Aquaculture and Fisheries Commons^™

An Emergent Seafood Nationalism Takes Hold In The United States, Owen Temby

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

This paper introduces the concept of ‘seafood nationalism’ to describe how, since 2024–2025, the United States increasingly uses tariffs, trade remedies, food safety enforcement and origin-based rules to favour American seafood over foreign products. Federal actions include Executive Order 14276, Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness, which directs agencies to address unfair trade practices, unsafe imports and to develop a coordinated seafood trade strategy. Additional measures include a tariff package imposing a 10% duty on nearly all seafood imports and 30% on seafood from China, as well as new anti-dumping and countervailing duty orders on warm-water shrimp. This paper presents Gulf …

Gaining Mussel: Evaluating Reintroduction Success Of Native Freshwater Mussels In Nebraska And Eastern Wyoming, Travis A. Moore

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Freshwater mussels are one of the most imperiled groups of organisms in North America, with over two-thirds of species considered threatened, endangered, or of special concern. These long-lived bivalves are essential to stream ecosystems, acting as filter feeders that improve water quality and as indicators of aquatic health. In Nebraska and Wyoming, native mussel populations have declined sharply due to habitat modification, pollution, and reduced connectivity. Two species of particular concern are the Plain Pocketbook Lampsilis cardium, listed as Tier I at-risk in Nebraska, and the Fatmucket Lampsilis siliquoidea, a Tier II at-risk species. In response, state agencies …

Assessment Of Sampling Gears For Bigheaded Carp In Mid-Order Prairie Rivers In Nebraska, Brett M. Anderson

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Silver Carp Hypophthalmichthys molitrix and Bighead Carp H. nobilis (collectively bigheaded carp) have invaded tributaries to the Missouri River and Platte River in Nebraska, USA. Information pertaining to efficient sampling protocols for assessing bigheaded carp populations as well as benefiting removal efforts is needed. Herding is a method used to increase the capture efficiency and detection probability of adult bigheaded carp by simultaneously using active and passive sampling gears. During June-July 2023, four herding techniques were assessed regarding their ability to elicit directional movement past an enclosure gate. The combination of sound and electrofishing resulted in the highest mean …

Successful Eastern Oyster (Crassostrea Virginica) Recruitment On Intertidal Artificial Substrates In Virginia, Usa, Rochelle D. Seitz, Kathleen E. Knick, Emily Suchonic, Amanda Pysher

OES Faculty Publications

Declines of eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) populations and scarcity of natural oyster shell necessitate quantifying the effectiveness of artificial oyster reef substrates over varying environmental conditions. Oyster castles are often used in intertidal areas with moderate wave energy; however, new concrete, natural-looking substrates, GROW Reef Tiles, are now available. Eastern oyster recruitment and size on oyster castles (OC) and GROW Reef Tiles (GT), with 27% higher surface area on OC, were assessed three times over 25 months in locations with varying salinity. Four sites in the Chesapeake Bay region were examined: Cherrystone Inlet, Mockhorn Bay, Elizabeth River, and …

A Decade Of Monitoring Reveals A Dynamic Fish Assemblage On A Substantial Artificial Reef In The Texas Gulf Of Mexico, David Hicks, Ethan T. Getz, Richard Kline, Carlos E. Cintra-Buenrostro

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Fish communities on artificial reefs have rarely been monitored over long periods to evaluate success of reef deployment. Here, we used roving diver surveys to assess changes in fish assemblages on a large, reefed vessel during 2008–2017. Multivariate analyses revealed a dynamic community that stabilized after 5 years. Species richness increased and species dominance decreased during 2008–2017. The fish community shifted toward reef-associated species such as hogfish and pufferfish. Species composition shifted, but trophic structure was relatively stable, which suggested that functional groups may not reflect larger community shifts. Our results indicate that fish communities on artificial reefs are temporally …

Impacts Of Invasive Carp And Their Population Dynamics On Fish Communities In The Missouri River, Joshua F. Kocik

