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An Assessment Of Sea Scallop Abundance And Distribution In Selected Areas: Georges Bank Closed Area Ii, Southern New England/Long Island, New York Bight And The Delmarva Closed Area, David Rudders, William D. Dupaul

Reports

No abstract provided.

Evaluating Recruitment Of American Eel, Anguilla Rostrata, In The Potomac River (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 …

Preliminary Analysis Of The Economic Impact Of The H-2b Worker Program On Virginia’S Economy, Thomas J. Murray

Reports

No abstract provided.

Abstracts Of Technical Papers Presented At The 103rd Annual Meeting National Shellfisheries Association Baltimore, Maryland March 27–31, 2011, National Shellfisheries Association

VIMS Articles

No abstract provided.

2011 Annual Report Estimating Relative Juvenile Abundance Of Ecologically Important Finfish In The Virginia Portion Of Chesapeake Bay, Troy D. Tuckey, Mary C. Fabrizio

Reports

No abstract provided.

Dietary Metal And Macro-Nutrient Intakes Of Juvenile Lemon Sharks Determined From The Nutritional Composition Of Prey Items, Harri Pettitt-Wade, Steven P. Newman, Kristene T. Parsons, Et Al

VIMS Articles

The trace element requirements of sharks are poorly understood and the dietary intake of metals from prey items in wild sharks has not been measured. In this study whole prey of nursery bound juvenile lemon sharks Negaprion brevirostris, from Bimini, Bahamas were analysed for carcass total protein, lipids, carbohydrates, ash content, energy, and elemental composition. Metal analysis included 415 prey items from 18 species (fish: Atherinidae, Belonidae, Gerreidae, Haemulidae, Lutjanidae, Scaridae, Sphyraenidae; decapod crustaceans: Penaeidae, Portunidae). There were some seasonal and location effects (North Sound versus South Bimini shark nurseries), but overall prey metal concentrations were broadly similar to …

Fishes Identification Guide For Chesmmap And Neamap Diet Analysis Studies, Chesapeake Bay Multispecies Monitoring And Assessment Program

Reports

This is a compilation of identification resources for fishes found in stomach samples. By no means is it a complete list of all possible prey types. It is simply what has been found in past ChesMMAP and NEAMAP diet studies.

Reproductive Success Of Eastern Bluebirds (Siala Sialis) On Suburban Golf Courses, Kerri L. Cornell, Caitlin R. Kight, Ryan B. Burdge, Alex R. Gunderson, Joanna K. Hubbard, Allyson K. Jackson, Joshua E. Leclerc, Marie L. Pitts, John P. Swaddle, Daniel A. Cristol

Arts & Sciences Articles

Understanding the role of green space in urban—suburban landscapes is becoming critical for bird conservation because of rampant habitat loss and conversion. Although not natural habitat, golf courses could play a role in bird conservation if they support breeding populations of some native species, yet scientists remain skeptical. In 2003–2009, we measured reproduction of Eastern Bluebirds (Siala sialis) in Virginia on golf courses and surrounding reference habitats, of the type that would have been present had golf courses not been developed on these sites (e.g., recreational parks, cemeteries, agriculture land, and college campus). We monitored >650 nest boxes …

Results For The 2011 Vims/Industry Cooperative Survey Of Georges Bank Closed Area Ii, William D. Dupaul, David Rudders

Reports

No abstract provided.

Results For The 2010 Vims/Industry Cooperative Surveys Of Georges Bank Closed Area I And The Hudson Canyon Closed Area, David Rudders, William D. Dupaul

Reports

No abstract provided.

Virginia Shellfish Aquaculture Situation And Outlook Report : Results Of The 2010 Virginia Shellfish Aquaculture Crop Reporting Survey, Thomas J. Murray, Karen Hudson

Reports

Recent growth of the shellfish aquaculture industry in Virginia has added 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. Following the lead of the hard clam industry, there has been a significant transition to intensive aquaculture of native oysters in recent years. The once extensive oyster planting has disappeared primarily as a result of endemic oyster diseases and increasing wildlife predation of seed oysters. In its …

Annual Report - 2010 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, 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 …

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

Reports

No abstract provided.

