Aquaculture and Fisheries Commons^™

Taming The Teesta: Exploring The Holistic Effects Of Hydroelectric Dam Development On The Teesta River Through Documentary Film, Taylor Graham

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Since time immemorial, the Lepcha people have called the Himalayan region that makes up the modern state of Sikkim their home and have held sacred the rivers, mountains, and forests that make up the biologically diverse region. Over the past two decades, India’s rapid development has generated a powerful thirst for electricity, and the country has increasingly looked to the cold, powerful rivers thundering from the Himalayas to supply that desired power. Hydroelectric projects have been proposed and implemented throughout the Himalayan region. Nowhere, however, are the dams as numerous or their effects as acutely felt as in India’s northwestern …

Ocean Food Systems, Barry A. Costa-Pierce

Marine Sciences Faculty Presentations

Presentation given during session on Food Justice, where Barton Seaver, Director of the Healthy and Sustainable Food Program in the T.H. Chan School of Public Health at Harvard, described a great nutrition and health crisis in America perpetuated by groups demarketing seafood and promoting meat in the American diet. Seaver noted that Americans consume about 167 lbs. of meat a year and only 14 lbs. of seafood, leading to connected public health and environmental crises, heart disease, and obesity.

According to presenter Barry Costa-Pierce:

Seafood systems in the USA are our most insane foods; America imports nearly every seafood we …

Growth Of A Deep-Water, Predatory Fish Is Influenced By The Productivity Of A Boundary Current System, Hoang Minh Nguyen, Adam N. Rountrey, Jessica J. Meeuwig, Peter G. Coulson, Ming Feng, Stephen J. Newman, Anya M. Waite, Corey B. Wakefield, Mark G. Meekan

Fisheries Research Articles

The effects of climate change on predatory fishes in deep shelf areas are difficult to predict because complex processes may govern food availability and temperature at depth. We characterised the net impact of recent environmental changes on hapuku (Polyprion oxygeneios), an apex predator found in continental slope habitats (>200 m depth) by using dendrochronology techniques to develop a multi-decadal record of growth from otoliths. Fish were sampled off temperate south-western Australia, a region strongly influenced by the Leeuwin Current, a poleward-flowing, eastern boundary current. The common variance among individual growth records was relatively low (3.4%), but the …

Shifts In Attack Behavior Of An Important Kelp Forest Predator Within Marine Reserves, J. S. Berriman, M. C. Kay, D. C. Reed, A. Rassweiler, D. A. Goldstein, William G. Wright

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Marine reserves have become increasingly valuable tools with which to manage ecosystems. These reserves consistently restore populations of top predators, often reducing availability of their favored prey. We hypothesized that such prey reduction in reserves causes protected predators to alter their attack behavior to include less palatable prey, potentially amplifying top-down effects on community structure. To test this hypothesis, we presented the relatively unpalatable sea hare Aplysia californica to freely foraging spiny lobsters Panulirus interruptus in 4 marine no-take reserves, each paired with an adjacent fished area. We found that lobsters only attacked sea hares inside reserves, where lobster density …

South Coast Crustacean Managed Fishery Draft Management Plan 2015, Western Australian Department Of Fisheries

Fisheries Management Papers

Four commercial fisheries currently operate using pots to target crustaceans including deep sea crabs and rock lobsters on the south coast between Cape Leeuwin and the South Australian border. The four fisheries include, two managed fisheries; the Windy Harbour-Augusta Rock Lobster Managed Fishery (WHARLF) and Esperance Rock Lobster Managed Fishery (ERLF), the Southern Rock Lobster pot licence (SRL) fishery operating under Regulation 125 of the Fish Resources Management Regulations 1995 (FRMR) and the deep sea crab fishery operating under Fishing Boat Licence (FBL) Condition 105. Noting the multiple and different management arrangements in place to manage these fisheries and the …

South Coast Crustacean Managed Fishery Draft Management Plan 2015, Department Of Fisheries

Fisheries Management Papers

No abstract provided.

