Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Sea-Level Rise & Virginia's Coastal Wetlands, Center For Coastal Resources Management, Virginia Institute Of Marine Science

Reports

Rivers & Coast is a periodic publication of the Center for Coastal Resources Management, Virginia Institute of Marine Science. The goal of Rivers & Coast is to keep readers well informed of current scientific understanding behind key environmental issues related to watershed rivers and coastal ecosystems of the Chesapeake Bay.

Strategies For Promoting Equity In Clean Energy Deployment, Tracy Babbidge, New Haven Green Fund

Reports

No abstract provided.

Initiatives To Advance Clean Energy In The Low To Moderate Income Residential Market, Madeline Priest, John D’Agostino, New Haven Green Fund

Reports

No abstract provided.

Integrated Assessment Of Oyster Reef Ecosystem Services: Macrofauna Utilization Of Restored Oyster Reefs, M. Lisa Kellogg, Kennedy T. Paynter, Paige G. Ross, Jennifer C. Dreyer, Cate Turner, Manisha Pant, Alan Birch, Edward Smith

Reports

Within the Harris Creek Oyster Sanctuary in the Maryland portion of Chesapeake Bay, we evaluated relationships between basic oyster reef characteristics and the abundance and biomass of macrofauna. The eight sites selected for these studies included five restored oyster reef sites and three sites suitable for restoration that had not been restored. These sites encompassed a range of oyster biomass density and were spread throughout the sanctuary area. At each site one month prior to each of four sampling periods, divers filled four wire mesh baskets (0.1m2 surface area x 15 cm depth) with material from the site and embedded …

Virginia Game Fish Tagging Program Annual Report 2015, Susanna Musick, Lewis Gillingham

Reports

Through 2015, the Virginia Game Fish Tagging Program has maintained a 20-year database of records for tagged and recaptured fish. The program is a cooperative 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).

Monitoring Relative Abundance Of American Shad And River Herring In Virginia Rivers 2015 Annual Report, Eric J. Hilton, Robert Latour, Patrick E. Mcgrath, 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 …

Integrated Assessment Of Oyster Reef Ecosystem Services: Fish And Crustacean Utilization And Trophic Linkages, M. Lisa Kellogg, Paige G. Ross, Mark Luckenbach, Jennifer C. Dreyer, Manisha Pant, Alan Birch, Sean Fate, Edward Smith, Kennedy Paynter

Reports

Using a regression design that encompassed the continuum of oyster reef biomass density in Harris Creek, MD, from unrestored reefs to those restored reefs with the greatest oyster biomass, we examined finfish and crustacean utilization of these habitats. Of the eight sites studied, three had not been subject to any restoration activities and five had been planted in 2012 with juvenile oysters set on oyster shell. All sites were sampled in April, June, August, and October 2015. During each sampling period, we assessed abundance, total length and biomass of finfish and examined gut contents to assess the diets of selected …

Virginia Shellfish Aquaculture Situation And Outlook Report : Results Of The 2015 Virginia Shellfish Aquaculture Crop Reporting Survey, Karen Hudson, Thomas J. Murrary

Reports

The hatchery-based shellfish aquaculture industry in Virginia continues to grow adding significant value to the Commonwealth’s seafood marketplace. Today, watermen harvest both hard clams and oysters from the Commonwealth’s public resources, albeit at rates diminished from historic levels. At the same time, Virginia’s watermen-farmers, utilizing production from a land-based hatchery, are providing additional quantities of quality shellfish to consumers. This survey, in its 10th year, is intended to continue annual assessments with which to gauge growth and inputs in Virginia’s hatchery-based shellfish aquaculture industry. This report is based upon an industry survey completed during the first quarter of 2016. While …

Captain Sinclair’S Recreational Area Shoreline Management Plan, Donna A. Milligan, C. Scott Hardaway Jr., Christine A. Wilcox

