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Winter flounder Pseudopleuronectes americanus stock enhancement in New Hampshire: Developing optimal release strategies
Elizabeth Alden Fairchild
University of New Hampshire, Durham
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Recommended Citation
Fairchild, Elizabeth Alden, "Winter flounder Pseudopleuronectes americanus stock enhancement in New Hampshire: Developing optimal release strategies" (2002). Doctoral Dissertations. 62.
https://scholars.unh.edu/dissertation/62
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WINTER FLOUNDER Pseudopleuronectes americanus STOCK ENHANCEMENT IN
NEW HAMPSHIRE: DEVELOPING OPTIMAL RELEASE STRATEGIES
BY
ELIZABETH ALDEN FAIRCHILD
B.A., University of New Hampshire, 1991 M.S., University of New Hampshire, 1998
DISSERTATION
Submitted to the University of New Hampshire in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of
Doctor of Philosophy in
Zoology
May, 2002
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This dissertation has been examined and approved.
Dissertation Director, Dr. W. fiuntting Howell, Professor of Zoology, University of New Hampshire
Dr. Harr^ V. Daniels, Associate Professor of Zoology, North Carolina State University
- Dr. Richard Langan,
- "
Adjunct Associate Professor of Zoology, University of New Hampshire
Dr. Kenneth M. Leber, Director of Center for Fisheries Enhancement, Mote Marine Laboratory, Sarasota, Florida
Dr. Winsor H. Watson HI, Professor of Zoology University of New Hampshire
Date
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DEDICATION
This dissertation is dedicated to Glenn C. Walker, my husband and best friend.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
There are many people who I am indebted to for their help in this research. First, I would like to thank Captains Eric Anderson, Carl Bouchard, David Goethel, and Joe Jurek who collected the winter flounder broodstock for me each spring. Many students worked on this project and without their help, these studies never would have been completed so rapidly. I am extraordinarily grateful to Sarah Abramson, Christopher Benton, Elizabeth Carver, Jennifer Fleck, Katie Reynolds, Glen Rice, Paula Rodgers, Garrison Smith, Kevin Sullivan, Marta Toran, and John Wiedenmann. Additionally, I would like to thank all current and former graduate students in the Howell and Watson labs who have lent a hand, especially Deborah Bidwell, Dr. Steve Jury, Nick King, Jennie Mandeville, Mike Morin, Dan O’Grady, James Sulikowski, and Jenna Wanat. Thank you to the Coastal Marine Laboratory and Jackson Estuarine Laboratory staff, in particular Noel Carlson, Deb Lamson, and Dave Shay, for their assistance in the lab and with the research vessels. Thank you to Dr. Ray Grizzle for help in implementing the benthic core sampling protocol, and to Amy Harmon and Dr. Larry Ward for their tutelage and assistance in analyzing sediment samples. Thank you to the Marine Program and Zoology Department staff, especially Meriel Bunker, Becky Crawshaw, Diane Lavalliere, Tammy McGlone, Barbara Millman, Nancy Richmond, and Nancy Wallingford, who made my life easier by taking care of all the critical paperwork and financial details.
Various equipment and supplies used in these studies were generously loaned from other agencies. Thank you to Drs. Tony Calabrese and Ronald Goldberg of the
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National Marine Fisheries Service, Milford, Connecticut Laboratory who donated the fish cages, and to Lee Blankenship who taught me how to use coded wire tags and then loaned me the tagging equipment. Thank you to Charlie Sleeper who constructed the beam trawl and to Glenn Walker who designed and built the bird pens. I am grateful to Great Bay Aquafarms, who supplied me with many last minute microalgae, rotifer, and artemia orders when my cultures were in peril and there were many hungry mouths to feed.
I am fortunate to have a large, caring group of family and friends that have been integrally involved in my life. I am eternally thankful for their encouragement, love, and camaraderie during these years.
Finally, I would like to express my utmost gratitude to my mentor, Dr. Hunt
Howell, and to the rest of my doctoral committee, Drs. Harry Daniels, Rich Langan, Ken Leber, and Win Watson. My doctoral program was enriched due to their excellent guidance and advice. I thank them all for the time they spent on this project, and for allowing me to set my own schedule and pace.
Funding for this research was provided by the UNH/UME College SeaGrant program under grant number R/FMD-158. Additional support was provided by the Center for Marine Biology, the Zoology Department, and the Graduate School.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
DEDICATION........................................................................................................................iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS...................................................................................................iv
LIST OF TABLES..................................................................................................................ix
LIST OF FIGURES................................................................................................................xi
ABSTRACT.........................................................................................................................xiv
- CHAPTER
- PAGE
INTRODUCTION...................................................................................................................