Further Investigation Into Critical Habitat For Juvenile Dhufish (Glaucosoma Hebraicum), Artificial Habitats And The Potential To Monitor Annual Juvenile Recruitment, Paul D. Lewis

Fisheries Research Reports

The West Australian dhufish is a demersal fish species that is highly sought after by commercial and recreational fishers in the West Coast Bioregion of WA. An assessment of the stock status in 2009 by the Department of Fisheries indicated the stock was overexploited with a need for a 50% reduction in the overall catch. As the species is long lived and slow growing, reaching a maximum age of 40 years of age, the recovery is likely to be slow.

Fisheries Occasional Publication 119: Australian Fisheries Management Forum - Fisheries Management Workshop, Adelaide 26 And 27 March 2014, Department Of Fisheries

Fisheries Occasional Publications

No abstract provided.

Changes In Zebrafish (Danio Rerio) Startle Responses Due To Stressors Related To Marine Bycatch, Margot Wilsterman

Biology Honors Papers

Marine bycatch is one of the most pressing issues that result from modern industrialized fishing. Scientists do not have good estimates of rates of cryptic mortality, which is the mortality of individuals that are not landed but die from interactions with fishing gear below the water surface. One of the main causes of cryptic mortality is depredation, which occurs after individuals have escaped through fishing equipment and are eaten by predators waiting close behind for an effortless meal. In this study the effects of scale loss, slime loss, and exhaustion on the startle response of zebrafish were examined. These stressors …

Population Level Responses To Direct Application Liming In Gyrinophilus Porphyriticus, Shelby Renea Timm

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Direct application liming (DAL) has been used to neutralize acidified streams to restore aquatic biota. This mitigation technique has been used globally for decades, yet little data exist on its effects on amphibian populations. My study investigated the effects of liming on amphibians by measuring variability in life histories of larval Gyrinophilus porphyriticus. I collected larvae from six streams in the Monongahela National Forest, West Virginia. I examined the effects of DAL on age structure, and I failed to detect a treatment effect. I used ANCOVAs to examine differences in body condition, body size, and gape size. I observed that …

Monitoring The Land Cover Change In The Historic Range Of Cambarus Veteranus In West Virginia Using A 1973-2013 Landsat Time Series, Emma Martha Arneson

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The crayfish Cambarus veteranus is near extinction in its historic range of the Upper Guyandotte River watershed. The biggest threats to C. veteranus are mining and road construction. Mining has been a continuous activity in the southern coalfields where the crayfish has historically been found, yet little is known about how much land cover change the practice has done to the region. Crayfish act as important organisms within aquatic ecosystems and without them, those systems are often degraded. Quantifying the change in land cover is important to understanding threats to C. veteranus for future protection of the crayfish and its …

Father Convict Cichlids Bite Intruders More Often In Hot Temperatures, Jesse L. Heckendorf

STAR Program Research Presentations

Convict cichlids (Archocentrus nigrofasciatus) have evolved to be extremely good parents by protecting their brood. Parental care leads to aggressive biting, chasing, and gill flaring to intimidate predators. In this experiment, we show that environmental factors, such as the changing of temperature in this case, affect a male convict cichlid’s aggression toward caring for his offspring when an intruder is introduced. Male convict cichlids attack more in warmer water.

The Role Of Citizens In Detecting And Responding To A Rapid Marine Invasion, Steven B. Scyphers, Sean P. Powers, J. Lad Akins, J. Marcus Drymon, Charles W. Martin, Zeb H. Schobernd, Pamela J. Schofield, Robert L. Shipp, Theodore S. Switzer

University Faculty and Staff Publications

Documenting and responding to species invasions requires innovative strategies that account for ecological and societal complexities. We used the recent expansion of Indo-Pacific lionfish (Pterois volitans/miles) throughout northern Gulf of Mexico coastal waters to evaluate the role of stakeholders in documenting and responding to a rapid marine invasion. We coupled an online survey of spearfishers and citizen science monitoring programs with traditional fishery-independent data sources and found that citizen observations documented lionfish 1–2 years earlier and more frequently than traditional reef fish monitoring programs. Citizen observations first documented lionfish in 2010 followed by rapid expansion and proliferation in …

Navigating A Pathway Toward Colorado's Water Future: A Review And Recommendations On Colorado's Draft Water Plan, Lawrence J. Macdonnell, Colorado Water Working Group

Books, Reports, and Studies

40 pages (includes color illustrations).

