Animal Sciences Commons^™

Scaling Ecosystem Services To Reef Development : Effects Of Oyster Density On Nitrogen Removal And Reef Community Structure, M. Lisa Kellogg, Jeffrey C. Cornwell, Michael S. Owens, Mark Luckenbach, Paige G. Ross, Thomas A. Leggett, Jennifer C. Dreyer C. Dreyer, Bowdoin Lusk, Alan Birch, Edward Smith

Reports

Eighteen native oyster experimental reefs (16-m2 each) were restored using six oyster densities (0, 10, 25, 50, 100 and 250 adult oysters m-2) with three replicates of each density at each of two sites: one subtidal site in Onancock Creek, Virginia and one intertidal site in Hillcrest Oyster Sanctuary within The Nature Conservancy’s Virginia Coast Reserve. A science-based monitoring program explored quantitative relationships between structural and functional characteristics of these restored reefs. Structural parameters examined included oyster abundance, oyster size/biomass, surface shell volume, reef topographic complexity and sediment characteristics. Functional parameters included denitrification rates and macrofaunal abundance and biomass. Data …

Evaluation Of Striped Bass Stocks In Virginia, Monitoring And Tagging Studies, 2010-2014 Progress Report, 1 September 2013 - 31 August 2014, 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 2013 through 31 August 2014. It includes an assessment of the biological characteristics of striped bass taken from the 2014 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. Also included is information on gear selectivity of recreational anglers for striped bass and on impacts of dermal mycobacteriosis on striped bass. The information contained …

Economic Activity Associated With Commercial Fisheries And Shellfish Aquaculture In Northampton County, Virginia, Thomas J. Murray

Reports

No abstract provided.

Evaluating Recruitment Of American Eel, Anguilla Rostrata, In The Potomac River (Spring 2014), 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 …

Johns Point Landing Living Shoreline – Ecological Monitoring : Final Report To Gloucester County, Donna Marie Bilkovic, Molly Mitchell, Robert Isdell

Reports

VIMS monitoring activities consisted of three components:

• Monitoring of marsh vegetation establishment after planting

• Documenting ribbed mussel and oyster recruitment and growth in experimental bags of oyster shell at the living shoreline

• Monitoring infaunal communities prior to and after living shoreline implementation

Host Behavior Alters Spiny Lobster-Viral Disease Dynamics: A Simulation Study, Tw Dolan, Mj Butler, Jeffrey D. Shields

VIMS Articles

Social behavior confers numerous benefits to animals but also risks, among them an increase in the spread of pathogenic diseases. We examined the trade-off between risk of predation and disease transmission under different scenarios of host spatial structure and disease avoidance behavior using a spatially explicit, individual-based model of the host pathogen interaction between juvenile Caribbean spiny lobster (Panulirus argus) and Panulirus argus Virus 1 (PaV1). Spiny lobsters are normally social but modify their behavior to avoid diseased conspecifics, a potentially effective means of reducing transmission but one rarely observed in the wild. We found that without lobster avoidance of …

Biofiltration Potential Of Ribbed Mussel Populations, Donna Marie Bilkovic, Molly Mitchell

Reports

Our primary study objective was to characterize the ribbed mussel population and estimate their water processing potential along the York River, Virginia.

Bonamia Exitiosa Transmission Among, And Incidence In, Asian Oyster Crassostrea Ariakensis Under Warm Euhaline Conditions, Corinne Audemard, Ryan B. Carnegie, Km Hill, Ch Peterson, Em Burreson

VIMS Articles

Previously reported in Australia, New Zealand, and more recently in Europe, the protistan parasite Bonamia exitiosa was also reported in the mid-Atlantic region of the USA after causing serious mortalities there in the Asian oyster Crassostrea ariakensis. At the time, this oyster was being considered for introduction, and the potential consequences of introducing this species were being assessed using field and laboratory studies. B. exitiosa emerged as the most serious disease threat for this oyster species, especially under warm euhaline conditions and for oystersariakensis, we investigated B. exitiosa transmission and incidence in C. ariakensis. During a first trial, potential direct …

