Woods Hole Sea Grant

As nitrogen entering coastal waters continues to be an issue, much attention has been generated to identify potential options that may help alleviate this stressor to estuaries, including the propagation of bivalves to remove excess nitrogen. Oysters (Crassostrea virginica) and quahogs (Mercenaria mercenaria) from numerous Cape Cod, MA, (USA) sources were analyzed for nitrogen content stored in tissues that would represent a net removal of nitrogen from a water body if harvested. Results showed local oysters average 0.69% nitrogen by total dry weight (mean 0.28gN/animal) and quahogs average 0.67% nitrogen by total dry weight (mean 0.22gN/animal); however, these values did vary by season and to a lesser extent by location or grow-out method. The differences in nitrogen content were largely related to the mass of shell or soft tissue. Nitrogen isotope data indicate shellfish from certain water bodies in the region are incorporating significant amounts of nitrogen from anthropogenic sources.

Ocean and coastal acidification (OCA) present a unique set of sustainability challenges at the human-ecological interface. Extensive biogeochemical monitoring that can assess local acidification conditions, distinguish multiple drivers of changing carbonate chemistry, and ultimately inform local and regional response strategies is necessary for successful adaptation to OCA. However, the sampling frequency and cost-prohibitive scientific equipment needed to monitor OCA are barriers to implementing the widespread monitoring of dynamic coastal conditions. Here, we demonstrate through a case study that existing community-based water monitoring initiatives can help address these challenges and contribute to OCA science. We document how iterative, sequential outreach, workshop-based training, and coordinated monitoring activities through the Northeast Coastal Acidification Network (a) assessed the capacity of northeastern United States community science programs and (b) engaged community science programs productively with OCA monitoring efforts. Our results (along with the companion manuscript) indicate that community science programs are capable of collecting robust scientific information pertinent to OCA and are positioned to monitor in locations that would critically expand the coverage of current OCA research. Furthermore, engaging community stakeholders in OCA science and outreach enabled a platform for dialogue about OCA among other interrelated environmental concerns and fostered a series of co-benefits relating to public participation in resource and risk management. Activities in support of community science monitoring have an impact not only by increasing local understanding of OCA but also by promoting public education and community participation in potential adaptation measures.

Three selected aquaculture strains of the commonly used hard clam, Mercenaria mercenaria (Linnaeus, 1758)—Massachusetts (MA), New Jersey (NJ), and South Carolina (SC)—were reared in a single hatchery. They were planted in replicate plots in Barnstable Harbor, MA, and Dry Bay, NJ, in spring 2008 and grown to market size. Growth, survival, and QPX (quahog parasite unknown) prevalence and severity were measured in fall 2008, spring 2009, and fall 2009. Growth was similar at both sites for the first summer, but during the second year growth was better in Massachusetts. Overall survival was better for all strains in New Jersey when compared with Massachusetts. Survival of strains in New Jersey was 53.4% and 34.8% for NJ and MA, respectively, closely followed by those in Massachusetts (41.8% and 26.2% for NJ and MA, respectively). Strains from SC seed had the highest prevalence and severity of QPX and the lowest survival (36% and 6.6% in New Jersey and Massachusetts, respectively). Infections with QPX were low at both sites, but this study confirms earlier work indicating that QPX infection rates appear to be strain specific, with strains of southern origin being more susceptible than those of northern origin. Our study also supported anecdotal reports that QPX disease is more severe in Massachusetts than in more southern sites where it has been found. As in most previous field studies, we found that although mortality was correlated with QPX levels, it was considerably higher than infection prevalence would indicate, which suggests that strain interactions with stressful environmental conditions or unidentified factors may be also involved in mortality.

Abstract Comprehensive sampling of the carbonate system in estuaries and coastal waters can be difficult and expensive because of the complex and heterogeneous nature of near-shore environments. We show that sample collection by community science programs is a viable strategy for expanding estuarine carbonate system monitoring and prioritizing regions for more targeted assessment. ‘Shell Day’ was a single-day regional water monitoring event coordinating coastal carbonate chemistry observations by 59 community science programs and seven research institutions in the northeastern United States, in which 410 total alkalinity (TA) samples from 86 stations were collected. Field replicates collected at both low and high tides had a mean standard deviation between replicates of 3.6 ± 0.3 µ mol kg −1 ( σ mean ± SE, n = 145) or 0.20 ± 0.02%. This level of precision demonstrates that with adequate protocols for sample collection, handling, storage, and analysis, community science programs are able to collect TA samples leading to high-quality analyses and data. Despite correlations between salinity, temperature, and TA observed at multiple spatial scales, empirical predictions of TA had relatively high root mean square error >48 µ mol kg −1 . Additionally, ten stations displayed tidal variability in TA that was not likely driven by low TA freshwater inputs. As such, TA cannot be predicted accurately from salinity using a single relationship across the northeastern US region, though predictions may be viable at more localized scales where consistent freshwater and seawater endmembers can be defined. There was a high degree of geographic heterogeneity in both mean and tidal variability in TA, and this single-day snapshot sampling identified three patterns driving variation in TA, with certain locations exhibiting increased risk of acidification. The success of Shell Day implies that similar community science based events could be conducted in other regions to not only expand understanding of the coastal carbonate system, but also provide a way to inventory monitoring assets, build partnerships with stakeholders, and expand education and outreach to a broader constituency.

