MAY 2023

​Verena gives invited seminar and attends conference in Florida

On two occasions this month Verena has presented her research on the effects of species life history on climate change adaptability. The first was at an international conference, "Species on the Move" in Bonita Springs, FL. Over two hundred attendees from around the world were present to share research from a wide range of ecosystems and species groups. The following week, Verena gave an invited seminar to UC Santa Cruz, as part of their series "Diverse Voices in Fisheries Science." 

​New paper out on shrimp-climate relationships

Three species of penaeid shrimp contribute to a very important fishery in North Carolina. Annual abundance varies greatly, and some long term trends in the species composition are evident. Lela published a paper in Plos One describing the relationships that shrimp have with climate and weather patterns (LINK). The future dynamics of the three species of shrimp in Pamlico Sound will be highly sensitive to changes in climate.​

​Cambria joins the lab to research blue catfish

Blue catfish are an invasive species along the U.S. Atlantic coastal plain. Their numbers have risen sharply within Albemarle Sound, NC during the last decade. The Albemarle is an important region for NC fisheries production. Over the next couple years, Cambria will be analyzing the diets and trophic dynamics of blue catfish in this region.  Cambria's previous position was at the University of Texas, where she worked as a field and laboratory technician with a fisheries lab at the UT Marine Science Institute in Port Aransas. 

APRIL 2023

​Open House at CSI

On Earth Day, the Coastal Studies Institute celebrated 10 years on the OBX campus of ECU. Several hundred people from around Dare County (and visitors from farther away) came to learn about what we do at CSI. Verena, Lela, Andrew and Jim were there to represent the Fisheries Lab. An article was written in the Coastal Review about the event, which highlighted our lab (LINK).   

​Caid and Andrew lead Shad in the Classroom

Shad in the Classroom is a collaborative project that many classrooms in eastern NC take part in. Students learn about fish and the history of an iconic anadromous species, American shad. Caid and Andrew participated in this effort, leading multiple classroom activities at First Flight Middle School in Kill Devil Hills on the OBX. They led students in lessons on shad morphology and anatomy. 

​MARCH 2023

Fisheries Lab attends annual Tidewater AFS Conference 

The​ entire Fisheries Lab attended the annual Tidewater Chapter Conference, which is part of the American Fisheries Society. The meeting was held in Solomons, MD, including a poster session at the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory. Maddie, Verena and Lela each gave an oral presentation, while Chloe and Andrew presented posters. It was a great showing by ECU overall. Jim has served as chapter president during the past year, and will continue on for one more year as past-president. Maddie, Andrew and Caid all serve as officers on ECU's AFS student subunit. 

Topleft - Maddie presents her research on juvenile sheepshead; Bottomleft - the Fish Lab cleans up on raffle ticket items!; Above - Andrew wins the Eileen Setzler-Hamilton Memorial Scholarship Award.

New paper out describing method for tagging fish

Satellite tags are a method to track the movements of animals in the ocean. However, they have mostly been used on larger animals, due to the relatively large size of the tags. In a new paper (LINK), a method is described using a new generation, and smaller, satellite tag on adult sheepshead, a relatively small species of fish for this approach. Andrew and Jim are coauthors on the paper, with colleagues from UNC and NCSU. 

FEBRUARY 2023

Charlotte Grimes receives award to conduct research with the Fisheries Lab

The Office of Undergraduate Research at ECU has awarded Charlotte Grimes $1,800 to conduct an independent research project with the Marine Fisheries Ecology Lab. As part of Charlotte's undergraduate honors thesis at ECU, she will spend 4 weeks at CSI and work with our lab to use acoustic imaging technology to measure how fish use oyster sanctuaries in Pamlico Sound. Previously, Charlotte spent the Spring 2022 at CSI, as part of the Semester Experience at the Coast program. 

​Andrew selected as a Water Scholar & awarded research funds

The ECU Water Resources Center has awarded Andrew $1,400 to conduct research on how fish use coastal inlet habitats. Specifically, Andrew will be using acoustic imaging sonar to measure how environmental factors influence fish movements through inlet channels. Andrew will also be one of the WRC Water Scholars for 2023.  At left is a video clip from imaging sonar used in Beaufort Inlet during our fall 2022 sampling season.

