundance And Distribution In A Selected Closed Area: Delmarva Closed Area, David Rudders, William D. Dupaul

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No abstract provided.

2012 Annual Report Estimating Relative Juvenile Abundance Of Ecologically Important Finfish In The Virginia Portion Of Chesapeake Bay, Troy D. Tuckey, Mary C. Fabrizio

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No abstract provided.

Virginia Shellfish Aquaculture Situation And Outlook Report : Results Of The 2011 Virginia Shellfish Aquaculture Crop Reporting Survey, Thomas J. Murray, Karen Hudson

Reports

The shellfish aquaculture industry in Virginia continues to grow, adding significant value to the state’s seafood marketplace. Today, watermen continue to harvest both hard clams and oysters from the state’s public resources, albeit at diminished rates. At the same time, Virginia’s watermen-farmers are providing growing quantities of additional quality shellfish to consumers. In recent years, folliowing the lead of the hard clam industry, a significant transition to intensive aquaculture of native oysters is underway. The once-extensive oyster planting utilizing wild seed has contracted primarily as a result of endemic oyster diseases and increasing wildlife predation of seed oysters. In its …

Annual Report - 2011 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 Game Fish Tagging Program Annual Report 2011, Susanna Musick, Lewis Gillingham

Reports

Through 2011, the Virginia Game Fish Tagging Program has maintained a 17-year database of records for tagged and recaptured fish. The program is a co-operative project of the Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament (under the Virginia Marine Resources Commission-VMRC) and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) of the College of William and Mary (under the VIMS Marine Advisory Program).

Monitoring Relative Abundance Of American Shad In Virginia Rivers 2011 Annual Report, Eric J. Hilton, Rob Latour, Brian Watkins, Ashleigh Magee

Reports

Concern about the decline in landings of American shad (Alosa sapidissima) along the Atlantic coast prompted the development of an interstate fisheries management plan (FMP) under the auspices of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Management Program (ASMFC 1999). Legislation enables imposition of federal sanctions on fishing in those states that fail to comply with the FMP. To be in compliance, coastal states are required to implement and maintain fishery-dependent and fishery-independent monitoring programs as specified by the FMP. For Virginia, these requirements include spawning stock assessments, the collection of biological data on the spawning run (e.g., age-structure, sex ratio, and …

Northeast Area Monitoring And Assessment Program (Neamap) 2011 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 Final Report, 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 mid1980s (Rester 2001). The four main goals of this new program directly address the …

Estimating Relative Abundance Of Young-Of-Year American Eel, Anguilla Rostrata, In The Virginia Tributaries Of Chesapeake Bay (Spring 2011), Troy D. Tuckey, Mary C. Fabrizio

Reports

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) adopted the Interstate Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for the American eel in November 1999. The FMP focuses on increasing coastal states’ efforts to collect American eel data through both fishery-dependent and fishery-independent studies. Consequently, member jurisdictions agreed to implement an annual survey for young-of-year (YOY) American eels. The survey is intended to “…characterize trends in annual recruitment of the YOY eels over time [to produce a] qualitative appraisal of the annual recruitment of American eel to the U.S. Atlantic Coast” (ASMFC 2000). The development of these surveys began in 2000 with full implementation …

Northeast Area Monitoring And Assessment Program (Neamap) 2011 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 …

Product Development For Cownose Ray Final Report, Robert A. Fisher

Reports

No abstract provided.

Evaluation Of Striped Bass Stocks In Virginia, Monitoring And Tagging Studies, 2010-2014 : Progress Report, 1 September 2010 - 31 August 2011, Philip W. Sadler, Matthew W. Smith, John M. Hoenig, Robert E. Harris, Lydia M. Goins

Reports

This report presents the results of striped bass (Morone saxatilis) tagging and monitoring activities in Virginia during the period 1 September 2010 through 31 August 2011. It includes an assessment of the biological characteristics of striped bass taken from the 2011 spring spawning run, estimates of annual survival and fishing mortality based on annual spring tagging, and the results of the study that documents the prevalence of mycobacterial infections of striped bass in Chesapeake Bay. The information contained in this report is required by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission and is used to implement a coordinated management plan for …

Estimation Of Juvenile Striped Bass Relative Abundance In The Virginia Portion Of Chesapeake Bay, January 2011-December 2011 : Annual Progress Report, Leonard S. Machut, Mary C. Fabrizio