Reports

Captain Sinclair’s Recreation Area (CSRA) is located on the Severn River in Gloucester County, Virginia. It is a tract of land consisting of about 100 acres that was donated to the Middle Peninsula Chesapeake Bay Public Access Authority (Figure 1). Longterm goals for the property include active and passive recreational and research activities including several shoreline-based projects. The property has about 1.3 miles of tidal shoreline that extends from the canal on the northern end of the property, along Whittaker Creek, and to the Severn River down to small unnamed tidal creek adjacent to the old wood pier. Shoreline erosion, …

City Of Chesapeake, Virginia Shoreline Inventory Report Methods And Guidelines, Marcia Berman, Karinna Nunez, Sharon Killeen, Tamia Rudnicky, Julie Bradshaw, David Stanhope, Karen Duhring, Kallie Brown, Jessica Hendricks, David Weiss, Carl Hershner

Reports

The 2016 Inventory for City of Chesapeake was generated using on-screen, digitizing techniques in ArcGIS® - ArcMap v10.2.2 while viewing conditions observed in Bing high resolution oblique imagery, Google Earth, and 2013 imagery from the Virginia Base Mapping Program (VBMP). Four GIS shapefiles are developed. The first describes land use and bank conditions (Chesapeake_lubc_2016). The second portrays the presence of beaches (Chesapeake_beaches_2016). The third reports shoreline structures that are described as arcs or lines (e.g. riprap) (Chesapeake_sstru_2016). The final shapefile includes all structures that are represented as points (e.g. piers) (Chesapeake_astru_2016). The metadata file accompanies the shapefiles and defines attribute …

Summary Tables: Prince George County And The City Of Hopewell, Virginia Shoreline Inventory Report, Marcia Berman, Karinna Nunez, Sharon Killeen, Tamia Rudnicky, Julie Bradshaw, David Stanhope, Karen Duhring, Jessica Hendricks, David Weiss, Carl Hershner

Reports

The Shoreline Inventory Summary Tables quantify observed conditions based on river systems, such as the combined length of linear features (e.g. shoreline miles surveyed, miles of bulkhead and revetment), the total number of point features (e.g. docks, boathouses, boat ramps) & total acres of polygon features (tidal marshes).

Summary Tables: Accomack County, Virginia Shoreline Inventory Report Methods And Guidelines, Marcia Berman, Karinna Nunez, Sharon Killeen, Tamia Rudnicky, Julie Bradshaw, Kory Angstadt, Christine Tombleson, Karen Duhring, Kallie Brown, Jessica Hendricks, David Weiss, Carl Hershner

Reports

The Shoreline Inventory Summary Tables quantify observed conditions based on river systems, such as the combined length of linear features (e.g. shoreline miles surveyed, miles of bulkhead and revetment), the total number of point features (e.g. docks, boathouses, boat ramps) & total acres of polygon features (tidal marshes).

Evaluating Recruitment Of American Eel, Anguilla Rostrata, In The Potomac River (Spring 2016), 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 2012, Chesapeake Bay commercial landings of American Eel (771,536 lbs) were 72% 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 …

The Status Of Virginia's Public Oyster Resource 2015, Melissa Southworth, Roger L. Mann

Reports

This report summarizes data collected during 2015 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.

2016 Greenhouse Gas Inventory Report: Virginia Institute Of Marine Science, Green Team, Virginia Institute Of Marine Science, Pamela Braff, Elisabeth Clyne, Andrew J. Johnson, Patricia S. Thibodeau, Kelley Uhlig

Reports

During summer 2016 the VIMS Green Team completed an inventory of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) Gloucester Point campus during FY2015. GHG emissions were estimated using the Campus Carbon Calculator maintained by the Sustainability Institute at the University of New Hampshire, and compared to a previous GHG audit from FY2010.

Summary Tables: City Of Chesapeake, Virginia Shoreline Inventory Report, Marcia Berman, Karinna Nunez, Sharon A. Killeen, Tamia Rudnicky, Julie Bradshaw, David Stanhope, Karen Duhring

Reports

The Shoreline Inventory Summary Tables quantify observed conditions based on river systems, such as the combined length of linear features (e.g. shoreline miles surveyed, miles of bulkhead and revetment), the total number of point features (e.g. docks, boathouses, boat ramps) & total acres of polygon features (tidal marshes).