Andrew attends workshop on inlet dredging impacts

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and NOAA Beaufort Lab hosted a workshop where seven teams presented research on the function of coastal inlet habitat, and how dredging to maintain depth for shipping vessel access impacts this ecosystem. Andrew presented his research on using sonar technology to measure seasonal changes in habitat use in Beaufort Inlet. Collectively, the group is conducting one of the most comprehensive examinations on the ecology of coastal inlets. 

New project on the trophic impacts of invasive blue catfish

Blue catfish are invasive within many systems along the Atlantic coastal plain, where they can become one of the most abundant predators. Their broad diet, long life span, and large size means they have the potential to negatively impact native species, including important resource species. The Fisheries Lab, along with collaborator Fred Scharf (UNC-Wilmington), have been awarded funds by the NC Commercial Fishing Resource Fund to estimate trophic impacts (predatory and competition) of blue catfish in the Albemarle Sound ecosystem. 

​Andrew & Jim attend Southern Division AFS conference

The Southern Division of the American Fisheries Society hosted its annual conference in Norfolk, VA. Andrew presented his research on sheepshead movements around an oyster farm. Jim co-hosted a two day symposium on marine fisheries. Andrew serves on the Communications Committee for AFS's Student and Early Career Professional subsection and also as treasurer for ECU's AFS subunit. Jim is currently the president of the Tidewater Chapter, within the Southern Division AFS.  

NOVEMBER 2022

ECU grad students host OBX fishing day

The student subunit for the American Fisheries Society at ECU hosted a day of fishing at Jennette's Pier in Nags Head. CSI students met with folks from main campus. In the photo are Ray, Andrew and Chase Spicer (left to right). The fish were reluctant to bite, but the weather was nice and we saw a large pod of dolphins, sea turtles and seabirds. Caid, Andrew and Maddie serve as officers in the AFS student subunit. 

Dylan presents research at NC Coastal Conference

Eastern Pamlico Sound is rich in seagrass habitat, but limited data are available that describe the species assemblage in this area. Through a beach seining survey, Dylan Whitt described this community and demonstrated the importance of seagrass. He presented his research this month at the North Carolina Coastal Conference in Raleigh. See his poster here (LINK). Dylan is graduating from ECU this fall. 

Verena & Jim meet with collaborators in Oregon

 A two day meeting of collaborators for a Lenfest Ocean Program grant took place at the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport, Oregon. Our research team met with three scientists from NOAA, and laid out the groundwork for the next year's worth of analyses and outreach.

Despite a full agenda of brainstorming and discussion, our team found some time to enjoy the sites of the Oregon coastline. Verena is the lead analyst on the project. 

OCTOBER 2022

Kayaking in the Alligator River Wildlife Refuge

ECU's American Fisheries Society student subunit hosted a day of paddling in the Alligator River Wildlife Refuge. Around 10 participants (including Andrew and Jim) enjoyed a nice day of paddling. The group saw two alligators warming themselves in the sun. Maddie, Andrew and Caid serve as officers within the AFS student subunit. The picture at right shows ECU grad students Chase Spicer and Maggie Shostak. 

Lela begins research on long term trends in North Carolina's coastal ecosystems

The Fisheries Lab received funds from the North Carolina Collaboratory to examine long term trends in NC's coastal ecosystems. Lela will be examining long term change using many ecosystem indicators, which will include data on water temperature, fisheries catches, and many more. This project is part of a larger group, across multiple NC universities, that is assessing the health of NC fisheries and coastal habitats. 

 AUGUST 2022

How do fish respond to oyster sanctuaries in Pamlico Sound? 

This summer, CSI hosted a group of undergraduate researchers for an NSF sponsored program. The Marine Fisheries Lab worked with one of these students, Diandre' Richie, to assess how fish abundance might be enhanced at oyster sanctuary sites in Pamlico Sound. We used acoustic imaging technology to measure fish density and size distributions at many positions inside and outside of two different oyster sanctuaries. We found that mean fish densities were over twice as high in sanctuaries compared to the surrounding area. See Diandre's poster here (LINK).