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Invasive Carp species: Silver Carp Hypophthalmichthys molitrix, Bighead Carp Hypophthalmichthys nobilis, Grass Carp Ctenopharyngodon idella, and Black Carp Mylopharyngodon piceus have both potential and realized abilities to negatively impact native species. Specifically, Bighead Carp and Silver Carp as filter feeders have been theorized to be detrimental not only to adult filter-feeding species, but to many fish which rely on plankton and algae in their early-life stages. The impact of Invasive Carp on the overall fish community remains underexplored. The fish communities below Gavins Point Dam (Invasive Carp present) and Fort Randall Dam (Invasive Carp absent) afford the …

Spatiotemporal Plasticity In Reproductive Readiness And Recruitment Of Ichthyoplankton Of Invasive Silver Carp Along A Western Invasion Front, Jessi L. Urichich

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Individuals of invasive species at the edge of their invasion distribution may exhibit enhanced reproductive capacity and phenotypic plasticity leading to accelerated range expansion. Environmental conditions in highly fluctuating environments at distribution edges may either promote or hinder such reproductive readiness and phenotypic plasticity. Dynamic habitat conditions and periodic disturbances experienced in prairie streams, such as drought (e.g., low-flow, high water temperatures), may potentially reduce suitable spawning environments and ichthyoplankton recruitment of invasive Silver Carp, potentially slowing range expansion or enabling management strategies that reduce abundance in the absence of a reproducing population. Female Silver Carp batch fecundity, Gonadosomatic Index …

Population Demography, Occupancy, And Connectivity Of Invasive Bigheaded Carp In The Platte River, Nebraska And Its Tributaries, Blake W. Logan

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Silver Carp Hypophthalmichthys molitrix and Bighead Carp H. nobilis, collectively referred to as bigheaded carp, are invasive species in the United States of America that have expanded their range throughout the Missouri River basin in the last three decades. It may be desirable to develop management plans directed at the monitoring, control, or removal of bigheaded carp within the Missouri River basin. However, a knowledge gap exists regarding bigheaded carp ecology in Missouri River tributaries, which may be important for the development of management plans. As such, this study characterized bigheaded carp population demographics, occupancy, and connectivity in …

Evaluating Benthic Macroinvertebrate Populations In Response To Scouring Events In The Trinity River, Ca, Liam Hay, Michael W. O'Neil, Chloe Pieper-Wasem

Environmental Science & Management Senior Capstones

River systems across California have been impacted by appurtenant structures such as dams and diversions. These structures have had an adverse impact on Benthic invertebrate (BMI) communities by regulating river systems and changing the natural hydraulic pulses that follow seasonal precipitation. Benthic invertebrates are a critical food resource for salmonids and serve as an indicator of ecosystem health. Our study was interested in seeing the effects of scouring events on BMI in the Trinity River of Trinity County, C.A. Following a large precipitation event that occurred in the region in December 2022, an influx of water entered the river through …

Effects Of Velocity And Substrate Size On The Formation Of Zebra Mussel Druses, Ian Mott

Journal of Earth and Life Science

Zebra Mussels Dreissena polymorpha are an invasive bivalve species that are highly successful at dominating new environments. These invaders have been known to colonize substrate so thoroughly that all they have to attach to are members of their own species. When large mats of interconnected mussels completely cover a riverbed, it can have a drastic effect on the surrounding environment. This study serves to create a better understanding of the hydrologic parameters needed for Zebra Mussels to create these ecosystem-transforming colonies known as druses. Data was collected on a small stretch of the Upper Mississippi River in Northern Minnesota, previously …

Larval Fish Abundance In The Benthic And Surface Drift Of The Missouri River, Ryan L. Ruskamp

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Knowledge of the larval fish community of the Missouri River is one of the biggest gaps in fisheries research. The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission has sampled the drift of the Missouri River for many years (1983-2015), but these data have not been compiled into a unified assessment. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to: 1) quantify temporal and spatial aspects of larval fish community composition (richness) and structure (abundance) of the surface drift, 2) quantify associations of larval fish communities of the drift to different discharges of the Missouri River, 3) quantify the larval benthic drift community, and …

Largemouth Bass In The Upper Mississippi River: An Evaluation Of Management Strategies And Understanding Potential Factors Influencing Dynamic Rate Functions, Kylie Beth Sterling