City Of Portsmouth, Virginia Shoreline Inventory Report Methods And Guidelines, Marcia Berman, Karinna Nunez, Sharon Killeen, Tamia Rudnicky, Julie Bradshaw, Kory Angstadt, Karen Duhring, David Weiss, Carl Hershner

Reports

The data inventory developed for the Shoreline Inventory is based on a three tiered shoreline assessment approach. This assessment characterizes conditions that can be observed from a small boat navigating along the shoreline or by using observations made remotely at the desktop using high resolution imagery. The three tiered shoreline assessment approach divides the shorezone into three regions:

1) the immediate riparian zone, evaluated for land use; 2) the bank, evaluated for height, cover and natural protection; and 3) the shoreline, describing the presence of shoreline structures for shore protection and recreational purposes.

The 2015 Inventory for the City of …

Lancaster County, Virginia Shoreline Inventory Report Methods And Guidelines, Marcia Berman, Karinna Nunez, Sharon Killeen, Tamia Rudnicky, Julie Bradshaw, Kory Angstadt, David Stanhope, Christine Tombleson, Karen Duhring, Alexander D. Renaud, Robert Isdell, Pamela Braff, Benjamin P. Weissman, Carl Hershner

Reports

The data inventory developed for the Shoreline Inventory is based on a three tiered shoreline assessment approach. This assessment characterizes conditions that can be observed from a small boat navigating along the shoreline or by using observations made remotely at the desktop using high resolution imagery. The three tiered shoreline assessment approach divides the shorezone into three regions:

• the immediate riparian zone, evaluated for land use

• the bank, evaluated for height, cover and natural protection

• the shoreline, describing the presence of shoreline structures for shore protection and recreational purposes.

The 2015 Inventory for Lancaster County was generated using on-screen, digitizing …

Stafford County Shoreline Management Plan, C. Scott Hardaway Jr., Donna A. Milligan, Christine A. Wilcox, Marcia Berman, Tamia Rudnicky, Karinna Nunez, Sharon Kileen

Reports

With approximately 85 percent of the Chesapeake Bay shoreline privately owned, a critical need exists to increase awareness of erosion potential and the choices available for shore stabilization that maintains ecosystem services at the land-water interface. The National Academy of Science published a report that spotlights the need to develop a shoreline management framework (NRC, 2007). It suggests that improving awareness of the choices available for erosion control, considering cumulative consequences of erosion mitigation approaches, and improving shoreline management planning are key elements to minimizing adverse environmental impacts associated with mitigating shore erosion. Actions taken by waterfront property owners to …

James City County Shoreline Management Plan, C. Scott Hardaway Jr., Donna A. Milligan, Christine A. Wilcox, Marcia Berman, Tamia Rudnicky, Karinna Nunez, Sharon A. Killeen

Reports

Actions taken by waterfront property owners to stabilize the shoreline can affect the health of the Bay as well as adjacent properties for decades. With these long-term implications, managers at the local level should have a more proactive role in how shorelines are managed. James City County recognizes that its natural environment is one of its most valuable assets as well as its most vulnerable (James City County, 2015). The shores of James City range from exposed open river to very sheltered creeks, and the nature of shoreline change varies accordingly (Figure 1-1). This shoreline management plan is useful for …

Wallops Assateague Chincoteague Inlet (Waci) Geologic And Coastal Management Summary Report, C. Scott Hardaway Jr., Donna A. Milligan, Christine A. Wilcox, Curtis Smith

Reports

No abstract provided.

Shoreline Evolution: Stafford County, Virginia Potomac River And Rappahannock River Shorelines, Donna A. Milligan, Christine A. Wilcox, C. Scott Hardaway Jr.