Reports

The 2011 striped bass juvenile abundance index is 27.09 and is significantly higher than the historic average of 7.92. Unlike previous years, the 2011 York River index was the highest among Virginia watersheds with high recruitment in both the Pamunkey and Mattaponi rivers. All individual river JAI values were significantly higher than their respective historic averages except for the Chickahominy River which was not significantly different from its historic average. This suggests a strong year class was produced in the Virginia portion of Chesapeake Bay in 2011. Sampling of auxiliary stations provides greater spatial coverage of the nursery grounds and …

Diamondback Terrapin Bycatch Reduction Strategies For Commercial And Recreational Blue Crab Fisheries, Donna M. Bilkovic, Randy Chambers, Matthias Leu, Kirk J. Havens, Timothy Russell

Reports

Diamondback terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin) is considered a keystone species for its influence on community structure of tidal marshes. Terrapins exhibit strong habitat and nest site fidelity, and have relatively small home ranges (< 2 km), so that sub-populations tend to be spatially discrete. Terrapins rely on open water, wetlands, and adjacent uplands at various stages of their life-cycle, so the quality and connectivity of these habitat patches is critical to population persistence. Terrapin is listed in Virginia as a species of "Very High Conservation Need" based on threats due to nest predation and drowning of adults in crab pots. Terrapin population declines, reduced growth, and changes in sex ratios have been directly attributed to bycatch mortality in commercial crab pots. Our overall project goal was to characterize essential terrapin habitats toward development of bycatch reduction strategies for managing commercial and recreational blue crab fisheries. In a pilot study area surrounding the mouth of the York River, Virginia, our approach was to 1) geospatially define suitable terrapin habitat based on natural features, 2) integrate spatial datasets to develop a "Vulnerability Index" of terrapin habitats and define potential resource conflict areas where crab pots correspond to essential terrapin habitat, and 3) conduct terrapin and crab pot counts in habitats with varying suitability to test predictions. Suitable terrapin habitat (full connectivity among habitat metrics) accounted for over 50% of all terrapin observations, and another 45% of observations occurred in areas where only one habitat metric was absent. In 96% of these cases, the absent metric was SAV presence. In contrast, full habitat connectivity was determined for only 5% of areas where terrapins were absent. Within the pilot study area during a two year retrieval program, 2872 derelict pots were removed. Of these, 22% were within shallow waters (≤ 2 m) where terrapins typically reside. Of the suitable terrapin habitat (70km2 ), 21% (15 km2 ) was considered vulnerable to crabbing pressures (10% highly and 11% moderately vulnerable). Approximately 15% of the study area was considered to be potential resource conflict areas for terrapin and crabbing. Candidate zones for the targeted application of blue crab fishery management actions to reduce terrapin bycatch include the Severn River, Perrin River, Guinea Marshes, and south of Gwynn Island. The integration of spatial information on terrapin habitat and crabbing pressure in a single framework will allow managers to identify areas where terrapins are most likely to encounter threats and target conservation efforts in those areas. In resource conflict areas, there are several management options that can be used in combination 1) Require use of bycatch reduction devices (BRDs) on commercial & recreational crab pots 2) Avoid particular habitats (e.g. small tidal creeks) or establish fishing exclusion zones 3) Educate – design public education programs to • promote the voluntary use of BRDs, and • communicate to recreational boaters the ramifications of severing buoy lines of active crab pots 4) Promote proper use of gear (e.g. retrieving pots regularly to minimize terrapin mortality). With further refinement to improve the predictability of terrapin occupancy, the terrapin habitat vulnerability model is transferable to all coastal areas where diamondback terrapins occur and where blue crabs are commercially and recreationally fished—from southern New England to Texas.

Non-Commercial Oyster Culture, Or Oyster Gardening, Michael Oesterling, Christopher Petrone

Reports

No abstract provided.

The Status Of Virginia's Public Oyster Resource 2011, Melissa Southworth, Roger L. Mann

Reports

This report summarizes data collected during 2011 in the Virginia portion of the Chesapeake Bay. The report is composed of two parts, part one, oyster recruitment (shell string) in Virginia and part two, dredge survey of selected oyster bars in Virginia.

Virginia Fishery Resource Grant Program 2011, Virginia Fishery Resource Grant Program

Reports

No abstract provided.

Virginia Charter Boat Workshop Summary March 2012, Susanna Musick

Reports

No abstract provided.