1
I. PREDATOR-PREY SIZE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN Pseudopleuronectes
americanus AND Carcinus maenas..................................................................................... 11
Introduction............................................................................................................................ 11
Materials and Methods.......................................................................................................... 14
Results.................................................................................................................................... 17
Discussion..............................................................................................................................24
Summary................................................................................................................................30
0. DETERMINING AN OPTIMAL RELEASE SITE FOR JUVENILE
Pseudopleuronectes americanus IN THE GREAT BAY ESTUARY, NEW
HAMPSHIRE........................................................................................................................32
Introduction........................................................................................................................... 32
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- 34
- Materials and Methods
Results....................................................................................................................................40
Discussion..............................................................................................................................48
Summary................................................................................................................................ 54
III. DETERMINING AN OPTIMAL RELEASE SEASON FOR JUVENILE
Pseudopleuronectes americanus IN THE GREAT BAY ESTUARY, NEW
HAMPSHIRE........................................................................................................................55
Introduction............................................................................................................................55
Materials and Methods..........................................................................................................57
Results.................................................................................................................................... 58
Discussion.............................................................................................................................. 76
Summary................................................................................................................................ 82
IV. CONDITION OF CULTURED JUVENILE Pseudopleuronectes americanus FOR RELEASE IN THE GREAT BAY ESTUARY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.............................. 84
Introduction............................................................................................................................84
Materials and Methods.......................................................................................................... 87
Results.................................................................................................................................... 93
Discussion............................................................................................................................ 104
Summary.............................................................................................................................. 109
SYNTHESIS........................................................................................................................ 110
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APPENDIX A. PILOT-SCALE RELEASES OF CULTURED JUVENILE
Pseudopleuronectes americanus IN THE GREAT BAY ESTUARY, NEW
HAMPSHIRE IN 1999-2001.............................................................................................. 113
APPENDIX B. ANIMAL CARE AND USE APPROVAL
DOCUMENTATION..........................................................................................................127
LIST OF REFERENCES.....................................................................................................128
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LIST OF TABLES
- Title
- Page
Table
1.1
Mean number of cultured winter flounder killed per day by greencrabs............ 18 Mean number of wild winter flounder killed per day by green crabs................. 19 Effects of crab and fish size on amount of cultured and wild winter flounder
killed........................................................................................................................20
Mean number of winter flounder killed per day by green crabs in relation to
temperature..............................................................................................................21
Biomass and numerical abundance of primary prey available to winter flounder
inside and outside of the pens................................................................................ 46
Species caught by beam and otter trawls in the three sites in Great Bay Estuary,
New Hampshire...................................................................................................... 60
Mean CPUE from beam trawls and benthic cores for 1999-2001........................61
Summary of predator cue experiment data.............................................................94
Summary of substrate preference observations of light colored, cultured winter
flounder.....................................................................................................................99
Results of chi-square analysis at each sampling interval for substrate preference of
light colored, cultured winter flounder.................................................................. 100
Summary of substrate preference observations of dark colored, cultured winter
flounder................................................................................................................... 102
1.2
1.3 1.4
2.1
3.1 3.2 4.1 4.2
4.3 4.4
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- 4.5
- Results of chi-square analysis at each sampling interval for substrate preference of
dark colored, cultured winter flounder..................................................................103
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LIST OF FIGURES
- Title
- Page
- Figure
Mean percentage of winter flounder killed by crabs per day, independent of
predator size.............................................................................................................. 22
Size-related predation rate of green crabs on cultured and wild winter
1.1
1.2
1.3 1.4 flounder......................................................................................................................23 Mean percentage of winter flounder killed by crabs per day, independent of prey
size.............................................................................................................................25
Mean percentage of cultured and wild winter flounder killed by crabs per day,
independent of predator and prey size.....................................................................26
The three sites in Great Bay Estuary, New Hampshire..........................................35
Flounder cages used for the experiment..................................................................37
Mean growth in length of cultured winter flounder in pens.................................. 41 Mean growth in weight of cultured winter flounder in pens................................. 42 Mean percent survival of cultured winter flounder in pens................................... 43 Mean bottom water temperature at the three sites during the experiment............ 45 Sediment composition of benthic cores taken at each of the three sites................47 Mean CPUE of araphipods, mysids, sand shrimp, green crabs, and winter flounder caught by beam trawl in all three sites during 1999-2001......................................59
2.1
2.2
2.3 2.4 2.5
2.6
2.7 3.1
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3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9
Bottom water temperature at the three sites during 1999-2001 sampling
seasons.......................................................................................................................63
Mean CPUE of amphipods caught with beam trawl in Site 2 during 1999-
2001............................................................................................................................ 64
Mean CPUE of mysids caught with beam trawl in Site 2 during 1999-
2001............................................................................................................................ 65
Mean CPUE of sand shrimp caught with beam trawl in Site 2 during 1999-
2001............................................................................................................................ 67
Monthly length-frequency histograms of sand shrimp caught by beam trawl in
Site 2 during 1999-2001............................................................................................68
Mean CPUE of green crabs caught with beam trawl in Site 2 during 1999-
2001............................................................................................................................ 69
Monthly length-frequency histograms of green crabs caught by beam trawl in Site
2 during 1999-2001................................................................................................... 70
Mean CPUE of winter flounder caught with beam trawl in Site 2 during 1999-
2001............................................................................................................................ 71
3.10 Monthly length-frequency histograms of winter flounder caught by beam trawl in
Site 2 during 1999-2001............................................................................................72
3.11 Mean CPUE of sand shrimp caught with beam and otter trawls in Site 2 during
2001............................................................................................................................ 73
3.12 Mean CPUE of green crabs caught with beam and otter trawls in Site 2 during
2001............................................................................................................................ 74