Life Sciences Commons^™

Expanding Virginia"S Oyster Industry While Minimizing User Conflict - Interim Report (Year 2 Of 3), Roger L. Mann, Marcia Berman, James Wesson, Melissa Southworth, Tamia Rudnicky

Reports

This study seeks to assess the sustainability of the public oyster fishery and the expansion of hatchery dependent oyster aquaculture in the Virginia portion of the Chesapeake Bay. Previous analyses have suggested that limitations in available shell resources will ultimately drive the future of the public fishery. The expansion of intensive aquaculture, already apparent in the Bay, suggests sustainability will be contingent upon the availability of bottom space and/or a shift in practices that minimize user conflict in leased areas.

Georges Bank Yellowtail Flounder Estimates From Vims Industry-Based Scallop Dredge Surveys Of Closed Area Ii And Surrounds, Sally Roman, David Rudders

Reports

This document is the final report submitted to the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) for the Georges Bank Yellowtail Flounder Estimates from VIMS Industry-Based Scallop Dredge Surveys of Closed Area II and Surrounds project. The NEFMC funded this project in April 2019, with an objective of synthesizing existing VIMS dredge survey data with respect to the Georges Bank stock of yellowtail flounder (Limanda ferruginea). Analysis consisted of an examination of existing catch data from VIMS dredge surveys of Georges Bank Closed Area II and surrounds from 2005 to 2019.

Results For The 2019 Vims Industry Cooperative Surveys Of The Mid-Atlantic, Nantucket Lightship Closed Area, Closed Area I, And Closed Area Ii Resource Areas, David Rudders, Sally Roman, Erin Mohr, Kaitlyn Clark

Reports

The Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) conducted high resolution sea scallop dredge surveys of the entire Mid-Atlantic (MAB), the Nantucket Lightship (NLCA), Closed Area I (CAI), and Closed Area II (CAII) during May–July 2019. These surveys were funded by the Sea Scallop Research Set- Aside Program (RSA). Exploitable biomass for each survey is shown in Table 1 for each spatially explicit SAMS Area (Scallop Area Management Simulator). SAMS Areas represent management relevant spatial subunits of the resource and explicitly account for differences in recruitment, vital rates, and fishing effort in the forward projection of survey information. Maps of SAMS …

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 …

Integrated Assessment Of Oyster Reef Ecosystem Services: Quantifying Denitrification Rates And Nutrient Fluxes, Jeffrey C. Cornwell, Michael S. Owens, Melanie Jackson, M.Lisa Kellogg

Reports

Fluxes of N2-N (denitrification), dissolved ammonium, nitrate plus nitrite, and dissolved oxygen were determined at teh 350 acre oyster restoration project at Harris Creek, Maryland. The ex situ incubation approach involved adding oyster communities to embedded trays for ~1 mo incubating the trays under dark and light conditions for 1-2 hour time courses for gas and solute sampling, adn determination of the rates of gas and solute exchange for 136 individual reef tray incubations. Reef exchange rates were compared to rates of sediment water exchange in core incubations throughout Harris Creek and in reef-adjacent environments.

Evaluating The Condition And Discard Mortality Of Monkfish, Lophius Americanus, Following Capture And Handling In The Sea Scallop Dredge Fishery, David Rudders, Sally Roman, Amelia Weissman, Ryan Knotek, John Mandelman, James Sulikowski

Reports

The incidental capture of nontarget organisms, known as bycatch, remains an unavoidable occurrence for all fisheries (Kirby and Ward, 2014). One of the most challenging issues facing fisheries management is the post-release mortality of these bycaught species due to its difficulty to predict and the variability among species and gear type (Benoit et al., 2010, 2013; Depestele et al., 2014), which makes it inherently difficult to conduct proper stock assessments. Since there have been few studies conducted on post-release mortality across species, fisheries managers typically assign conservative estimates of mortality which limits total allowable catch and may negatively impact the …

Oyster Reef Ecosystem Services: Finfish Utilization And Trophic Linkages Harris Creek, Maryland, Usa, M. Lisa Kellogg, Paige G. Ross, Manisha Pant, Jennifer C. Dreyer, Alan Birch, Sean Fate, Edward Smith

Reports

Oyster reefs provide habitat for finfish and their prey. Our project focused on determining the impacts of oyster reef restoration on finfish in the Harris Creek Oyster Sanctuary in the Maryland portion of Chesapeake Bay. As a preliminary step, we examined the utility of using trawls in the place of gillnets to sample finfish but found that trawl samples were also highly variable and that the diets of finfish caught in trawls tended to be different than those caught in gillnets. Based on these findings and the fact that gillnets can be set within reef habitats, all remaining sampling was …

Age Structure And Growth Rate In The Sea Scallop Placopecten Magellanicus, Roger Mann, David Rudders

Reports

The overall project objective is to describe age structure and growth of scallops from the Georges Bank and Mid-Atlantic regions. There are three component objectives; (1) age structure and growth during the 1977- 1999 period using archived material stored at NEFSC Woods Hole; (2) age structure and growth of scallops collected over the latitudinal and bathymetric range of the US commercial fishery in 2012 and 2013 (material archived at VIMS from RSA studies); and (3) age structure and growth of scallops collected in 2017 assessment surveys by co-PI Rudders.