Understanding changes in the ocean carbonate system is central to understanding ocean and coastal acidification and the effects these phenomena will have in the future. To create a more complete overview of the recent history of the carbonate system in the nearshore Northeastern United States, several recently published or in-development statistical models have used simple ocean chemistry parameters of salinity, temperature dissolved oxygen, and nitrate, or these variables plus the addition of other input parameters: sea surface temperature, chlorophyll a, sea surface height, bathymetry, and atmospheric pCO2 to generate estimates of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and total alkalinity (TA). Both a Random Forest Regression model and a multiple linear regression model predicting carbonate chemistry parameters was tested for accuracy in predicting fugacity of CO2 (fCO2) by comparing them with the publicly available fCO2 data from the Surface Ocean CO2 Atlas (SOCAT) database. Comparisons revealed a bias by the models to overestimate fCO2, which was also observed when comparing the SOCAT dataset to collocated discrete observations. To resolve these biases in fCO2, a correction was fitted to the modeled datasets. This investigation suggests that models that accurately predict carbonate parameters of DIC and TA, may be limited in their ability to reproduce fCO2 conditions in coastal areas without correction. This study suggests that extrapolating ocean carbonate system models based on parameters outside their intended uses should be considered for their potential limitations.

It was with great excitement that we planned the combined meetings of Northeast Aquaculture Conference and Exposition (NACE) and the International Conference on Shellfish Restoration (ICSR) with the 33rd Milford Aquaculture Seminar (MAS). Bringing these different but complementary audiences together resulted in a meeting that combined many different aspects of fisheries restoration and aquaculture under one umbrella.Four hundred attendees including government representatives, research scientists, industry, and academia at both the university and vocational high school levels attended this event. The meeting commenced on Wednesday December 12th 2012, with over eighty people attending seven field trips to area aquaculture farms and research facilities. The formal program began on Thursday, December 13th with a plenary session including invited speakers Eric Schwabb, Acting Assistant Secretary for Conservation and Management at NOAA; Sebastian Belle, Executive Director of the Maine Aquaculture Association and Boze Hancock from the Nature Conservancy, who discussed the role of aquaculture in fisheries restoration. John Bullard, the Northeast Regional Administrator of NOAA Fisheries Service, addressed the group during the luncheon the following day. The technical papers and workshops presented were divided into 35 sessions over three days of the meeting and included topics such as the history of aquaculture, aquaculture hatchery innovations, siting and planning issues, risk management, aquaculture business management, ocean acidification, climate change, as well as aquaculture disease issues and potential remedies. Having persons present who have experienced problems and successes, along with those in manufacturing and government responsible for addressing concerns and sharing best practices, was invaluable. Discussions among this cross-section of persons who represent different aspects of aquaculture were as important as the well-presented and interesting formal papers and poster sessions. These discussions were facilitated by the many opportunities presented during the large trade show, reception, breaks, lunches, banquet and lobster bake held throughout the meeting.The importance of and need for aquaculture were made evident by all who were in attendance. We are grateful to the twenty four meeting sponsors and to all those who participated and made this such an important and memorable meeting.While oyster restoration efforts have been under way in the Chesapeake Bay for more than two decades, until recently, varying reporting methods and success criteria made it difficult to determine how much progress had been made. A goal to “Restore native oyster habitat and populations in 20 out of 35 to 40 candidate tributaries by 2025” was set in the 2010 strategy to implement the Chesapeake Bay Protection and Restoration Executive Order (signed by President Obama in 2009). This goal made it a priority for state and federal fishery managers, academics, and scientists working on oyster restoration to collaboratively define a “restored tributary” and a “restored reef” to enable them to track progress. A team of these people, led by NOAA staff, agreed on “oyster metrics” in 2011 (http//preview.tinyurl.com/8kmbdpm) that specify key metrics and target ranges for them, including tributary size, how to determine how much restorable bottom a tributary contains, how much of that restorable bottom needs to be restored, and the minimum oyster density and biomass in that restored bottom to count a tributary as restored. These new metrics enable experts to clearly see how oyster restoration efforts are working and use adaptive management to improve these efforts. These metrics serve as a tool to plan and evaluate oyster restoration consistently across the Chesapeake Bay, and the consensus-based framework used to develop them may have broader application to other restoration activities.In the past, oyster restoration in Maryland was performed primarily