A Tide Prediction And Tide Height Control System For Laboratory Mesocosms, Luke Miller, Jeremy Long

Faculty Publications, Biological Sciences

Experimental mesocosm studies of rocky shore and estuarine intertidal systems may benefit from the application of natural tide cycles to better replicate variation in immersion time, water depth, and attendant fluctuations in abiotic and edaphic conditions. Here we describe a stand-alone microcontroller tide prediction open-source software program, coupled with a mechanical tidal elevation control system, which allows continuous adjustment of aquarium water depths in synchrony with local tide cycles. We used this system to monitor the growth of Spartina foliosa marsh cordgrass and scale insect herbivores at three simulated shore elevations in laboratory mesocosms. Plant growth decreased with increasing shore …

The Effect Of Silver Nanoparticles On Synaptic Responses In The Lateral Giant Escape Circuit Of The Crayfish, Samantha N. Adkins

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The lateral giant neuron in the crayfish is a neuron that controls the reflexive escape response; the context and experience-dependent tuning of this response is critical for survival. Serotonin modulates synaptic responses in this neuron, and social experiences (stress) changes the modulatory role of serotonin. I investigated the mechanisms of induced synaptic response changes and serotonergic modulatory changes after silver nanoparticle exposure to ask if 1) contaminant induced stress changes serotonergic modulation in a manner consistent with social stress and 2) shed light on potential neurotoxic effects of widely used, but poorly understood nanomaterials. Our data show that stress induced …

Accuracy Or Precision: Implications Of Sample Design And Methodology On Abundance Estimation, Lucas K. Kowalewski, Christopher J. Chizinski, Larkin A. Powell, Kevin L. Pope, Mark A. Pegg

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Sampling by spatially replicated counts (point-count) is an increasingly popular method of estimating population size of organisms. Challenges exist when sampling by point-count method, and it is often impractical to sample entire area of interest and impossible to detect every individual present. Ecologists encounter logistical limitations that force them to sample either few large-sample units or many small sample-units, introducing biases to sample counts. We generated a computer environment and simulated sampling scenarios to test the role of number of samples, sample unit area, number of organisms, and distribution of organisms in the estimation of population sizes using N-mixture …

Likelihood Of Marine Pest Introduction To The Indian Ocean Territories, Justin I. Mcdonald, Samantha D. Bridgwood, Mathew Hourston

Fisheries Research Reports

The introduction of new species to environments in which they did not evolve has been widely recognised as one of the top five threats to marine ecosystem function and to biodiversity (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005).

Fisheries Research Report No. 260 - Management Implications Of Climate Change Effect On Fisheries In Western Australia Part 1: Environmental Change And Risk Assessment Frdc: Project No. 2010/535, Nicolavito Caputi, Ming Feng, Alan Pearce, J Benthuysen, Ainslie M. Denham, Y Hetzel, Gary Jackson, Brett W. Molony, Lindsay M. Joll, Arani N. Chandrapavan

Fisheries Research Reports

Objectives: 1. Assess future climate change effects on Western Australia’s marine environment using a suite of IPCC model projections, downscaled to the key shelf regions and the spatial and temporal scales relevant for key fisheries 2. Examine the modeled shelf climate change scenarios on fisheries and implications of historic and future climate change effects 3. Review management arrangements to examine their robustness to possible effects of climate change

Predictions Of Future Ephemeral Springtime Waterbird Stopover Habitat Availability Under Global Change, Daniel R. Uden, Craig R. Allen, Andrew A. Bishop, Roger Grosse, Christopher F. Jorgensen, Theodore G. Lagrange, Randy G. Stutheit, Mark P. Vrtiska