A Study To Assess The Effect Of Tow Duration And Estimate Dredge Efficiency For The Vims Sea Scallop Dredge Survey : Final Report, David Rudders, Sally Roman, Arthur Trembanis, Danielle Ferraro

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 sea 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 …

An Investigation Into The Scallop Parasite Outbreak On The Mid-Atlantic Shelf: Transmission Pathways, Spatio-Temporal Variation Of Infection And Consequences To Marketability : Final Report, David Rudders, Sally Roman, Robert A. Fisher, David Bushek, Daphne Munroe, Eleanor A. Bochenek, Emily Mcgurk, Sarah Borsetti

Reports

A disease epizootic has developed that threatens one of the most valuable fisheries in the US. The U.S. sea scallop (Placopecten magellanicus) fishery landed $512 million worth of scallop meats in 2017 (NMFS, 2018). This fishery is based on landings of scallop adductor muscles only, with the remainder of the scallop discarded at sea (NEFSC, 2018). During the spring of 2015 both industry and scientific assessment crews noted unprecedented numbers of a parasitic nematode in the adductor muscle of captured scallops (Figure 1). The presence of the parasite in the adductor muscle is expressed through macroscopic lesions, or cysts. These …

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 Game Fish Tagging Program Annual Report 2018, Susanna Musick, Lewis Gillingham

Reports

Through 2018, the Virginia Game Fish Tagging Program (VGFTP) has maintained a 23-year database of records for tagged and recaptured fish. The program is a cooperative project of the Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament (VSFT) 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 The Abundance Of American Shad And River Herring In Virginia's Rivers - 2018 Annual Report, Eric J. Hilton, Robert Latour, Patrick E. Mcgrath, Brian Watkins, Ashleigh Magee

Reports

This report describes the results of the twenty-first year of a continuing study to estimate the relative abundance and assess the status of American shad (Alosa sapidissima) stocks in Virginia by monitoring the spawning runs in the James, York and Rappahannock rivers in spring 2018, evaluating hatchery programs, and contributing to coast-wide assessments (ASMFC 2007). We also report on two fishery-independent monitoring programs using anchor gillnets in the Rappahannock River (year 1) and the Chickahominy River (year 4; a major tributary of the James River), to determine relative abundance and stock structure for the adult spawning run of river herring …

Virginia Shark Identification Guide, Multispecies Research Group, Virginia Institute Of Marine Science

Reports

Illustrated with distribution maps and species characteristics.

Table of Contents:

Atlantic Sharpnose Shark | Bigeye Thresher Shark | Bignose Shark | Blacknose Shark | Blacktip Shark | Blue Shark | Bluntnose Sixgill Shark | Bonnethead Bull Shark | Dusky Shark | Finetooth Shark | Great Hammerhead Shark | Great White Shark | Gulper Shark | Lemon Shark | Longfin Mako Shark | Night Shark | Oceanic Whitetip Shark | Porbeagle | Sandbar Shark | Sand Tiger Shark | Scalloped Hammerhead Shark | Sharpnose Sevengill Shark | Shortfin Mako Shark | Silky Shark | Smooth Dogfish | Smooth Hammerhead Shark | …

The Status Of Virginia’S Public Oyster Resource 2018, Melissa Southworth, Roger L. Mann

Reports

This report summarizes data collected during 2018 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

Estimating Relative Abundance Of Young-Of-The-Year American Eel, Anguilla Rostrata, In The Virginia Tributaries Of Chesapeake Bay, Spring 2018, 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. In the U.S., harvests have declined, with similar patterns occurring in the Canadian Maritime Provinces (Meister and Flagg 1997). An average of 62% of the annual landings of U.S. commercial harvest since 1993 have come from the Chesapeake Bay (personal communication from the National Marine Fisheries Service, Fisheries Statistics Division, 9 February 2015). In 2013, Virginia commercial landings were approximately 100,298 lbs; since mandatory reporting began in 1993, average annual landings in Virginia have been 193,200 lbs or 19% …

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

Reports

No abstract provided.

Evaluation Of Striped Bass Stocks In Virginia: Monitoring And Tagging Studies, 2019 Progress Report - 1 December 2018 - 31 November 2019, Robert J. Latour, Christopher F. Bonzek, James Gartland

Reports

This report presents the results of striped bass (Morone saxatilis) tagging and monitoring activities in Virginia during the period 1 December 2018 through 31 November 2019. It includes an assessment of the biological characteristics of striped bass taken from the 2019 spring spawning run and estimates of annual survival and fishing mortality based on annual spring tagging. 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 striped bass in Virginia, and along the eastern seaboard.

This report includes 2018 striped bass Benchmark Assessment data.

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 …

Estimation Of Juvenile Striped Bass Relative Abundance In The Virginia Portion Of Chesapeake Bay. Annual Progress Report: 2018-2019, Brian K. Gallagher, Mary C. Fabrizio, Troy D. Tuckey

Reports

The 2018 Striped Bass juvenile abundance index was 10.72 and was not significantly different than the reference mean of 7.77 from 1980-2009. Abundance indices in the James and York river systems in 2018 were average compared to their individual reference means (1980-2009), whereas abundance was above average in the Rappahannock River. Relatively high catches of young‐of‐the‐year Striped Bass at downriver sites in 2018 suggested Striped Bass were displaced downstream of their typical core nursery areas, likely due to high volumes of freshwater discharge and low salinities before and during the sampling period. Juvenile White Perch abundance indices in 2018 were …

Vims Shark Longline Annual Report - 2019, Multispecies Research Group, Virginia Institute Of Marine Science

Reports

Report indicates the number of species caught, retained, released and tagged in the longline surveys.