JULY 2022

Chloe joins the lab to research the parasite that causes black gill

Black gill is a condition caused by a parasite, which infects multiple species of shrimp in the southeast U.S. In other states, this parasite is thought to have negative consequences for shrimp populations, which are of major economic and ecological importance. However, the dynamics of this host-parasite relationship have not been investigated in North Carolina. Chloe will be using microscopy and genetic markers to determine seasonal and spatial patterns of infection in Pamlico Sound, for grass shrimp, brown shrimp and white shrimp. Her project has already received attention, as the Southern Shrimp Alliance awarded Chloe with funds to help support her work. Chloe will be co-advised by Jim and April Blakeslee.

​Caid participating in study on Atlantic tunas

Correctly identifying closely related species from recreational and commercial fisheries catches is important for effective management, because it affects the data that analysts use to assess fish stocks. Caid is helping researchers from Michigan State University, who are using genetic markers and fish morphometrics to classify tuna species. Caid is taking pictures of tuna that are landed along the Outer Banks.   

​Maddie and Andrew's research featured on local kiosk

A public walkway and pier on Roanoke Sound, along the Nags Head causeway, are now featuring multiple educational kiosks. The themes on display include signs on the importance of seagrass, dolphin use of local habitats, and.....sheepshead! The sign is centered around Maddie's thesis work on sheepshead habitat use and otolith aging, and Andrew's telemetry tagging study on their daily movements.  

JUNE 2022

​Andrew accepted as a Coastal Community Environmental Data Scholar

The Coastal Community Environmental Data Scholars (CCEDS) program is an NSF funded Research Traineeship for graduate students at ECU. The goal of this 3-year program is to enhance data science based approaches among graduate students, and to engage students in stakeholder involvement and communication with the public. Andrew will be applying his use of sonar technology in coastal inlets to the CCEDS program. Coastal inlets represent areas of intense overlap between human-use and marine organism dependency, but human-ecosystem dynamics are poorly understood in these areas.

​Diandre' Richie examining habitat enhancement of oyster sanctuaries

The Coastal Studies Institute is hosting undergraduates from across the U.S. to participate in summer research as part of the REU program. Diandre' Richie, a junior from the University of North Carolina-Wilmington, will be working with the Fisheries Lab to measure how fish densities and lengths are enhanced by oyster sanctuaries in Pamlico Sound. He will be using acoustic imaging sonar to collect novel data in these artificially enhanced habitats. 

​Dylan Whitt to study seagrass assemblages 

The fishes and invertebrates that use seagrass habitat in the northern Pamlico Sound region have received little scientific attention. However, this area might be unique among seagrass habitats in North Carolina, because it is adjacent to the only coastal inlet that is north of Cape Hatteras, which is a major geographic dividing line among marine fauna. Dylan Whitt is a senior biology major in the Honors College at ECU. For his undergraduate thesis he will be examining spatial and seasonal species dynamics in seagrass habitat by conducting a monthly beach seine survey with the Fish Lab at CSI.

​Community outreach at CSI Open House 

The Fisheries Lab participated in the Open House event at the Coastal Studies Institute this month, where the public was invited to tour the facility and meet researchers at CSI. Our group spoke with over a hundred interested people from the community. We had three demonstrations that described the use of different marine acoustics technologies in marine ecology, including an area were folks could see live acoustic imaging video (picture at left). In the lab, we also had a live critter cam, where kids could see live grass shrimp and juvenile blue crabs under magnification. 

MAY 2022

​Andrew wins Coastal Research Fellowship 

Each year NC Sea Grant and the NC Coastal Reserve and National Estuarine Research Reserve awards a $10,000 graduate student fellowship, and Andrew is the 2022 award winner. His project "Investigating the impacts of dredging on coastal inlet habitat function using acoustic imaging" will involve collecting sonar data in Beaufort Inlet that will help our understanding about the impact of channel dredging on the habitat function of coastal inlet systems.