Marine Biology Commons^™

Environmental Indicator Report: Water Quality, Phil Trowbridge

PREP Reports & Publications

During the fall and winter of 2001-2002, the New Hampshire Estuaries Project’s Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) developed a suite of environmental indicators to track progress toward the NHEP’s management goals and objectives. These indicators were fully described in terms of their performance criteria, statistical methods, and measurable goals in the NHEP’s Monitoring Plan published in May 2002. The next step is to use these indicators to produce an updated “State of the Estuaries” report by the spring of 2003. The TAC decided to break this task into three sections: shellfish indicators in the fall of 2002; water quality indicators in …

Juvenile Clam Mortality Study At Three Intertidal Flats In Hampton Harbor, New Hampshire, Brian F. Beal

PREP Reports & Publications

Soft-shell clams, Mya arenaria L., represent an important recreational fishery along the New Hampshire coast. Intertidal flats in the Hampton-Seabrook Estuary are among the most heavily harvested. As recently as the fall of 1998, the sandy flats in this area supported more than 900 clammers, who, on weekends, easily harvested their 9.5-liter limit (Varney, 1999). Recently, however, quantitative benthic surveys have suggested that the abundance of adult clams (> 50 mm shell length, SL) has dwindled on the three estuarine flats (Brown’s Flat, Common Island, and Middle Ground). Clammers support this contention and many have been disappointed at the relative …

Surface And Deep Ocean Circulation In The Subpolar North Atlantic During The Mid-Pleistocene Revolution, Amy K. Wright, Benjamin P. Flower

Marine Science Faculty Publications

We investigated surface and deep ocean variability in the subpolar North Atlantic from 1000 to 500 thousand years ago (ka) based on two Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) sites, Feni drift site 980 (55°29′N, 14°42′W) and Bjorn drift site 984 (61°25′N, 24°04′W). Benthic foraminiferal stable isotope data, planktic foraminiferal faunas, ice‐rafted debris data, and faunally based sea‐surface temperature estimates help test the hypothesis that oceanographic changes in the North Atlantic region were associated with the onset of the 100‐kyr world during the mid‐Pleistocene revolution. Based on percentage of Neogloboquadrina pachyderma (s) records from both sites, surface waters during interglacials and glacials …

Sea Surface Salinity Measurements In The Historical Database, Frederick M. Bingham, Stephan D. Howden, Chester J. Koblinsky

Faculty Publications

We have examined historical distributions of sea surface salinity (SSS) observations in a data set consisting of a combination of the World Ocean Database 1998 (WOD98) and a thermosalinograph and bucket salinity database collected from volunteer observing ships. It is well known that SSS in much of the world's ocean is measured infrequently or not at all. We find that 27% of one-degree squares in the world ocean (open and coastal, excluding the Arctic Ocean) had no observations of SSS in the historical database, and 70% had 10 or fewer. Systematic sampling of SSS (more than 10,000 observations per year …

Shellfish And Water Quality Monitoring Activities That Support The New Hampshire Estuaries Project, Stephen H. Jones, Richard Langan

PREP Reports & Publications

No abstract provided.

Fisheries Research Report No. 142 - Identifying The Development Stages Of Preserved Eggs Of Snapper, Pagrus Auratus, From Shark Bay, Western Australia, J. Norriss, Gary Jackson

Fisheries Research Reports

The characteristics used to identify 19 developmental stages of preserved eggs of snapper, Pagrus auratus, collected from Shark Bay, Western Australia, during annual plankton surveys, are described and illustrated. A key is provided to enable the age of each egg stage to be estimated based on sea surface temperature and salinity observed during sampling. This report is intended as a reference for inexperienced staff, to ensure that between-year comparisons of snapper spawning biomass, estimated using the daily egg production method, are based on consistent egg staging and ageing methods.

