EAST HAMPTON TOWN SHELLFISH HATCHERY 2016 ANNUAL REPORT AND 2017 OPERATING PLAN Prepared by Kate Rossi-Snook Edited by Barley Dunne East Hampton Town Shellfish Hatchery Kate and Adam prepare to seed oysters on a quiet morning in Three Mile Harbor Annual Report of Operations Mission Statement With a hatchery on Fort Pond Bay, a nursery on Three Mile Harbor, and a floating raft field growout system in Napeague Harbor, the East Hampton Town Shellfish Hatchery produces large quantities of oyster (Crassostrea virginica), clam (Mercenaria mercenaria), and bay scallop (Argopecten irradians) seed to enhance valuable shellfish stocks in local waterways. Shellfish are available for harvest by all permitted town residents. Cooperative research and experimentation concerning shellfish culture, the subsequent success of seed in the wild, and the status of the resource is undertaken and reported upon regularly, often funded and validated by scientific research grants. Educational opportunities afforded by the work include school group and open house tours and educational displays at community functions. Annual reporting includes production statistics and values, seed dissemination information, results of research initiatives, a summary of outreach efforts, the status of current and developing infrastructure, and a plan for the following year’s operations. 2016 Full-time Staff Part-time and Contractual Volunteers John “Barley” Dunne – Director Adam Younes – Environmental Aide Jannine DeMeritt Kate Rossi-Snook – Hatchery Manager Sam Younes – Environmental Aide (summer) Julia DeMeritt Pete Topping – Algae Culturist Tali Friedman – Environmental Aide (summer) Thor Botero Jeremy Gould – Maintenance Mechanic Pete checking on the success of our Three Mile Harbor scallop sanctuary Special Thanks to: Barnaby Friedman for producing our annual seeding maps The East Hampton Town Board and East Hampton Trustees for their continued support Table of Contents 2016 Annual Report of Operations Season Summary 1 2017 Operating Plan 3 Oyster Production 4 Spawn and Culture Summary Discards and Culls Distribution Overwintering Market Values Hard Clam Production 6 Spawn and Culture Summary Discards and Culls Distribution Overwintering Market Values Bay Scallop Production 9 Collection and Culture Summary Discards and Culls Distribution Overwintering Market Values Projects and Cooperative Research 12 East Hampton Shellfish Education and Enhancement Directive (EHSEED) Montauk Elementary School 8th Grade Science Fair Research: Oyster Murder Mystery Battle of the Bivalves Understanding the effects of predicted ocean conditions as a result of climate change on juvenile shellfish Shinnecock Bay Restoration Project oyster reef construction Impacts of climate change and ocean acidification on economically important shellfish in New York: are there effective mitigation and adaptation measures? Exploring trait-mediated effects of finfish on decapod crustaceans and bay scallops in eelgrass ecosystems Juvenile clam growth and survival in Western Shinnecock Bay Public Outreach & Industry Involvement 36 Infrastructure Management 38 Appendix I: 2015 Harbor Seeding Maps – All Species 40 II: 2015 Harbor Water Temperatures 48 2016 Season Summary Oysters: The hatchery season began with an accidental spawn in the broodstock conditioning tank one day before the first scheduled spawn. After conferring with Karen Rivara of Aeros Cultured Oyster Co. and Noank Aquaculture Cooperative, we determined that the usual conditioning time of 8 weeks was too long for the younger-than-usual (2015 product) oysters being used to breed disease-resistant offspring. We salvaged some larvae from the tank, quickly adjusted our spawning schedule, and reintroduced the first oyster cohort back to the conditioning tank to represent a fourth spawn. For the second consecutive year we experienced some die-off and reduced growth due to Juvenile Oyster Disease/Roseovarius Oyster Disease. The survivors, however, developed well and resulted in an excellent crop. We set aside some of these oysters for spawning in 2017 in order to continue breeding resistance to the disease. Full disease resistance is expected to take several years to develop. Despite these setbacks we had a robust season of oysters, moving almost 8 million to the nursery, and over 5 million to the field for growout, of which 1.3 million achieved ideal seeding size. The total value of oyster production in 2016 was $291,552. Clams: 2016 was a great year for clam production; a total of more than 31 million culls were seeded from the nursery and field, and we produced and disseminated 3.74 million seed clams. We moved a lot of clams to the nursery (nearly 25 million vs. 11.5 in 2015) and produced more seed-sized clams than in 2015. However, the average size of seed clams decreased from 2015 (11.7mm vs. 13.6mm). We will continue to fine-tune clam production in an