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

Reports

No abstract provided.

Virginia Game Fish Tagging Program Annual Report 2010, Susanna Musick, Lewis Gillingham

Reports

Through 2010, the Virginia Game Fish Tagging Program has maintained a 16-year database of records for tagged and recaptured fish. The program is a cooperative 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 2010 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 …

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

Reports

No abstract provided.

Contract Report On Behalf Of Promar International Project “Evaluation Of Cultivated Clam Pilot Crop Insurance Program”, Tom Murray

Reports

No abstract provided.

Northeast Area Monitoring And Assessment Program (Neamap) 2010 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, J. David Lange, 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 the …

Estimating Relative Abundance Of Young-Of-Year American Eel, Anguilla Rostrata, In The Virginia Tributaries Of Chesapeake Bay (Spring 2010), 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 …

Marine Resource Bulletin Vol. 43, No. 1, Virginia Sea Grant, Virginia Institute Of Marine Science

Virginia Marine Resource Bulletin

In This Issue

Lessons in Green Fish Farming 2

One Eastern Shore aquaculture operation is pioneering the use of alternative energy solutions in Virginia fish farming—and hoping to set an example for other marine businesses in Virginia and beyond.

Building a Living Shoreline 6

This fall at Deltaville Yachting Center, volunteers gathered to help the owners find a more natural way of combatting coastal erosion. See how they did it in this photo-essay.

Working Waterfronts and Waterways 8

Coastal populations are booming, making access to the water a national problem. Virginia Sea Grant is collaborating with several other programs to …

Ecological Role Of Blue Catfish In Chesapeake Bay Communities And Implications For Management, Ryan W. Schloesser, Mary C. Fabrizio, Robert J. Latour, Greg C. Garman, Bob Greenlee, Mary Groves, James Gartland

VIMS Books and Book Chapters

Rapid increase in abundance and expanded distribution of introduced blue catfish Ictalurus furcatus populations in the Chesapeake Bay watershed have raised regional management concerns. This study uses information from multiple surveys to examine expansion of blue catfish populations and document their role in tidal river communities. Originally stocked in the James, York, and Rappahannock River systems for development of commercial and recreational fisheries, blue catfish have now been documented in adjacent rivers and have expanded their within-river distribution to oligo- and mesohaline environments. Range expansions coincided with periods of peak abundance in 1996 and 2003 and with the concurrent decline …

Frequency Of Multiple Paternity In The Spiny Dogfish Squalus Acanthias In The Western North Atlantic, A Verissimo, D Grubbs, Jan Mcdowell, J Musick, D Portnoy

VIMS Articles

Multiple paternity (MP) has been shown to be widespread in elasmobranch fishes although its prevalence and the number of sires per litter vary considerably among species. In the squaloid shark Squalus acanthias, MP has been reported, but whether it is a common feature of the species' reproductive strategy is unknown. In this study, we determined the frequency of MP in 29 litters of S. acanthias sampled from the lower Chesapeake Bay and coastal Virginia waters, using 7 highly polymorphic nuclear DNA microsatellite loci. Only 5 litters (17% of the total) were genetically polyandrous, with at least 2 sires per litter. …

Widespread Survey Finds No Evidence Of Haplosporidium Nelsoni (Msx) In Gulf Of Mexico Oysters, Se Ford, J Paterno, E Scarpa, Na Stokes, Y Kim, Et Al.

VIMS Articles

The advent of molecular detection assays has provided a set of very sensitive tools for the detection of pathogens in marine organisms, but it has also raised problems of how to interpret positive signals that are not accompanied by visual confirmation. PCR-positive results have recently been reported for Haplosporidium nelsoni (MSX), a pathogen of the oyster Crassostrea virginica in 31 of 40 oysters from 6 sites in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. Histological confirmation of the PCR results was not undertaken, and no haplosporidian has been reported from the numerous histological studies and surveys of oysters in …

Estimation Of Juvenile Striped Bass Relative Abundance In The Virginia Portion Of Chesapeake Bay, January 2010-December 2010 : Annual Progress Report, Leonard S. Machut, Mary C. Fabrizio

Reports

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Sportfish Restoration Project F87R22. Submitted to Virginia Marine Resources Commission, March 2011.