Fisheries Research Report No. 143 - Methods Used In The Collection, Preparation And Interpretation Of Narrow-Barred Spanish Mackerel (Scomberomorus Commerson) Otoliths For A Study Of Age And Growth In Western Australia, Paul Lewis, M. C. Mackie

Fisheries Research Reports

The narrow-barred Spanish mackerel (Scomberomorus commerson) is wide ranging throughout the Indo-West Pacific region where it has been the subject of various age and growth studies. Methods used in these studies have varied considerably and in some cases may have led to misleading conclusions. The purpose of this report, therefore, is to document in detail the methods used in determining the age and growth during a FRDC funded stock assessment of the species in the waters off Western Australia. These methods are considered to optimise the collection, processing, accuracy of microincrement counts, and interpretation of the annuli in both whole …

Developing Impervious Surface Estimates For Coastal New Hampshire, David G. Justice, Fay A. Rubin

PREP Reports & Publications

Future population growth and the corresponding increase in development in the coastal zone of NH are widely recognized as major threats to the integrity of coastal systems and their watersheds. The potential impacts associated with the expansion of developed land, and specifically with increasing amounts of impervious surfaces – rooftops, sidewalks, roads, and parking lots - may include significant changes in water quantity, degradation in water quality, and habitat loss. Because asphalt, concrete, stone, and other impenetrable materials effectively seal the ground surface, water is repelled and is prevented from infiltrating soils. Instead, stormwater runoff flows directly into our surface …

Saving Special Places: Community Funding For Land Conservation, Brian Hart, Dorothy Tripp Taylor

PREP Reports & Publications

In New Hampshire communities, there is a groundswell of interest and activity in conserving land. New Hampshire currently has more than forty-five land trusts. There are conservation commissions in all but a handful of towns. Many of them are engaged in conserving their special natural lands. Over half of the towns in the state have conservation funds fueled by the Land Use Change Tax. There have been 62 applications for land conservation projects to the Land and Community Heritage Investment Program since its inception in 2000. New Hampshire voters are appropriating significant taxpayer funds to conserve undeveloped land. Twelve communities, …

Laboratory Analyses Of Water And Shellfish From Coastal Waters And Watershed Of New Hampshire, Jayne S. Finnigan

PREP Reports & Publications

The Department of Health and Human Services-New Hampshire Public Health Laboratories (DHHS-NHPHL) has participated in providing laboratory analyses as part of the National Estuary Program since it’s inception in New Hampshire in 1995. The NHPHL has continued to carry out various actions dealing with the monitoring program as listed in the NH Estuaries Project Management Plan.

The NHPHL implemented selected actions from the NH Estuaries Project Management Plan and Year Six workplan to help address the environmental problems affecting the state’s estuarine systems.

Wildlife Habitat Gis Modeling Study, Society For The Protection Of New Hampshire Forests

PREP Reports & Publications

This technical report is part of a larger study entitled Protecting Wildlife and Significant Habitat in Coastal New Hampshire, an initiative of the Great Bay Resource Protection Partnership (GBRPP), funded by the New Hampshire Estuaries Project. The fieldwork component of the study was implemented by the Audubon Society of New Hampshire (ASNH) and the N.H. Fish & Game Department Non-game and Endangered Wildlife Program (NHF&G) in 2002, in cooperation with The Nature Conservancy of New Hampshire (TNC). This report focuses on the GIS mapping and predictive habitat modeling developed by the Society for the Protection of N.H. Forests (SPNHF) in …

A Multiproxy Approach To Reconstructing Sea Surface Conditions Using Coral Skeleton Geochemistry, Terrence M. Quinn, Daniel E. Sampson

Marine Science Faculty Publications

[1] We use elemental ratio (Mg/Ca, Sr/Ca, U/Ca and Ba/Ca) and oxygen isotope data from a Porites lutea coral head collected from offshore Amedee Island, New Caledonia (22degrees29'S, 166degrees28'E) to assess the degree to which changes in these geochemical variables reflect variations in sea surface conditions. We have assessed the robustness of each geochemical proxy by comparing 25 years (1992-1968) of monthly geochemical variations with a local record of sea surface temperature (SST) and with the appropriate 1degrees by 1degrees grid box from a global gridded SST data set. We conclude from our comparison that the most consistent proxies of …

The Rediscovery Of The Mississippi Silverside, Menidia Audens, In The Pearl River Drainage In Mississippi And Louisiana, Royal D. Suttkus, Bruce A. Thompson

Southeastern Fishes Council Proceedings

No abstract provided.

