Biomass and reproduction of Pacific sardine (Sardinops sagax) off the Pacific northwestern United States, 2003–2005

The Pacific sardine (Sardinops sagax) is distributed along the west coast of North America from Baja California to British Columbia. This article presents estimates of biomass, spawning biomass, and related biological parameters based on four trawl-ichthyoplankton surveys conducted during July 2003 –March 2005 off Oregon and Washington. The trawl-based biomass estimates, serving as relative abundance, were 198,600 t (coefficient of variation [CV] = 0.51) in July 2003, 20,100 t (0.8) in March 2004, 77,900 t (0.34) in July 2004, and 30,100 t (0.72) in March 2005 over an area close to 200,000 km2. The biomass estimates, high in July and low in March, are a strong indication of migration in and out of this area. Sardine spawn in July off the Pacific Northwest (PNW) coast and none of the sampled fish had spawned in March. The estimated spawning biomass for July 2003 and July 2004 was 39,184 t (0.57) and 84,120 t (0.93), respectively. The average active female sardine in the PNW spawned every 20–40 days compared to every 6–8 days off California. The spawning habitat was located in the southeastern area off the PNW coast, a shift from the northwest area off the PNW coast in the 1990s. Egg production in off the PNW for 2003–04 was lower than that off California and that in the 1990s. Because the biomass of Pacific sardine off the PNW appears to be supported heavily by migratory fish from California, the sustainability of the local PNW population relies on the stability of the population off California, and on local oceanographic conditions for local residence.

Cross-shelf and seasonal variation in larval fish assemblages on the southeast United States continental shelf off the coast of Georgia

Seasonal and cross-shelf patterns were investigated in larval fish assemblages on the continental shelf off the coast of Georgia. The influence of environmental factors on larval distributions also was examined, and larval transport processes on the shelf were considered. Ichthyoplankton and environmental data were collected approximately every other month from spring 2000 to winter 2002. Ten stations were repeatedly sampled along a 110-km cross-shelf transect, including four stations in the vicinity of Gray’s Reef National Marine Sanctuary. Correspondence analysis (CA) on untransformed community data identified two seasonal (warm weather [spring, summer, and fall] and winter) and three cross-shelf larval assemblages (inner-, mid-, and outer-shelf ). Five environmental factors (temperature, salinity, density, depth of the water column, and stratification) were related to larval cross-shelf distribution. Specifically, increased water column stratification was associated with the outer-shelf assemblage in spring, summer, and fall. The inner shelf assemblage was associated with generally lower temperatures and lower salinities in the spring and summer and higher salinities in the winter. The three cross-shelf regions indicated by the three assemblages coincided with the location of three primary water masses on the shelf. However, taxa occurring together within an assemblage were transported to different parts of the shelf; thus, transport across the continental shelf off the coast of Georgia cannot be explained solely by twodimensional physical factors.

Small-scale Commercial Culturing of Northern Bay Scallops, Argopecten irradians irradians, in Atlantic United States and Canada

In recent decades, hatchery-growout culture of oysters, Crassostrea virginica, and northern quahogs, Mercenaria mercenaria, has been commercially successful in Atlantic United States and oysters in Atlantic Canada. Culturists have not had success, as yet, with northern bay scallops, Argopecten irradians irradians. Large mortalities occur during the culture process, mainly because the scallops are relatively delicate and some die when handled. In addition, too little edible meat, i.e. the adductor muscle, is produced for the culture operation to be profitable. However, three companies, one in Massachusetts, one in New Brunswick, and one on Prince Edward Island, Canada, have discovered that they can produce bay scallops successfully by harvesting them when partially-to fully-grown and selling them whole. In restaurants, the scallops are cooked and served with all their meats (adductor muscles and rims) and also with the shells, which have been genetically-bred for bright colors. The scallop seed are produced in hatcheries and then grown in lantern or pearl nets and cages to market size. Thus far, production has been relatively small, just beyond the pilot-scale, until a larger demand develops for this product.

History of Whaling and Estimated Kill of Right Whales, Balaena glacialis, in the Northeastern United States, 1620–1924