effort to optimize our “quality vs. quantity” approach. Unfortunately, overwintered clams did not exhibit much success. Of the more than 1 million clams overwintered in 2015, only about 450,000 were retrieved and seeded (44% survival), and we saw a mere 1% growth. We continued to overwinter clams in Northwest Creek for the 2016-2017 season, but are also trying three other test sites to determine if another site is more suitable. The town-wide prevalence of rust tide (Cochlodinium polykrikoides) may have been a factor in these poor survival and growth results. The total value of clam production in 2016 was $462,753. Scallops: In 2015 we tested different gear deployments by overwintering scallops using the usual method (“green blocks”) as well as pearl nets. The blocks proved to be the better option (63% survival vs. 46% in the pearl nets). Overall, of the 117,520 scallops that were overwintered, we seeded 63,911 in the spring (54% survival); less than stellar results but significantly better than the previous year when we had a very harsh winter involving sustained freezing of the overwintering pond. We began spawning scallops June 1st, with the final spawn on June 7th being the most prolific. We moved approximately 900,000 scallops to the set tanks, but they were kept in the hatchery a bit too long, leading to a significant die-off. In all, we moved 130,000 to the field for growout and overwintered 76,800. After conferring with Mike Patricio at Cornell Cooperative Extension about 1 the die-off, we’ve decided to try their new nursery method in 2017. We will construct smaller- mesh upwellers for use in 2017. This will allow us to move scallops into upwelling earlier (when they’re smaller), with minimal time in set tanks and downwelling, both methods seemingly problematic when it comes to scallop survival. Our total scallop production value for 2016 was $5,136. In all, over 50 million shellfish (valued at $759,442) were disseminated in 2016. Staffing: Barley Dunne, Kate Rossi-Snook, and Pete Topping continued as the full-time Hatchery team, and Jeremy Gould was part-time seasonal Maintenance Mechanic. Adam Younes continued to fill the position of Environmental Aide for the full season. For the summer we had Sam Younes and Tali Friedman as additional Environmental Aides. Carissa Maurin left the Hatchery to pursue graduate school at University of New England. For the first summer since 2011 we were without Shelby Joyce who graduated from University of Miami and began working at Muscongus Bay Aquaculture, ME in May. We wish both Carissa and Shelby the best of luck! Pete pulling oyster bags for seeding 2 2017 Operating Plan A tote of clams from the field Target Species: Eastern Oyster (Crassostrea virginica) Hard Clam (Mercenaria mercenaria) Bay Scallop (Argopecten irradians) Projected Seed/ Oysters: 6-8 million, Spawns: 2/14, 2/28, 3/14 Overwintering Clams: 5-6 million, Spawns: 3/30, 4/13, 4/27 Production: Scallops: 300,000, Spawns: as natural conditioning permits Permit Status: All East Hampton Shellfish Hatchery marine hatchery and off bottom grow-out permits are in place for the 2017 season Additional Continue breeding resistant oysters to overcome disease issue Operations/ of 2015 and 2016 Goals: Continue the enumeration of the efficacy of seeding via surveys, especially for clams. Increase yields/reduce losses in clam growout by trying soft bottom bags. Expand oyster gardening program Request fourth full-time staff member 3 2016 Oyster Production Oyster Spawn and Culture Summary O1 Cohort O2 Cohort O3 Cohort O4 Cohort Dates # Oysters (x106) Dates # Oysters (x106) Dates # Oysters (x106) Dates # Oysters (x106) Spawn 2/22-2/23 13.20 2/25 47.30 3/10 102.90 3/29 102.00 Set Tanks *Early spawn in broodstock 3/7-3/11 9.97 3/25 10.97 4/13 4.36 Downwelling - Hatchery conditioning tank; combined 3/22 5.92 4/5 4.45 4/21 1.69 Set Success salvaged larvae with O2 59% 41% 39% Upwelling - Nursery cohort* 4/12 2.90 4/20 3.10 4/29 1.78 All Cohorts Dates # Oysters (x106) Total to Upwelling 4/12-4/29 7.78 Field Growout 5/26-6/27 5.18 Seeded Culls (<30mm) 6/16-9/9 2.30 Seed (30+mm) 8/30-10/17 1.34 2016 Total Oysters Culled/Seeded: 3.64 Oyster Discards and Culls Hatchery Discards Nursery and Field Culls Sieve Number Approximate Size Number Sieve Size Number 325 >45um 0 ≤#20 1,260,000 270 >53um 10,860,000 ≤2.0mm 0 230 >63um 51,100,000 ≤2.4mm 500,000 200 >75um 72,300,000 ≤3.4mm 1,196,150 170 >90um 13,100,000 ≤5/16" 1,271,812 140 >106um 26,500,000 <5/8" 194,720 120 >125um 3,500,000 Total Oyster Culls: 4,422,682 100 >150um 18,330,000 80 >180um 1,840,000 70 >212um 4,412,000 60 >250um 0 Total Oyster Hatchery Discards: 201,942,000 Marketable Total: 6,252,000 Islip/Great Atlantic Shellfish Farms was experiencing multiple mass hatchery die-off events, so we donated 136,280,000 of our hatchery discards and 1,260,000 nursery discards to help get their production on track.