Number 44 (November 2002), Southern Fishes Council

Southeastern Fishes Council Proceedings

(November 2002) - Seasonal, diel and spawning habitat of the rare muscadine darter (Percina sp.) in the Conasauga River, Georgia. By Carol E. Johnston, Kevin J. Kleiner, and Steven J. Herrington

The rediscovery of the Mississippi silverside, Menidia audens, in the Pearl River draninage in Mississippi and Louisiana. By Royal D. Suttkus and Bruce A. Thompson

News and Notes

Front Matter, Southeastern Fishes Council

Southeastern Fishes Council Proceedings

No abstract provided.

Seasonal, Diel, And Spawning Habitat Of The Rare Muscadine Darter (Percina Sp.) In The Conasauga River, Georgia, Carol E. Johnston, Kevin J. Kleiner, Steven J. Herrington

Southeastern Fishes Council Proceedings

No abstract provided.

News And Notes, Southeastern Fishes Council

Southeastern Fishes Council Proceedings

No abstract provided.

Workshop On Sustainable Development Of Marine Fish Farming In Wa, Peter Rogers, R Fletcher

Fisheries Management Papers

The purpose of this paper is twofold. First to provide an overview of the role of government and more particularly the Department of Fisheries and second to outline government expectations for aquaculture development agencies in the implementation of sustainable development initiatives and the effect this could have on the management of aquaculture within WA.

Review Of Recreational Take Of Coral In Western Australia. A Discussion Paper., Department Of Fisheries

Fisheries Management Papers

This discussion paper has been prepared by the Department of Fisheries (Western Australia) to address the issue of recreational collection of coral in coastal waters of Western Australia. The paper describes: • popular coral locations in WA; • management issues associated with the recreational collection of corals; • management objectives and strategies as possible options to address the issue of recreational collection of corals; and • seeks public input on the proposed management objectives and strategies.

Fall 2002, Nsu Oceanographic Center

Currents

No abstract provided.

Characteristics Of Shark Bycatch Observed On Pelagic Longlines Off The Southeastern United States, 1992-2000, Lawrence R. Beerkircher, Enric Cortes, Mahmood S. Shivji

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Data collected by fisheries observers aboard U.S. pelagic longline vessels were examined to quantify and describe elasmobranch bycatch off the southeastern U.S. coast (lat. 22°-35°N, long. 71°-82°W). From 1992 to 2000, 961 individual longline hauls were observed, during which 4,612 elasmobranchs (15% of the total catch) were documented. Of the 22 elasmobranch species observed, silky sharks, Carcharhinus falciformis, were numerically dominant (31.4% of the elasmobranch catch). The catch status of the animals (alive or dead) when the gear was retrieved varied widely depending on the species, with high mortalities seen for the commonly caught silky and night, C. signatus …

Mrnas Located In Squalus Acanthias (Spiny Dogfish) Oligodendrocyte Processes, Nicholas Pahl, Sara Homsi, Hilary G. Morrison, Robert M. Gould

Ocean Engineering and Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

This study identifies mRNAs located in oligodendrocyte (OL) processes of spiny dogfish and compares them with mRNAs that were previously identified in rat OL processes (1, 2). Because these two species have independent evolutionary histories covering hundreds of millions of years, mRNAs common to OL processes in both species likely represent proteins recruited to form the original myelin sheaths in the common gnathostome ancestor. Of the mRNAs present in rat OL processes, myelin basic protein (MBP) and myelin-associated oligodendrocytic basic protein (MOBP) mRNAs dominate (1, 2). Surprisingly, however, MBP mRNA is not located in spiny dogfish OL processes; rather it …

The Equatorial Thermocline Outcroppin - A Seasonal Control On The Tropical Pacific Ocean-Atmosphere Instability Strength, Eli Galanti, Eli Tziperman, Matthew Harrison, Anthony Rosati, Ralf Giering, Ziv Sirkes

Faculty Publications

One of the major factors determining the strength and extent of ENSO events is the instability state of the equatorial Pacific coupled ocean-atmosphere system and its seasonal variations. This study analyzes the coupled instability in a hybrid coupled model of the Indo-Pacific region, using the adjoint method for sensitivity studies. It is found that the seasonal changes in the ocean-atmosphere instability strength in the model used here are related to the outcropping of the thermocline in the east equatorial Pacific. From July to December, when the thermocline outcrops over a wide area in the east Pacific, there is a strong …