Carbon And Nitrogen Dynamics In Shallow Photic Systems: Interactions Between Macroalgae, Microalgae, And Bacteria, Ak Hardison, Iris C. Anderson, Elizabeth A. Canuel, Cr Tobias, B Veuger

VIMS Articles

We tracked carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) uptake into sediments in the presence and absence of benthic macroalgae using dual stable isotope tracers in combination with compound-specific isotope analyses of hydrolyzable amino acids and phospholipid-linked fatty acids to quantify the uptake and retention of C and N within bulk sediments, benthic microalgae (BMA), and heterotrophic bacteria. Stable isotope tracers (as (15)NH(4)(+) and H(13)CO(3)(-)) were added to mesocosms either via the surface water or pore water for the first 14 d of the 42-d experiment. Macroalgae and sediments exposed to ambient light and dark cycles rapidly took up label from both …

Linked Indicator Sets For Addressing Biodiversity Loss, Th Sparks, Shm Butchart, A Balmford, L Bennun, D Stanwell-Smith, R. J. Diaz, Et Al.

VIMS Articles

The target adopted by world leaders of significantly reducing the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010 was not met but this stimulated a new suite of biodiversity targets for 2020 adopted by the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in October 2010. Indicators will be essential for monitoring progress towards these targets and the CBD will be defining a suite of relevant indicators, building on those developed for the 2010 target. Here we argue that explicitly linked sets of indicators offer a more useful framework than do individual indicators because the former are easier to understand, communicate and …

A General Equilibrium Model For Atlantic Herring (Clupea Harengus) With Ecosystem Considerations, Je Kirkley, J Walden, R Fare

VIMS Articles

A framework is presented for assessing the economic ramifications of ecosystem-based management decisions, with attention focused on Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus) in New England. The Atlantic herring has often been referred to as the most important fish in the northeastern United States because it is a filter-feeder, is believed to improve water quality, and is very important to the health, growth, and abundance of major gamefish, marine mammals, seabirds, and several species of fish. Although many approaches for examining the potential economic ramifications of ecosystem-based management are possible, attention is focused on one method that can be used given existing …

Copepod Guts As Biogeochemical Hotspots In The Sea: Evidence From Microelectrode Profiling Of Calanus Spp., Kw Tang, Rn Glud, A Glud, S Rysgaard, Tg Nielsen

VIMS Articles

The environmental conditions inside the gut of Calanus hyperboreus and C. glacialis were measured with microelectrodes. An acidic potential hydrogen (pH) gradient was present in the gut of C. hyperboreus, and the lowest pH recorded was 5.40. The gut pH of a starved copepod decreased by 0.53 after the copepod resumed feeding for a few hours, indicating the secretion of acidic digestive fluid. A copepod feeding on Thalassiosira weissflogii (diatom) had slightly lower pH than that feeding on Rhodomonas salina (cryptophyte). Oxygen was undersaturated in the gut of both C. hyperboreus and C. glacialis, with a steep gradient from the …

Postrelease Survival, Vertical And Horizontal Movements, And Thermal Habitats Of Five Species Of Pelagic Sharks In The Central Pacific Ocean, Michael K. Musyl, Richard Brill, Daniel S. Curran, Nuno M. Fragoso, Lianne Mcnaughton, Anders Nielsen, Bert S. Kikkawa, Christopher D. Moyes

VIMS Articles

From 2001 to 2006, 71 pop-up satellite archival tags (PSATs) were deployed on five species of pelagic shark (blue shark [Prionace glauca]; shortfin mako [Isurus oxyrinchus]; silky shark [Carcharhinus falciformis]; oceanic whitetip shark [C. longimanus]; and bigeye thresher [Alopias superciliosus]) in the central Pacific Ocean to determine speciesspecific movement patterns and survival rates after release from longline fishing gear. Only a single postrelease mortality could be unequivocally documented: a male blue shark which succumbed seven days after release. Meta-analysis of published reports and the current study (n=78 reporting PSATs) indicated that the summary effect of postrelease mortality for blue sharks …