ChesMMAP
Uses of Data Generated by the Chesapeake Bay Multispecies Monitoring and Assessment Program (ChesMMAP) Trawl Survey, 2007-2013
Assessment Related (NMFS & ASMFC)
Data requested for and incorporated into past assessments
• Atlantic Menhaden – Predator diet data for inclusion in Multispecies VPA
• Atlantic Sturgeon – Abundance data for ESA listing and subsequent re-evaluation
• Black Sea Bass – Abundance, distribution, & age
• Scup – Abundance, distribution, & age
• Summer Flounder – Abundance, distribution, & age (possible that additional parameters were included, but the full assessment report is not available yet)
• Weakfish – Abundance, distribution, & age
Data requested and evaluated for but not incorporated* into an assessment
*Due to short time series of data & relatively low catches available, NOT because of data quality.
• Black Drum – Abundance, distribution, length, sex, maturity, & age
• Bluefish – Abundance, distribution, length, sex, maturity, & age
• Butterfish – Abundance, distribution, length, sex, maturity, & age
• River Herring (Alewife & Blueback) – Abundance, distribution, length, sex, & maturity
• Striped Bass – Abundance, distribution, length, sex, maturity, diet, & age
Data requested for an assessment & results currently pending
• Atlantic Croaker – Abundance, distribution, length, sex, maturity, & age
• Spot – Abundance, distribution, length, sex, maturity, & age
• Tautog – Abundance, distribution, length, sex, & maturity
Virginia-Specific
• Sheepshead – Data provided to Marine Resources Commission for review of harvest regulations
• Summer Flounder – Setting of conservation equivalency measures
Additional Research Efforts
• Atlantic croaker, black drum, kingfish, & spot - population genetics with South Carolina DNR
• Atlantic croaker & spot - ageing exchange with ASMFC partners
• Atlantic croaker, striped bass, & weakfish - collaboration with the VIMS Juvenile Fish and Blue Crab Trawl Survey to explore the relationships between recruitment indices and adult abundance
• Atlantic croaker & white perch - quantified capture efficiency of the survey trawl for these two species, which both established necessary protocols for such work and facilitates the estimation of absolute abundance for these species
• Black sea bass - hard part (scale/otolith) comparison for ageing
• Blue crab – collaboration with Conservation Biology division at VIMS to conduct a bay-wide tagging program meant to evaluate the effectiveness of the Chesapeake Bay blue crab spawning stock sanctuary
• Bluefish, striped bass, summer flounder, & weakfish – development of consumption estimates for these top piscivores in Chesapeake Bay
• Coastal sharks & Atlantic sturgeon - tagging studies in collaboration with NMFS.
• Scup - hard part (scale/otolith) comparison for ageing
• Summer flounder – supported sampling to quantify first year growth and habitat preferences.
• Summer flounder – hard part (scale/otolith) comparison for ageing (ongoing)
• Summer flounder – provided biological data to support yield-per-recruit/egg-per-recruit analyses to examine various regulatory scenarios for the recreational fishery (with ASMFC)
• Summer flounder – investigation of trophic dynamics which resulted in this species being classified as one of the top piscivores in the Chesapeake ecosystem
• Tautog - population genetics with Virginia Marine Resources Commission (ongoing)
• Striped bass - sampling to identify prevalence and severity of Mycobacterium infection in the coastal migratory population; showed infection contributed both to reductions in growth rates and to increases in natural mortality rates
• Sampled livers of multiple species for contaminant analysis in collaboration with Clemson University
• Expanded sampling into tributaries of Chesapeake Bay to sample fishes for contaminant analysis as part of the National Coastal Assessment effort (collaboration with the EPA)
• Collected voucher specimens of multiple species in collaboration with Smithsonian to establish a genetic library of fishes in the Chesapeake Bay
• Provided data on multiple species to support the development of an ecosystem model for the Chesapeake Bay
• Completed an analysis of 10 years of ChesMMAP data to identify patterns and drivers of the demersal fish community in Chesapeake Bay
• Began testing of a 200 x 12cm, three-bridle, four-seam survey trawl for use by ChesMMAP. This net is more efficient than the current gear and is more comparable to the trawls used by NEAMAP along the coast and the Northeast Fisheries Science Center offshore. Specifically, this “200x12cm” net is identical in design, but half of the size of, the nets used by those ocean surveys.
• Received over 200 visits to our online catch and diet databases since initialized in early 2012