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.