<\/a>Research technician Mary Conroy uses a DIDSON device mounted to a kayak at an oyster lease in the Pamlico River near Lowland, North Carolina. Photo by Marianna Miller.<\/p><\/div>\n
Researchers counted and measured fish from DIDSON images using digital tools, ultimately calculating total fish and fish biomass at each site. Miller herself has counted thousands of fish from the DIDSON images.<\/p>\n
In experiments, researchers found more fish and higher fish biomass in sites where they added oyster gear compared to sites they left vacant \u2014 even though there was relatively less<\/em> seagrass at gear sites. \u00a0The most abundant species were blue crab, pinfish, silver perch, and spot. Sites with oyster gear had fewer small predators, like pinfish, and more economically valuable fish higher up the food chain, like gag grouper.<\/p>\nIn commercial oyster leases on the N.C. coast, more fish also were present in oyster farms compared to areas nearby. The most common species across all areas were menhaden, spot, and pinfish. Larger prey fish like menhaden were less abundant in oyster farms, while schools of bait fish and larger predators like southern flounder and tripletail were more abundant.<\/p>\n
These findings suggest that even if seagrass diminishes beneath oyster gear, farms provide additional habitat for fish and influence which types of fish are present.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe results of this work will be beneficial to our state’s regulators, as well as those at the national level,\u201d says John Fear, deputy director of North Carolina Sea Grant. \u201cResource agencies strive to base decisions on sound science, and this project will certainly inform their ongoing efforts to best manage siting regulations.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although the study didn\u2019t address other services that seagrass provides, like water quality improvement and shoreline stabilization, a new project is now preparing to investigate nutrient cycling, an important process that affects water quality. Researchers will compare how sediment bacteria sequester nutrients in oyster farms and natural oyster reefs.<\/p>\n
With an ongoing focus on the balance between ecosystem health and sustainable mariculture, research can continue to inform resource management and decision-making, benefitting North Carolina\u2019s economy and environment.<\/p>\n
Authors on the experimental oyster farm project also include Joel Fodrie<\/a> of UNC IMS, Fodrie Lab Manager Abigail Poray<\/a> of UNC IMS, and Katherine McGlade<\/a> of Slash Creek Oysters. Authors on the commercial oyster lease survey also include Fodrie, Poray, and Chris Taylor of the NOAA Beaufort Lab. Additional Fodrie Lab research technicians who worked on both projects include Max Tice-Lewis and Mary Conroy.<\/em><\/p>\nSarah Loftus<\/a> is a communications specialist for the UNC Institute of Marine Sciences.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Researchers at the UNC Institute of Marine Sciences have been studying local ecosystems under oyster farms, comparing their seagrass and fish communities to areas without oyster gear.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":63,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29,690,36],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Do Oyster Farms Support More Fish? - Coastwatch Currents<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n