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

The Upper Mississippi River (UMR) supports ecologically and economically important commercial and recreational fisheries. One recreational fishery in the UMR is the Largemouth Bass fishery. Recreational fisheries can be effectively managed using information on population dynamics, though little is known about Largemouth Bass population dynamics in large river ecosystems. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to 1) evaluate recruitment, growth, and mortality of three Largemouth Bass populations in the UMR, specifically within Pools 4, 8, and 13, and 2) to use those estimates of recruitment, growth and mortality to inform exploitation models to evaluate best management practices for each …

Incorporating Life Into Living Shorelines: Can Gulf Ribbed Mussels Reduce Shoreline Erosion And Enhance Restoration Practices?, Jordan Logarbo

LSU Master's Theses

The gulf ribbed mussel (Geukensia granosissima) exists throughout the Gulf of Mexico and influences biotic and abiotic environmental attributes as an ecosystem engineer. Ribbed mussels are an important component of marsh ecosystems providing services including filtering particulate matter, depositing and transforming nutrients in the system, increasing soil strength via byssal threads and providing structure via their shells.

The spatial distribution of mussels along the marsh edge of Sister Lake, LA was investigated via a broad survey of 150 sites, in relation to elevation, exposure and vegetation percent cover. This survey was followed by a second survey at a …

An Exceptionally Small New Polycotylid Plesiosaur (Reptilia: Sauropterygia) With Raptorial Eyes From The Western Interior Seaway Of North America, Robert O’Brien Clark

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Polycotylidae is a family of plesiosaurian marine reptiles that evolved during the Early Cretaceous and radiated into multiple genera during the Late Cretaceous, achieving a worldwide distribution. Derived polycotylids of the subclade Polycotylinae have a gracile and elongated rostrum, homodont dentition, an extended mandibular symphysis, and foreshortened temporal fenestrae. In this thesis, I describe a small and highly derived new polycotylid taxon based on three specimens from the Campanian of the Western Interior Seaway in North America. A high number of maxillary teeth, fused neural arches, propodials with well-defined facets, and heavily remodeled cortical bone indicate the specimens are adults, …

Soil Response Of Helicopter Liming In The Monongahela National Forest, Jarrett Douglas Fowler

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Soils in the Monongahela National Forest (MNF) are acidic due to sandstone parent material, acid deposition, uptake of base cations by vegetation, and release of organic acids by organic matter (OM) decomposition. Increases in soil acidity have caused declines in forest health and changed species composition and nutrient status. Liming can neutralize soil acidity, but no large-scale liming projects have been done on acid forest soils in the USA. In anticipation of acquiring funding for a proposed liming project in the MNF, in 2007 and 2009 10 sites were selected to sample and analyze soils before lime was applied. In …

Potential Solar Replacement Of Hydroelectricity To Reopen Rivers: Maine As A Case Example, Shailesh Sharma, John Waldman

Publications and Research

Hydroelectricity provides 6% of U.S. electrical power needs, but hydro-dams also cause environmental harm, including the retardation or complete blockage of spawning runs of anadromous fishes. To facilitate fish movements, engineered-fishways have long been used but many have performed poorly. Dam-removal is the most effective way of restoring dwindling migratory fish populations by allowing unrestricted pathways to their spawning areas and for the downstream migrations of post-spawning adults and juveniles. However, removals of hydro-dams result in a loss of electricity production. For the replacement of energy foregone from hydro-dam removals, various alternative energy installations are now feasible. We present one-to-one …

Cascading Effects: Insights From The U.S. Long Term Ecological Research Network, Christie A. Bahlai, Clarisse Hart, Maria T. Kavanaugh, Jeffrey D. White, Roger W. Ruess, Todd J. Brinkman, Hugh W. Ducklow, David R. Foster, William R. Fraser, Hélène Genet, Peter M. Groffman, Stephen K. Hamilton, Jill F. Johnstone, Knut Kielland, Douglas A. Landis, Michelle C. Mack, Orlando Sarnelle, Jonathan R. Thompson

