Final Report Period covered by Report: 05/01/2018 - 4/30/2019 Sea Scallop Research NOAA Grant Number: NA18NMF4540018 Award Date: 5/1/2018 End Date: 4/30/2019 Project Title: High resolution drop camera survey examining sea star dynamics in extremely dense scallop beds of the Nantucket Lightship Closed Area Principal Investigators: Kevin D. E. Stokesbury, Ph.D., N.David Bethoney, Ph.D., Craig A. Lego, M.S. candidate Address: School for Marine Science and Technology, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, 836 S. Rodney French Blvd. New Bedford, MA 02744 Phone: (508) 910-6373 Fax: (508) 910-6374 Email:
[email protected] Amount: We were allocated 38,288 lbs. ($421,171) for research and compensation. Project Summary: The goal of this project was to investigate sea scallop and sea star predator- prey interactions and produce a 2018 biomass estimate of scallops to aid in management of the area. We surveyed the Nantucket Lightship Closed Area (NLCA) with a centric systematic design resulting in 509 stations sampled in 2018. We produced spatial specific estimates and associated error of scallop size as well as maps of exploitable and juvenile scallop distributions at the time of the survey. This information was supplied to the New England Fisheries Management Council and the National Marine Fisheries Service and included in the annual scallop allocation setting process. To investigate predator-prey interactions station and quadrat level data from 2010-2018 were utilized. Scallop and sea star density, ratio, and size trends at the spatial scale of the NLCA indicate an extremely high scallop recruitment event in this area linked to decreases in sea star densities.