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

In the present period of rapid, worldwide change in climate and landuse (i.e., global change), successful biodiversity conservation warrants proactive management responses, especially for long-distance migratory species. However, the development and implementation of management strategies can be impeded by high levels of uncertainty and low levels of control over potentially impactful future events and their effects. Scenario planning and modeling are useful tools for expanding perspectives and informing decisions under these conditions. We coupled scenario planning and statistical modeling to explain and predict playa wetland inundation (i.e., presence/absence of water) and ponded area (i.e., extent of water) in the Rainwater …

The Importance Of Scaling For Detecting Community Patterns: Success And Failure In Assemblages Of Introduced Species, Craig R. Allen, David G. Angeler, Michael P. Moulton, Crawford S. Holling

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Community saturation can help to explain why biological invasions fail. However, previous research has documented inconsistent relationships between failed invasions (i.e., an invasive species colonizes but goes extinct) and the number of species present in the invaded community. We use data from bird communities of the Hawaiian island of Oahu, which supports a community of 38 successfully established introduced birds and where 37 species were introduced but went extinct (failed invasions). We develop a modified approach to evaluate the effects of community saturation on invasion failure. Our method accounts (1) for the number of species present (NSP) when the species …

Effects Of Alternative Framing On The Publics Perceived Importance Of Environmental Conservation, Amanda E. Sorensen, Daniel Clark, Rebecca C. Jordan

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Effective communication of science to the general public is important for numerous reasons, including support for policy, funding, informed public decision making, among others. Prior research has found that scientists participating in public policy and public communication must frame their communication efforts in order to connect with audiences. A frame is the mechanism that individuals use to understand and interpret the world around them. Framing can encourage specific interpretations and reference points for a particular issue or event; especially when meaning is negotiated between the media and public audiences. In this study, we looked at the effect of framing within …

Abiotic Habitat Preferences Of Age-0 Paddlefish In Lake Sakakawea, North Dakota During Late Summer, Derek Dufault

Journal of Earth and Life Science

Since the early 1990’s, surface visual counts along transects have been conducted annually, allowing for estimates of relative abundance and year-class strength of age-0 paddlefish Polyodon spathula on the upper portions of Lake Sakakawea, North Dakota. This study focuses on the annual visual surface count data collected over an eleven year period from 2004-2014. More specifically it focuses on abiotic habitat factors (Secchi depth, water depth, and water temperature) and how they relate to age-0 paddlefish locations in late summer. Understanding habitat use during early life stages is imperative, yet to date, there is very limited knowledge available regarding the …

Influence Of Depth And Retrieval Speed On Yellow Perch Barotrauma Recovery Time In Winter, Bradley J. Klingsheim

Journal of Earth and Life Science

Physoclistous fish are often affected by barotrauma because the swim bladder is not connected to the esophagus. Barotrauma is increasingly being used in assessing mortality in fish brought from deep water. Barotrauma is the physical damage that occurs because of the over inflation of the gas bladder resulting from a rapid decrease in ambient pressure. The two important factors influencing barotrauma effects are water depth and decompression. In this study, two experiments were conducted on yellow perch (Perca flavescens) at three depth locations on Grace Lake, Bemidji, Minnesota. Fish were measured for barotrauma recovery time (s) following capture by hook …

The Effects Of Harvest Regulations On Behaviors Of Duck Hunters, Matthew T. Haugen, Larkin A. Powell, Mark P. Vrtiska, Kevin L. Pope

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Uncertainty exists as to how duck harvest regulations influence waterfowl hunter behavior. We used the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Parts Collection Survey to examine how harvest regulations affected behaviors of Central Flyway duck hunters. We stratified hunters into ranked groups based on seasonal harvest and identified three periods (1975–1984, 1988–1993, 2002–2011) that represented different harvest regulations (moderate, restrictive, and liberal, respectively; season length and daily bag limits smallest in restrictive seasons and largest in liberal seasons). We examined variability of seven measures of duck hunter behaviors across the periods: days harvesting ducks, daily harvest, hunter mobility, mallard (Anas platyrhynchos …

