Benthic macrofauna and habitat monitoring on the Continental Shelf of the northeastern United States: I. Biomass

Information on long-term temporal variability of and trends in benthic community-structure variables, such as biomass, is needed to estimate the range of normal variability in comparison with the effects of environmental change or disturbance. Fishery resource distribution and population growth will be influenced by such variability. This study examines benthic macrofaunal biomass and related data collected annually between 1978 and 1985 at 27 sites on the continental shelf of the northwestern Atlantic, from North Carolina to the southern Gulf of Maine. The study was expanded at several sites with data from other studies collected at the same sites prior to 1978. Results indicate that although there was interannual and seasonal variability, as expected, biomass levels over the study period showed few clear trends. Sites exhibiting trends were either in pollution-stressed coastal areas or influenced by the population dynamics of one or a few species, especially echinoderms. (PDF file contains 34 pages.)

Atlantic menhaden, Brevoortia tyrannus, Purse Seine Fishery, 1972-84, with a brief discussion of age and size composition of the Landings

This report summarizes (I) annual purse seine landings of Atlantic menhaden, Brevoortia tyrannus, for 1972-84, (2) estimated numbers of fish caught by fishing area. (3) estimates of nominal fishing effort and catch-per-unit-effort, (4) mean fish length and weight, and (5) major changes in the fishery. During the 1970s stock size and recruitment increased and the age composition broadened. reversing trends witnessed during the fishery's decline in the 1960s. Landings steadily improved and by 1980 the total coast wide landings exceeded 400,000 metric tons. Nevertheless, the character of the fishery changed considerably. Eleven reduction plants processed fish at seven ports in 1972, but in 1984 only eight plants operated at live ports. Beginning in the mid-1960s the center of fishing aclivity shifted from the Middle Atlantic area to the Chesapeake Bay area, which has continued to dominate the fishery in landings and effort through the 1970s and 1980s. During this period the average size and age of fish in the catches declined. (PDF file contains 30 pages.)

Parasitology and pathology of marine organisms of the world ocean

The Symposium in which the communications, as they were called during the meeting, comprising this volume were presented was held at the Zoological Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the U.S.S.R. in Leningrad during 13 to 16 October 1981. Conducted as part of the cooperative program of the U.S.A.-U.S.S.R. Working Group on Biological Productivity and Biochemistry of the World Ocean, the Leningrad meeting was sponsored by the Academy of Sciences of the U.S.S.R. (the Zoological Institute) and the Ministry of Fisheries of the U.S.S.R. (The Scientific Council on Fish Diseases of the Ichthyological Commission). It was an extremely interesting and successful Symposium, offering all participants the opportunity to describe the results of their studies and reviews during the course of the formal presentations and direct interchange between scientists during breaks in the program and the organized and casual social activities. The facilities provided by the Zoological Institute were quite adequate and the assistance offered by its Director, O. A. Scarlato and his staff in organization,logistics, and translation was excellent. Several of our Soviet colleagues presided over the proceedings, as did I. All were businesslike and efficient, yet graceful and accommodating. To O. N. Bauer Jell the brunt of programmatic detail and follow-up. He bore his burdens well and, with Director Scarlato and his staff, including A. V. Gussev and others of the professional and technical staffs of the Zoological Institute, helped make our stay pleasant and the Symposium productive. These organizations and individuals deserve much credit and praise as well as the thanks of their American and British colleagues. (PDF file contains 141 pages.)

Report of the Sea Turtle Health Assessment Workshop, 2-3 February 1998, Part I: Background and information needs

A two day workshop was convened on February 2-3, 1998 in Charleston, SC with 20 invited experts in various areas of sea turtle research. The goal of this workshop was to review current information on sea turtles with repect to health and identify data gaps. The use of a suite of health assessment indicators will provide insight on the health status of sea turtle populations. Since the relationship of health factors of sea turtles is limited, a seconde workshop was planned. Using a tiered approach, the first workshop we identified and reviewed the available, pertinent baseline information and data gaps. The second workshop will focus on developing the framework for the research plan. The workshops will address the use of integrated set of health parameters; specific objectives are: 1) Identify reliable indicators of health in sea turtles: assess advantages and disadvantages; determine new indicators/biomarkers which may be useful; 2) Review existing sea turtle field sampling projects; 3) Identify field projects suitable for inclusion for health assessment sampling; 4) Identify data gaps, particularly environmental characterization; 5) Identify new health assessment sampling sites, including reference site(s); and 6) Develop integrated five-year research plan, with focus on health assessment of environmental characterization. (PDF contains 174 pages)

A review of the biology, ecology and management of Scirpus Olneyi. Volume 1: An annotated bibliography of selected references

This annotated bibliography of selected literature on Olney's three7square (Scirpus olneyi Gray )compiled basically for two reasons: 1) to assist a task force in its pursuit of an explanation for the substantial reduction in marsh acreage at the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Dorchester County, Maryland, and 2) to serve as the author's foundation for the initiation of ecological research on this species as partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Botany Department of the University of Maryland. Both purposes are directly related in that the Author's research will be of use to the task force, along I with its other technical information and research results, in under-standing and possibly correcting the marshland loss problem at the Refuge. (PDF contains 100 pages)