This study, part of a broader investigation of the history of exploitation of right whales, Balaena glacialis, in the western North Atlantic, emphasizes U.S. shore whaling from Maine to Delaware (from lat. 45°N to 38°30'N) in the period 1620–1924. Our broader study of the entire catch history is intended to provide an empirical basis for assessing past distribution and abundance of this whale population. Shore whaling may have begun at Cape Cod, Mass., in the 1620’s or 1630’s; it was certainly underway there by 1668. Right whale catches in New England waters peaked before 1725, and shore whaling at Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, and Nantucket continued to decline through the rest of the 18th century. Right whales continued to be taken opportunistically in Massachusetts, however, until the early 20th century. They were hunted in Narragansett Bay, R.I., as early as 1662, and desultory whaling continued in Rhode Island until at least 1828. Shore whaling in Connecticut may have begun in the middle 1600’s, continuing there until at least 1718. Long Island shore whaling spanned the period 1650–1924. From its Dutch origins in the 1630’s, a persistent shore whaling enterprise developed in Delaware Bay and along the New Jersey shore. Although this activity was most profi table in New Jersey in the early 1700’s, it continued there until at least the 1820’s. Whaling in all areas of the northeastern United States was seasonal, with most catches in the winter and spring. Historically, right whales appear to have been essentially absent from coastal waters south of Maine during the summer and autumn. Based on documented references to specific whale kills, about 750–950 right whales were taken between Maine and Delaware, from 1620 to 1924. Using production statistics in British customs records, the estimated total secured catch of right whales in New England, New York, and Pennsylvania between 1696 and 1734 was 3,839 whales based on oil and 2,049 based on baleen. After adjusting these totals for hunting loss (loss-rate correction factor = 1.2), we estimate that 4,607 (oil) or 2,459 (baleen) right whales were removed from the stock in this region during the 38-year period 1696–1734. A cumulative catch estimate of the stock’s size in 1724 is 1,100–1,200. Although recent evidence of occurrence and movements suggests that right whales continue to use their traditional migratory corridor along the U.S. east coast, the catch history indicates that this stock was much larger in the 1600’s and early 1700’s than it is today. Right whale hunting in the eastern United States ended by the early 1900’s, and the species has been protected throughout the North Atlantic since the mid 1930’s. Among the possible reasons for the relatively slow stock recovery are: the very small number of whales that survived the whaling era to become founders, a decline in environmental carrying capacity, and, especially in recent decades, mortality from ship strikes and entanglement in fishing gear.

A Decline in Starfish, Asterias forbesi, Abundance and a Concurrent Increase in Northern Quahog, Mercenaria mercenaria, Abundance and Landings in the Northeastern United States

The abundance of the common starfish, Asterias forbesi, fluctuates widely over time. The starfish is a predator of pre-recruit northern quahogs, Mercenaria mercenaria. During the 1990’s, starfish became scarce in Raritan Bay and Long Island Sound. Quahog populations concurrently erupted in abundance and quahog landings have risen sharply in both locations. The extensive scale of this observation would seem to imply a cause and effect; at the least, both populations may be responding differently to a large scale exogenous factor.

History of Oystering in the United States and Canada, Featuring the Eight Greatest Oyster Estuaries

Oyster landings in the United States and Canada have been based mainly on three species, the native eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica, native Olympia oyster, Ostreola conchaphila, and introduced Pacific oyster, C. gigas. Landings reached their peak of around 27 million bushels/year in the late 1800's and early 1900's when eastern oysters were a common food throughout the east coast and Midwest. Thousands of people were involved in harvesting them with tongs and dredges and in shucking, canning, packing, and transporting them. Since about 1906, when the United States passed some pure food laws, production has declined. The causes have been lack of demand, siltation of beds, removal of cultch for oyster larvae while harvesting oysters, pollution of market beds, and oyster diseases. Production currently is about 5.6 million bushels/year.

History of a Systematics Odyssey: The Marine Flora and Fauna of the Eastern United States

On an early fall day in September 1962 I sat quietly, thoughtfully, at my large desk in a newly renovated corner office in the old Crane wing of the Lillie Building, Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL), Woods Hole, Massachusetts. Looking out through high, ancient windows, I could see the busy main street of Woods Hole in the foreground, Martha's Vineyard beyond, behind me the MBL Stone Candle House, across the street the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and to the far right, the Biological Laboratory of the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries (BCF)(Fig. 1). Down the inner hall from my office stretched renovated quarters for the fledgling, ongoing, year-round MBL Systematics-Ecology Program (SEP), which I had been invited to direct.

Status, Constraints, and Opportunities for Salmon Culture in the United States: A Review

This paper reviews and analyzes the major factors constraining the development of salmon culture in the United States. A brief review of economic factors in the seafood sector contributing to the industry's recent growth is offered, and the present status of the major producing regions is summarized. The major constraints, which include marketing problems, policy and regulatory constraints, production costs, disease, financiing, and environmental uncertainty, are discussed, followed by recommendations for improving the industry's development.

Spatial coherence and persistence in annual streamflow in the western United States [abstract]

EXTRACT (SEE PDF FOR FULL ABSTRACT): Four broad regions of the western United States within which annual streamflows exhibit strong spatial coherence are identified using principal component analysis with a varimax rotation. Geographically, the four regions encompass the Pacific Northwest, Far West-Great Basin, Central Rockies-High Plains, and Northern Great Plains. These regions are really consistent with previously documented, descriptively derived streamflow regimes as well as with general atmospheric circulation and precipitation modes of variation. Collectively, the four regional components account for nearly 63 percent of the total annual variation in western U.S. streamflow. The time history of most principal component patterns exhibit little or no persistence.