Advanced Science Research Center

Ecosystems across the United States are changing in complex and unpredictable ways and analysis of these changes requires coordinated, long-term research. This paper is a product of a synthesis effort of the U.S. National Science Foundation funded Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) network addressing the LTER core research area of “populations and communities.” This analysis revealed that each LTER site had at least one compelling “story” about what their site would look like in 50–100 yr. As the stories were prepared, themes emerged, and the stories were group into papers along five themes: state change, connectivity, resilience, time lags, and cascading …

Environmental Controls On The Spatial Distribution Of Greenfin Darters And Biodiversity In The Blue Ridge Mountains, Dri Tattersfield

CMC Senior Theses

Disproportionate concentrations of biodiversity in mountains worldwide suggest linkages between geologic processes and biodiversity that are not yet well understood. The Tennessee River Basin in the Blue Ridge Mountains of the southeastern U.S. is a global hotspot for freshwater fish biodiversity. To investigate drivers of biodiversity in the Tennessee River Basin, and explore links to geologic processes, I study the Greenfin Darter (Nothonotus chlorobranchius), a small fish endemic to the upper Tennessee River Basin. I use generalized linear models (GLMs) to evaluate the influence of topography, lithology, climate and land use on the distribution of the Greenfin Darter, …

Determining The Trophic Role Of Red Snapper (Lutjanus Campechanus) In Mississippi State Waters Using Stomach Content And Stable Isotope Analysis, Branden Kohler

Master's Theses

The goal of this study was to determine the diet composition, trophic position and ecological role of red snapper (Lutjanus campechanus) in Mississippi state waters utilizing stable isotopes (δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N) and stomach content analysis. Stable isotope analysis of fish and their prey can provide information on species-specific basal resource utilization, diet composition and trophic position which can improve food web models and inform fisheries management decisions. Particulate organic matter (POM), the presumed base of the food web, red snapper muscle tissue, and red snapper stomach contents were collected from 25 sites in 2016 and …

Sampling The Local Fare: Fishes At The Sam Israel House Pit (45gr76), Soap Lake, Washington, Adam Fruge

All Master's Theses

The Sam Israel site is a precontact archaeological complex with numerous fish bones at the north end of Soap Lake, Washington. Excavated in 1976, the fish remains recovered from there were never fully analyzed prior to this research. Since this inland Columbia Plateau site had thousands of fish bones, it contained untapped potential for our understanding of ancient local fish procurement. As such, I conducted a detailed analysis of 2,862 fish bone specimens from the Sam Israel House Pit locus to: study a larger sample of fish bones in greater detail than was done before; compare the distribution of fishes …

Assessing The Hierarchy Of Long-Term Environmental Controls On Diatom Communities Of Yellowstone National Park Using Lacustrine Sediment Records, Victoria Chraibi, Sherilyn C. Fritz

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

An ecosystem’s ability to maintain structure and function following disturbance, defined as resilience, is influenced by a hierarchy of environmental controls, including climate, surface cover, and ecological relationships that shape biological community composition and productivity. This study examined lacustrine sediment records of naturally fishless lakes in Yellowstone National Park to reconstruct the response of aquatic communities to climate and trophic cascades from fish stocking. Sediment records of diatom algae did not exhibit a distinct response to fish stocking in terms of assemblage or algal productivity. Instead, 3 of 4 lakes underwent a shift to dominance by benthic diatom species from …

Hypoxia In Mangroves: Occurrence And Impact On Valuable Tropical Fish Habitat, Alexia Dubuc, Ronald Baker, Cyril Marchand, Nathan Waltham, Marcus Sheaves

School of Marine and Environmental Sciences Faculty and Staff Publications and Presentations

Intertidal mangrove forests are harsh environments that can naturally experience hypoxia in association with low tide. However, we know relatively little about dissolved oxygen (DO) fluctuations and DO-induced responses by fish, although DO is a fundamental water quality parameter. This study examines DO as a potential factor regulating the utilization of intertidal mangrove forests by fish and consequently their widely recognized feeding, refuge and nursery values. We deployed underwater video cameras, coupled with DO and depth loggers, in a mangrove forest to record changes in fish assemblages in response to tidal variations in DO and other associated environmental parameters. Our …