Recruitment Variability Of Atlantic Croaker, Micropogonia Undulatus, With Observations On Environmental Factors, Sumalee Hoskin

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

I examined entrance patterns of Atlantic croaker, Micropogonias undulatus by comparing the abundance, length, age and growth rates, of larvae as they entered Oregon and Ocracoke Inlets, NC. These biological factors were then compared against environmental factors to assess the influence the physical environment has on recruitment variability. Entrance abundance into Oregon Inlet was an order of magnitude higher than abundance into Ocracoke Inlet. However, the difference was influenced by three peak events in Oregon Inlet and non-parametric tests found no difference in median abundance between the two inlets. Mean standard length was smaller at Oregon Inlet than Ocracoke Inlet …

Evaluation Of Monitoring Programs For The Nhep Monitoring Plan, Phil Trowbridge

PREP Reports & Publications

The objective of this report is to evaluate the monitoring programs for indicators in the NHEP Monitoring Plan (NHEP, 2002) to determine if sufficient data are being collected for each indicator and to identify any datagaps. The outcome of this report is a list of recommended changes to monitoring programs and a list of follow-up research projects. These recommendations will be considered to develop the workplans for NHEP monitoring funds in 2003.

Fisheries Research Report No. 141 - A Guide To Good Otolith Cutting, Jerry Jenke

Fisheries Research Reports

This is a guide for embedding and sectioning fish otoliths. It is based on many years of otolith sectioning experience and is written as a recipe book for novice and expert alike. Included is a method for the enhancement of the clarity of small otoliths for improved sectioning, development of custom made tools, as well as a list of do’s and don’ts and hints to make the job easier. Use of this guide will assist in the most reliable interpretation of an otolith's internal structure, thereby improving ageing studies in general.

Evolution And Dynamics Of Tropical River Plumes In The Great Barrier Reef: An Integrated Remote Sensing And In Situ Study, D.M. Burrage, M.L. Heron, J.M. Hacker, T.C. Stieglitz, C.R. Steinberg, A. Prytz

Faculty Publications

[1] The short-lived but intense discharge of freshwater from tropical rivers into the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) Lagoon and the associated salinity reductions are a critical consideration in marine research and management of the ecologically sensitive GBR World Heritage Area. Salinity provides a unique tracer that gives clues to the origin of river-borne contaminants and allows the influences of storm-induced resuspension and river discharge on turbidity to be clearly distinguished. We describe a field investigation of the evolution and dynamics of the Herbert River plume in the central GBR. Its primary goals were to use an airborne salinity mapper and …

Fisheries Research Report No. 132 - A Review Of Food Availability, Sea Water Characteristics And Bivalve Growth Performance At Coastal Culture Sites In Temperate And Warm Temperate Regions Of The World, Sidney A. Saxby

Fisheries Research Reports

The suitability of a coastal area for bivalve farming, as well as the density at which bivalves can be farmed in that area, is limited by the available food supply and other environmental variables. In this review, a range of successful and marginal bivalve growing areas in temperate and warm temperate coastal areas around the world are characterised. These include areas of high food and nutrient levels, such as Saldanha Bay in South Africa, and the Seto Inland Sea, Japan, through to more oligotrophic areas, typified by parts of the South Australian coastline and the Mediterranean Sea. The latter areas …

Reseeding Of Grazing Gastropods And Bivalves Into The Marine Environment In Western Australia, Jane Borg

Fisheries Management Papers

The Department of Fisheries does not want to embark on what is ‘new territory’ in Western Australia without a policy framework to define what is to happen, why it is to happen, and what will happen if the project does or does not succeed. This paper therefore attempts to do three things. 1. It sets in place accepted definitions of reseeding and stock enhancement within the general context of fisheries management in Western Australia. 2. It discusses the policy issues associated with reseeding grazing gastropods and bivalves into the natural environment. 3. It proposes a framework or process to be …

Summer 2002, Nsu Oceanographic Center

Currents

No abstract provided.