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- Purple marsh crabs are significantly disrupting carbon cycling in salt marshes along the East Coast of the U.S., according to a study led by Batten School & VIMS scientists.
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- National TRAP Program funds large-scale cleanup of discarded fishing gear, first round of subawards totaling more than $1.4M supports 11 projects focused on removing derelict fishing gear from coastal waters in nine U.S. states and Palau.
  
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- As an expression of parental pride in their daughter, Taylor Spencer ‘83 and Martha Spencer recently established an undergraduate field research endowment at the Batten School & VIMS.
  
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Weakfish

Cynoscion regalis

Information and species illustrations courtesy of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

Species Information
Size Maximum 90 cm; common to 50 cm.
Diagnostic characters
Habitat, biology, and fisheries Usually found in shallow coastal waters over sand and sandy mud bottoms; relatively abundant in sounds and along beaches. During summer the fish move to their nursery and feeding grounds in estuaries. Feeds mainly on crustaceans and fishes. Caught mainly with pound nets, gill nets, seines, and bottom trawls; also by anglers. Marketed most fresh, a popular food fish.
Distribution Atlantic coast of North America from Nova Scotia to south Florida and western coast of Florida (uncommon).
Citations Carpenter, K.E. (ed) The living marine resources of the Western Central Atlantic. Volume 1: Introduction, molluscs, crustaceans, hagfishes, sharks, batoid fishes, and chimaeras. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes and American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists Special Publication No. 5. Rome, FAO. 2002. pp. 1-600. Carpenter, K.E. (ed) The living marine resources of the Western Central Atlantic. Volume 2: Bony fishes part 1 (Acipenseridae to Grammatidae). FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes and American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists Special Publication No. 5. Rome, FAO. 2002. pp. 601-1374. Carpenter, K.E. (ed) The living marine resources of the Western Central Atlantic. Volume 3: Bony fishes part 2 (Opistognathidae to Molidae), sea turtles and marine mammals. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes and American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists Special Publication No. 5. Rome, FAO. 2002. pp. 1375-2127.