Masked Expression Of Life- History Traits In A Highly Variable Environment, Jason A. Deboer, Joseph J. Fontaine, Christopher J. Chizinski, Kevin L. Pope

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Differing life-history strategies may act as a constraint on reproductive expression that ultimately limits the ability of individual species to respond to changes in the magnitude or frequency of environmental variation, and potentially underlies the variation oft en inherent in phenotypic and evolved responses to anthropogenic change. Alternatively, if there are environmental cues that predict reproductive potential, differential expression of life-history strategies may represent differences in the adaptive capacity to optimize current reproductive value given variation in environmental conditions. We compared several aspects of walleye Sander vitreus spawning ecology at two reservoirs that diff er in environmental variability (i.e., annual …

Fisheries Research Report 261: Management Implications Of Climate Change Effect On Fisheries In Western Australia Part 2: Case Studies Frdc Project No. 2010/535, Nicolavito Caputi, Feng Ming, Alan Pearce, J Benthuysen, Ainslie M. Denham, Y Hetzel, R Matear, Gary Jackson, Brett W. Molony, M Lindsay, Arani N. Chandrapavan

Fisheries Research Reports

The Western Rock Lobster Panulirus cygnus (George) is taken by commercial and recreational fishers throughout its geographic range along the lower west coast of Western Australia. It is fished by three managed fisheries; West Coast Rock Lobster Managed Fishery (WCRLMF), Augusta–Windy Harbour Managed Fishery and the South Coast Crustacean Fisheries. The WCRLMF is the largest fishery encompassing most of the Western Rock Lobster’s (WRL) geographic range (Figure 1.1.1), including the most productive regions and is Australia’s largest single-species fishery worth $200–400 million annually.

Application Of Otolith Chemical Signatures To Estimate Population Connectivity Of Red Snapper In The Western Gulf Of Mexico, Michelle Zapp Sluis, Beverly K. Barnett, William F. Patterson, James H. Cowan, Alan M. Shiller

Faculty Publications

Otolith chemical signatures of Red Snapper Lutjanus campechanus from six nursery regions were used to estimate the sources of recruits to four sampling regions in the western Gulf of Mexico (Gulf) and to estimate whether postsettlement mixing of Red Snapper occurs between the U.S. and Mexican portions of the western Gulf. In a previous study, region-specific otolith signatures (element : Ca ratios: Ba:Ca, Mg:Ca, Mn:Ca, Sr:Ca, and Li:Ca; stable isotope delta values: δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O) were developed based on age-0 Red Snapper (2005–2007 year-classes) sampled from the six nursery areas. In the present study, subadult and …

Zebra Mussel (Dreissena Polymorpha) Habitat Associations In Four West-Central Minnesota Lakes, April Rose Londo

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

In 1989, zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) were first documented in the land of ten thousand lakes in the Lake Superior Basin at Duluth. Zebra mussels are successful invaders because the species attaches to substrates with byssal threads, can adapt to a wide range of environmental conditions, and has a free-swimming veligers that are easily transported. Although invasive mollusks pose a range of economic and ecological threats to inland waters, our understanding of zebra mussels in Minnesota lakes remains limited. To gain additional information regarding zebra mussel ecology in lake systems, I conducted research in four west-central Minnesota lakes that were …

Life-History Aspects Of Moxostoma Cervinum (Blacktip Jumprock) In The Roanoke River, Virginia, Dezarai A. Thompson, John S. Bentley, Steven L. Powers

Virginia Journal of Science

Life-history aspects of Moxostoma cervinum(Blacktip Jumprock) were identified using specimens from recent collections and the Roanoke College Ichthyological Collection. The largest specimen examined was a female 161.27 mm SL and 66 months of age. Spawning appears to occur in May, with a mean of 2477.6 oocytes (SD = 2825.3) up to 1.54 mm diameter in gravid females. Sexual maturity appears to occur by 1-2 years of age in males and 2-3 years of age in females. Male to female ratio was not significantly different from 1:1. Chironomidae composed the bulk of the diet; while detritus, Trichoptera, Ephemeroptera, and Acari …