Intraspecific Intrusion At Bald Eagle Nests, Courtney Turrin, B. D. Watts

Arts & Sciences Articles

Competition for nesting territory has been shown to act as a density-dependent feedback mechanism influencing population growth rate. However, little is known about the nature of territorial interactions between established breeders and floaters. We examined territorial intrusion rates and associated behaviours at active Bald Eagle Haliaeetus leucocephalus nests in the lower Chesapeake Bay in 2012 and 2013. The average intrusion rate experienced at study nests during the reproductive period was 0.28 ± 0.32 intrusions/h. Variance in intrusion rate was high and there was no apparent predictive pattern to these events. Juvenile intrusions occurred closer to the nest than adult intrusions, …

2014 Annual Report Estimating Relative Juvenile Abundance Of Ecologically Important Finfish In The Virginia Portion Of Chesapeake Bay ( 1 June 2013 – 31 May 2014 ), Troy D. Tuckey, Mary C. Fabrizio

Reports

No abstract provided.

Linking Structural And Functional Characteristics Of Restored Oyster Reefs : A Restoration Project In The Virginia Coast Reserve, M. Lisa Kellogg, Jeffrey C. Cornwell, Michael S. Owens, Mark Luckenbach, Paige G. Ross, Bowdoin Lusk

Reports

Eighteen native oyster reefs (16-m2 each) were restored using six oyster densities (0, 10, 25, 50, 100 and 250 adult oysters m-2) with three replicates of each density at an intertidal site in The Nature Conservancy’s Virginia Coast Reserve. Reef construction was successful and continues to provide a range of oyster biomass densities useful for exploring relationships between oyster reef structural and functional parameters. Between April 2012 and July 2013, a science-based monitoring program explored quantitative relationships between structural and functional characteristics of these restored reefs. Structural parameters examined included oyster abundance, oyster size/biomass, surface shell volume, reef topographic complexity …

A Model For Estimating The Tmdl-Related Benefits Of Oyster Reef Restoration : Harris Creek, Maryland, Usa, M. Lisa Kellogg, Mark Brush, Elizabeth W. North, Younjoo Lee

Reports

A user-friendly, web-accessible model has been developed that allows restoration practitioners and resource managers to easily estimate the TMDL-related benefits of oyster reef restoration per unit area, run restoration scenarios in Harris Creek, MD to optimize restoration planning and implementation, and calculate the benefits of the chosen plan. The model is rooted in scientifically defensible data and is readily transferable to systems throughout the Chesapeake Bay and Eastern Shore. The model operates in five vertically well-mixed boxes along the main axis of the creek. Exchanges among creeks are computed using a tidal prism approach and were compared to exchanges provided …

Results For The 2014 Vims/Industry Cooperative Survey Of The Delmarva Closed Area, David Rudders, William D. Dupaul, Jeanna M. Hudson

Reports

No abstract provided.

An Assessment Of Sea Scallop Abundance And Distribution In The Northeast Georges Bank Area, David Rudders, William D. Dupaul, Jeanna M. Hudson

Reports

No abstract provided.

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

Reports

No abstract provided.

Oyster Planting Protocols To Deter Losses To Cownose Ray Predation, Roger L. Mann, Robert A. Fisher, Melissa Southworth, James Wesson

Reports

No abstract provided.

Final Contract Report #Cf 13-05 Proposal To Determine Male Cownose Ray Movement After Mating In Chesapeake Bay: A Potential Fishery Management Concern, Robert A. Fisher

Reports

No abstract provided.

Virginia Game Fish Tagging Program Annual Report 2013, Susanna Musick, Lewis Gillingham

Reports

Through 2013, the Virginia Game Fish Tagging Program has maintained a 18-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).

Virginia Working Waterfronts Workshop A Sense Of The Symposium, Ryck Lydecker, Thomas J. Murray

Reports

No abstract provided.