The floods of the Lake District - Part I

This report summarises the annual rainfall of the River Derwent catchment area and examines the floods of 1931 and 1932. The author uses data from the Meteorological Office to examine if the floods were extraordinary and takes into account local lakes in reducing the magnitude of the flood. Areas that are presented in more detail are Bassenthwaite Lake, Thirlmere, Cockermouth, Keswick, Newlands and Coledale Beck. (PDF contains 38 pages)

Occurrence of the Macrocyclops distinctus (Richard) (Copepoda, cyclopoidida) in Rybinsk reservoir. [Translation of: Materialy po biologii i gidrologii Volzhskikh Vodokhranilishch. Moscow, Leningrad 1963, pp. 13-16]

This brief chapter describes the occurrence Macrocyclops distinctus in the littoral zone of the Rybinsk Reservoir. Sampling was undertaken in summer and autumn 1961. In order to facilitate distinction of M. distinctus and Macrocyclops fuscus the author presents drawings of the whole species and certain characteristic parts of the body, and also gives a description of M. distinctus, comparing it with M. fuscus.

The family of chironomids or midges - Chironomidae. Keys to larvae and pupae [Translation from: Guide to the freshwater invertebrates of the European area of the USSR (Plankton and benthos) (ed. L. A. Kutikova and Ya. I. Starobogatov), p.371-431. Leningrad, Gidrometeoizdat, 1977]

The translation of this section of the larger publication ”Opredelitel' presnovodnykh bespozvonochnykh evropeiskoi chasti SSSR. (Plankton i bentos)” provides identification keys to the larvae and pupae of chironomids that occur in the Soviet Union. The morphology of the larvae of Chironomidae is described in the introductory part.

Extent and biomass of the aquatic chariphytes and mosses in Lake Sevan [Translation from: Rasprostranenie i biomassa kharovykh vodoroslei i mkha v os. Sevan, 1951]

This study focusses on the plants in the open parts of the lake - mostly aquatic charophytes and mosses, in what are called in Lake Sevan (Armenia), the ”zones of chara and moss”. Distribution and other ecological conditions are reviewed. Quantity of chara in the littoral zone of lake Sevan is provided

William Francis Thompson (1888–1965): a Preeminent Fishery Biologist of the Early and Mid Twentieth Century

William Francis Thompson (1888–1965) was a preeminent fishery scientist of the early to mid twentieth century. Educated at Stanford University in California (B.A. 1911, Ph.D. 1930), Thompson conducted pioneering research on the Pacific halibut, Hippoglossus stenolepis, from 1914 to 1917 for the British Columbia Provincial Fisheries Department. He then directed marine fisheries research for the State of California from 1917 to 1924, was Director of Investigations for the International Fisheries Commission from 1924 to 1939, and Director of the International Pacific Salmon Fisheries Commission from 1937 to 1942. He was also Director of the School of Fisheries, University of Washing-ton, Seattle, from 1930 to 1947. Thompson was the founding director in 1947 of the Fisheries Research Institute at the University of Washington and served in that capacity until his retirement in 1958. He was a dominant figure in fisheries research of the Pacific Northwest and influenced a succession of fishery scientists with his yield-based analysis of fishery stocks, as opposed to studying the fishes’environment. Will Thompson was also a major figure in education, and many of his former students attained leadership positions in fisheries research and administration.

William Francis Thompson (1888–1965) and His Pioneering Studies of the Pacific Halibut, Hippoglossus stenolepis

William Francis Thompson (1888–1965), as a temporary employee of the British Columbia Provincial Fisheries Department, was assigned in 1914 to under-take full-time studies of the Pacific halibut, Hippoglossus stenolepis. The fishery was showing signs of depletion, so Thompson undertook the inquiry into this resource, the first intensive study on the Pacific halibut. Three years later, Thompson, working alone, had provided a basic foundation of knowledge for the subsequent management of this resource. He published seven land-mark papers on this species, and this work marked the first phase of a career in fisheries science that was to last nearly 50 years.

William Francis Thompson (1888–1965) and His Pioneering Studies of the Pacific Halibut, Hippoglossus stenolepis

William Francis Thompson (1888–1965), as a temporary employee of the British Columbia Provincial Fisheries Department, was assigned in 1914 to under-take full-time studies of the Pacific halibut, Hippoglossus stenolepis. The fishery was showing signs of depletion, so Thompson undertook the inquiry into this resource, the first intensive study on the Pacific halibut. Three years later, Thompson, working alone, had provided a basic foundation of knowledge for the subsequent management of this resource. He published seven land-mark papers on this species, and this work marked the first phase of a career in fisheries science that was to last nearly 50 years.

Centennial Lecture I: History and Contributions of the Woods Hole Fisheries Laboratory

The genesis and the early history of the Woods Hole Laboratory (WHL), to a lesser extent the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL), and to some degree the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), were elegantly covered by Paul S. Galtsoff (1962) in his BCF Circular "The Story of the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massachusetts." It covers the period from the beginning in 1871 to 1958. Galtsoffs more than 35-year career in the fishery service was spent almost entirely in Woods Hole. I will only briefly touch on that portion of the Laboratory's history covered by Galtsoff. Woods Hole, as a center of marine science, was conceived and implemented largely by one man, Spencer Fullerton Baird, at that time Assistant Secretary of the Smithsonian and who was also instrumental in the establishment of the National Museum and Permanent Secretary of the newly established American Association for the Advancement of Science. He was appointed by President Ulysses S. Grant in 1871 as the first U.S. Commissioner of Fisheries. Fisheries research began here as early as 1871, but a permanent station did not exist until 1885.