Reports

Stafford County is situated along the upper reaches of the Potomac and Rappahannock Rivers. Because the County’s shoreline is continually changing, determining where the shoreline was in the past, how far and how fast it is moving, and what factors drive shoreline change will help define where the shoreline will be going in the future. These rates and patterns of shore change along Chesapeake Bay’s estuarine shores will differ through time as winds, waves, tides and currents shape and modify coastlines by eroding, transporting and depositing sediments. The purpose of this report is to document how the shore zone of …

Stafford County, Virginia Shoreline Inventory Report Methods And Guidelines, Marcia Berman, Karinna Nunez, Sharon Killeen, Tamia Rudnicky, Julie Bradshaw, Karen Duhring, David Stanhope, David Weiss, Carl Hershner

Reports

The data inventory developed for the Shoreline Inventory is based on a three tiered shoreline assessment approach. This assessment characterizes conditions that can be observed from a small boat navigating along the shoreline or by using observations made remotely at the desktop using high resolution imagery. The three tiered shoreline assessment approach divides the shorezone into three regions:

1) the immediate riparian zone, evaluated for land use; 2) the bank, evaluated for height, cover and natural protection; and 3) the shoreline, describing the presence of shoreline structures for shore protection and recreational purposes.

The 2015 Inventory for Stafford County was …

Evaluating Recruitment Of American Eel, Anguilla Rostrata, In The Potomac River (Spring 2015), 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 …

Marine Debris & Microplastics: Sources & Solutions For Coastal Virginia, Center For Coastal Resources Management, Virginia Institute Of Marine Science

Reports

Rivers & Coast is a periodic publication of the Center for Coastal Resources Management, Virginia Institute of Marine Science. The goal of Rivers & Coast is to keep readers well informed of current scientific understanding behind key environmental issues related to watershed rivers and coastal ecosystems of the Chesapeake Bay.

Virginia Game Fish Tagging Program Annual Report 2014, Susanna Musick, Lewis Gillingham

Reports

Through 2014, the Virginia Game Fish Tagging Program has maintained a 19-year database of records for tagged and recaptured fish. The program is a cooperative 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).

Monitoring Relative Abundance Of American Shad And River Herring In Virginia Rivers 2014 Annual Report, Eric J. Hilton, Rob 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 …

Fairfax County Shoreline Management Plan, C. Scott Hardaway Jr., Donna A. Milligan, Christine A. Wilcox, Marcia Berman, Tamia Rudnicky, Karinna Nunez, Sharon Killeen

Reports

Much of the Fairfax County’s tidal shoreline is suitable for a “Living Shoreline” approach to shoreline management. The Commonwealth of Virginia has adopted policy stating that Living Shorelines are the preferred alternative for erosion control along tidal waters in Virginia (http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/ legp504.exe?111+ful+CHAP0885+pdf). The policy defines a Living Shoreline as …”a shoreline management practice that provides erosion control and water quality benefits; protects, restores or enhances natural shoreline habitat; and maintains coastal processes through the strategic placement of plants, stone, sand fill, and other structural and organic materials.” The key to effective implementation of this policy at the local level is …

Virginia Shellfish Aquaculture Situation And Outlook Report : Results Of The 2014 Virginia Shellfish Aquaculture Crop Reporting Survey, Karen Hudson, Thomas J. Murrary

Reports

The Virginia Shellfish Aquaculture Situation and Outlook Report has been produced annually by Virginia Institute of Marine Science extension partners affiliated with Virginia Sea Grant since 2005. The survey and report provides annual assessments with which to gauge growth and inputs in Virginia’s shellfish aquaculture industry. This report is based upon an industry survey completed during the first quarter of 2015.

Estimating Relative Abundance Of Young-Of-Year American Eel, Anguilla Rostrata, In The Virginia Tributaries Of Chesapeake Bay (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 calls for efforts to collect American Eel data through both fishery-dependent and fishery-independent studies in coastal states. 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 4 U.S. Atlantic Coast” (ASMFC 2000). The development of these surveys began in 2000 with full …