www.wellsreserve.org/news/2002-10-29_nec.htm

YOUNG SEAFLOOR FISH DRIVE WELLS RESERVE RESEARCH

WELLS, MAINE --- Scientists at the Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve are responding to concerns over the viability of Gulf of Maine fish stocks. They are investigating food and habitat associations of juvenile groundfish in estuarine, nearshore, and offshore areas of southern Maine. Dr. Richard MacKenzie and Dr. Michele Dionne are the principal investigators for the project, which is funded by a $262,542 grant from the Northeast Consortium Cooperative Research Program.

"We are building baseline information on estuarine and coastal bottom habitats as well as the fish and invertebrates that live there," explained MacKenzie. "This data is essential for ecology-based management of wild fish populations," he added.

MacKenzie and Dionne have established transects extending seaward from the Piscataqua, Webhannet, Kennebunk, and Saco rivers into the Bigelow Bight, and set up additional transects on Jeffrey's Ledge.

Local commercial fishermen were recruited as project partners. MacKenzie says their knowledge and experience are vital to the project's success. Their vessels are ideal at-sea sampling platforms and the fishermen and their families get trained in sample collection and processing. Fishing industry liaison Dave Gallagher introduced MacKenzie and Dionne to the men who are now involved in field work.

Investigators use modified trawl nets and fish traps to sample juvenile fish in the estuary, and trawl nets, fish traps, and gill nets to catch juvenile fish in nearshore and offshore waters. They use a Sediment Profile Imager, or SPI camera, to photograph sea floor features and associated organisms in detail. And they collect benthic invertebrates to learn about possible food sources for juvenile groundfish.

As a result of these sampling efforts, Reserve researchers are gaining benchmark data on habitat types, benthic invertebrates, and juvenile fish. Through their analysis, they also expect to learn something about the impacts of human activities such as sewage outfall and dredge-material disposal on fish habitats. Ultimately, they will produce ecological models intended to identify connections among estuarine, coastal, and offshore food webs in the Gulf of Maine. The project addresses several priority areas identified by the New England Fishery Management Council.

Field work will be completed in November. Lab work, analysis, and presentation will continue through 2003.

Fishing the estuarine and inner shelf waters of the Gulf of Maine has been enormously productive for centuries. Our region has prospered on these rich grounds for cod, pollock, haddock, Atlantic herring, and winter flounder. Recently, though, the gulf's fisheries have suffered. Coastal development, along with intense fishing pressure, have contributed to drastic declines in Gulf of Maine fisheries, especially for anadromous fish and groundfish.

The Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve produces science-based information needed to sustain or restore Gulf of Maine coastal habitats and resources, especially those found in salt marsh estuaries and watersheds.

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