Conservation Limnogeology And Benthic Habitat Mapping In Central Lake Tanganyika (Tanzania), Joseph S. Lucas

Theses and Dissertations--Earth and Environmental Sciences

Small scale protected zones are valuable for helping the health and productivity of fisheries at Lake Tanganyika (East Africa). Spatial placement of protected areas relies on accurate maps of benthic habitats, consisting of detailed bathymetry data and information on lake-floor substrates. This information is unknown for most of Lake Tanganyika. Fish diversity is known to correlate with rocky substrates in ≤ 30 m water depth, which provide spawning grounds for littoral and pelagic species. These benthic habitats form important targets for protected areas, if they can be precisely located.

At the NMVA, echosounding defined the position of the 30-m isobath …

Effects Of Nonaerated Circulation Water Velocity On Nutrient Release From Aquaculture Pond Sediments, Xiangju Cheng, Dantong Zhu, Xixi Wang, Deguang Yu, Jun Xie

Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Sustaining good water quality in aquaculture ponds is vital. Without an aerator, the dissolved oxygen in ponds comes primarily from mass transfer at the water-ambient atmosphere interface. As sediment can seriously affect water quality, this study used indoor experiments to examine the nutrient (nitrogen and phosphorus) release mechanisms and fluxes from sediment in aquaculture ponds with moving water but no aeration. The results showed that the ammonia nitrogen (NH₃-N) concentration in the overlying water was inversely proportional to flow velocity and that a higher flow velocity tended to result in a lower concentration in the overlying water, a …

Whiting Events Off Southwest Florida: Remote Sensing And Field Observations, Jacqueline Long

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

“Whiting” is a term used to describe a sharply defined patch of water that contains high levels of suspended, fine-grained calcium carbonate (CaCO₃). These features are named for their bright (at times white) appearance when compared to surrounding waters, and have been found to occur globally, persisting for multiple consecutive days. Although whitings have been widely studied using chemical, biological, geological, and physical techniques, there has been little effort to document their spatio-temporal distributions in a systematic way, not to mention the lack of consensus on what generates whitings and allows them to persist for days to weeks …

Slides: The Era Of River Anthropology: Social And Eco-Hydrological Science Connections And Capacity For Environmental Flows: Us Case Studies, Joseph E. Flotemersch, Lisa-Perras Gordon

Coping with Water Scarcity in River Basins Worldwide: Lessons Learned from Shared Experiences (Martz Summer Conference, June 9-10)

Presenter: Joe Flotemersch, US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Office of Research and Development

21 slides

Slides: Environmental Flows In The Era Of 'River Anthropology', Rebecca Tharme

Coping with Water Scarcity in River Basins Worldwide: Lessons Learned from Shared Experiences (Martz Summer Conference, June 9-10)

Presenter: Rebecca Tharme, Riverfutures Ltd.

18 slides

Slides: The Colorado River Basin, Larry Macdonnell

Coping with Water Scarcity in River Basins Worldwide: Lessons Learned from Shared Experiences (Martz Summer Conference, June 9-10)

Presenter: Larry MacDonnell, Senior Fellow, Getches-Wilkinson Center, University of Colorado

17 slides

Slides: The Columbia River Basin, Barbara Cosens

Coping with Water Scarcity in River Basins Worldwide: Lessons Learned from Shared Experiences (Martz Summer Conference, June 9-10)

Presenter: Barbara Cosens, Professor and Associate Dean of Faculty, University of Idaho College of Law, Waters of the West Interdisciplinary Program

16 slides

Slides: Environmental Flow Case Studies: Southern And Eastern Africa, Rebecca Tharme, Kelly Fouchy, Susan Graas, John Conallin, Michael Mcclain, Unesco-Ihe, Felister Mombo, Sokoine University Of Agriculture

Coping with Water Scarcity in River Basins Worldwide: Lessons Learned from Shared Experiences (Martz Summer Conference, June 9-10)

Presenter: Rebecca Tharme, Riverfutures Ltd.

17 slides