Annual Report - 2013 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 …

Mercury Reduces Avian Reproductive Success And Imposes Selection: An Experimental Study With Adult- Or Lifetime-Exposure In Zebra Finch, Claire W. Varian-Ramos, John P. Swaddle, Daniel A. Cristol

Arts & Sciences Articles

Mercury is a global pollutant that biomagnifies in food webs, placing wildlife at risk of reduced reproductive fitness and survival. Songbirds are the most diverse branch of the avian evolutionary tree; many are suffering persistent and serious population declines and we know that songbirds are frequently exposed to mercury pollution. Our objective was to determine the effects of environmentally relevant doses of mercury on reproductive success of songbirds exposed throughout their lives or only as adults. The two modes of exposure simulated philopatric species versus dispersive species, and are particularly relevant because of the heightened mercury-sensitivity of developing nervous systems. …

Monitoring Relative Abundance Of American Shad In Virginia Rivers 2013 Annual Report, Eric J. Hilton, Robert 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 …

Virginia Shellfish Aquaculture Situation And Outlook Report : Results Of The 2013 Virginia Shellfish Aquaculture Crop Reporting Survey, Karen Hudson, Thomas J. Murrary

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 …

Estimating Relative Abundance Of Young-Of-Year American Eel, Anguilla Rostrata, In The Virginia Tributaries Of Chesapeake Bay (Spring 2013), 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 4 surveys began in 2000 with full …

Northeast Area Monitoring And Assessment Program (Neamap) 2013 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 …

Recovery Of Breeding Bald Eagles On Aberdeen Proving Ground, B. D. Watts

Arts & Sciences Articles

We conducted annual aerial surveys (1991-2011) for breeding Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) within Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG), a 350-km2 military installation located along the northwestern shoreline of the upper Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. The population increased exponentially from 1 pair in 1977 to 58 pairs in 2011 with an average doubling time of 5.8 years. This rate was higher than that documented for the broader Chesapeake Bay and is comparable to the highest reported throughout the species range. Annual population increase was highly variable and exhibited no indication of any systematic decline. A total of 646 chicks were produced from …

American Shad Habitat Plan For The Commonwealth Of Virginia, Eric J. Hilton, Joe Cimino, Alan Weaver

Reports

In Virginia, American shad are found in the Chesapeake Bay and its major tributaries, including the Potomac, Rappahannock, York, and James rivers, as well as smaller tributaries and other coastal habitats (e.g., along the Delmarva peninsula) (Fig. 1). Additionally, American shad are found in certain rivers in Virginia that drain to North Carolina (Desfosse et al., 1994). Here we focus on the major western tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay as these areas have come to define the primary stocks in Virginia waters (the James, York, and Rappahannock stocks). Although certain spawning/rearing reaches are known for American shad for individual rivers …

Investigating The Relationship Between Biodiversity And Ecosystem Multifunctionality: Challenges And Solutions, Jarrett E. K. Byrnes, Lars Gamfeldt, Forest Isbell, Jonathan S. Lefcheck, John N. Griffin, Andy Hector, Bradley J. Cardinale, David U. Hooper, Laura E. Dee, J. Emmett Duffy

VIMS Articles

Summary 1. Extensive research shows that more species-rich assemblages are generally more productive and efficient in resource use than comparable assemblages with fewer species. But the question of how diversity simultaneously affects the wide variety of ecological functions that ecosystems perform remains relatively understudied. It presents several analytical and empirical challenges that remain unresolved. In particular, researchers have developed several disparate metrics to quantify multifunctionality, each characterizing different aspects of the concept and each with pros and cons. 2. We compare four approaches to characterizing multifunctionality and its dependence on biodiversity, quantifying (i) magnitudes of multiple individual functions separately, (ii) …

Supplementary Data And Analysis For Estimating Walleye Selectivity, Matthew W. Smith, John M. Hoenig, Neil Kmiecik, Mark A. Luehring, Melissa T. Drake, Patrick J. Schmalz, Greg G. Sass

Reports

This document has been issued as VIMS Data Report 61 and provides data tables and results of exploratory analyses conducted as part of the complete data analysis for Myers et al. 2014 published in the Transactions of the American Fisheries Society. Estimates of size- and sex-specific selectivity of fishing gear are important for making informed management decisions. We distinguish between capture selectivity – the relative catchability of the components of the population – and harvest selectivity, which is the combined effects of capture selectivity and the decision to retain or release a fish of a given population component. We used …

Clean Vessel Act Plan For Proper Sewage Disposal For Virginia, Anne Smith

Reports

No abstract provided.