A Fisherman-Scientist Collaboration: Re-assessing Narragansett Bay Lobster Nurseries After Two Decades of Environmental Change

Richard A. Wahle University of Maine Lanny Dellinger Rhode Island Lobstermen’s Assn Scott Olszewski Rhode Island Dept Fish & Wildlife Change in Narragansett Bay 0.3°C/ 10 y

From Nixon et al. (2004) Rhode Island Lobster Harvests

5,000

4,000

3,000 Shell

2,000 Disease MetricTons 1,000

0 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 Overview

• Background - Monitoring lobster settlement • Narragasett Bay lobster nurseries after two decades – Survey Methods – Preliminary Results The Vision: Linking Life Stages/ Probing Processes Pelagic Pre-settlement Processes

NEAq Postlarvae Larvae

Larval Settlement Egg Production

Juveniles Adults Diver-based Commercial Suction Catch Sampling Benthic Sampling Post-settlement Inshore Passive Processes Collectors Trawl Surveys Suction sampler

Passive Collector 20092008

NL QCQC NL

NBNB

MEME NSNS Suction samples only NHNH Collectors only MAMA Suction samples & collectors RI RI A. 90 B. Rhode Island 1990-2008 1 Rhode Island 80 YoY y = 0.2641x + 0.1512 YOY to 17 mm 2 70 ) R = 0.5528 2 Y1 to 25 mm 0.00148 60

50

40 0.5316 1Yr y = 0.409x 30 2

Frequency R = 0.6357 1 1 year olds (N/m 20 0.00037

10

0 0

0 5

10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 0 100 1 2 Carapace length (mm) YoY (N/m2) C. YoY upper size limit (mm) 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 14 0.0150 0.0029 0.0011 0.0020 0.0267 15 0.0000 0.0056 0.0335 0.0398 0.0605 0.2194 16 0.0007 0.0095 0.0499 0.0525 0.0653 0.1577 0.0140 17 0.0012 0.0076 0.0286 0.0181 0.0180 0.0389 0.0062 0.0484 limit 18 0.0238 0.0574 0.1502 0.1352 0.1350 0.1877 0.1067 0.1530 0.4147 19 0.0325 0.0699 0.1793 0.1956 0.2208 0.2996 0.2383 0.2829 0.4275 0.0856 20 0.0615 0.1044 0.2137 0.2166 0.2287 0.2838 0.2363 0.2569 0.3786 0.1754 0.0762 21 0.0927 0.1420 0.2465 0.2441 0.2631 0.3001 0.2578 0.2825 0.3979 0.2376 0.1780 0.1685 22 0.0699 0.1075 0.2093 0.2170 0.2386 0.2908 0.2495 0.2762 0.4112 0.2456 0.1629 0.174 23 0.1156 0.1516 0.2560 0.2801 0.3105 0.3613 0.3414 0.3799 0.4768 0.3610 0.3133 0.3599 24

upper sizeupper 0.1210 0.1622 0.2709 0.2987 0.3258 0.3803 0.3753 0.4322 0.5106 0.4062 0.3714 0.3608 25 0.1340 0.1827 0.3068 0.3628 0.3980 0.4560 0.472 0.4983 0.5528 0.4648 0.4329 0.4069 26 0.0998 0.1365 0.2288 0.2520 0.2735 0.3209 0.3138 0.3327 0.4016 0.2966 0.2653 0.2423 1 Yr 1 27 0.1199 0.1551 0.2340 0.2483 0.2592 0.2933 0.2821 0.2959 0.3615 0.2697 0.2248 0.2002 28 0.1025 0.1339 0.2081 0.2249 0.2420 0.2768 0.2626 0.2762 0.3438 0.2444 0.2182 0.1870 9 1. Beaver Hbr W, NB 6 Suction Sampling Time Series 3 Beaver Hbr, NB 0 2 2. Jonesport, ME 1 Jonesport, ME

0 2 3. Mt Desert Is, ME NB 1 Mt. Desert, ME 0 2 4. Outer PenBay, ME 1 Pen. Bay, ME ME 0 3 5. Mid-coast, ME 2

1 Mid-coast, ME

0 3 6. Casco Bay, ME 2

1 Casco Bay, ME

0 NH 3 7. York, ME 2 1 York, ME MA 0 3 8. Beverly, MA 2 RI 1 Beverly, MA 0 2 9. Cape Cod Bay, MA 1 Cape Cod Bay, MA 0 1 10. Buzzards Bay, MA Buzzards Bay, MA 0 2 11. Rhode Is. 1 Rhode Island

0

1992 2008 2010 1990 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 1988 Revisiting Narragansett Bay Lobster Nurseries Objectives • Compare 2011/2012 to 1990 survey - Visual quadrat sampling - Suction sampling • Compare sampling methods - Suction vs Collectors • Explore new industry-selected sites

Narragansett Bay and Rhode Narragansett Bay Island’s outer coast Lobster Nursery Survey

Visual quadrat only Visual + Suction + Collectors Industry selected

Visual surveys 1990 2011

*

*

N N Visual surveys

Density (n/m2) Density (n/m2) 0 1 2 3 0 1 2 3 Popasquash Popasquash Mt. Tom Rock Mt. Tom Rock Despair Island 1990 Despair Island 2011 Dyer Island Ben Bow Basin Dyer Island Fogland Fogland Fox Island Fox Island Gould Island (East… Gould Island (East… Black Point Black Point Dutch Island Dutch Island Church Point Church Point Easton Point House on Rocks Easton Point Southwest Point Southwest Point Sachuest Point Sachuest Point Land's End Land's End Castle Hill Castle Hill Sakonnet Point Sakonnet Point Price Neck Price Neck 20

Lobster Size 1990 Visual Composition Survey 10 in Nurseries Frequency N = 182 0 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 Visual Carapace Length (mm) Survey 8 20112011 VisualVisual 6

SurveySurvey

4

2 Frequency N = 60 0 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 Carapace length (mm) 30

Narragansett BayC) and Rhode Temperature ° Temperature (°C) Island’s outer coast20 15 20 25 30 10

0 Popasquash Temperature ( Temperature 0 5 6/1/2011 7/21/2011 9/9/2011

10 Can #6 Depth (m) Depth 15 8/3/2011

20 Temperature (°C) 15 20 25 30 0

30

5 Sakonet

C) ° River 20 10 Depth (m) Depth Mouth 10 House on Rocks 15 8/2/2011 Temperature ( Temperature 0 20 6/1/2011 7/21/2011 9/9/2011 Narragansett Bay and Rhode Dissolved Oxygen Island’s outer coast

Dissolved Oxygen (%) 50 60 70 80 90 100

Popasquash Point #6 Can Dispair Island Ben Boat Basin Fogland Fox Island Black Point Dutch Island Church Point House on Rock Castle Hill In Progress • Sort 2011 suction & collector samples • Lobsters & Associated fauna • Hydrographic data (T, S, DO) • Prep for 2012 season Thanks All…

Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation NOAA Rhode Island Lobstermen Rhode Island Dept Environmental Management UMaine/ Darling Marine Center Charlene Bergeron (Research Associate) Sebastian Velez (Intern) Dan Costa (RI DEM)

Suction sampling in Forecasting Joint effects of settlement & shell disease

Wahle, Fogarty, Gibson (2009)

Rhode Island A. Dove New Collectors Proof-of-concept trials

Settlement in Collectors equals settlement in Natural cobble

No significant losses on retrieval

Wahle et al. (2008)

Suction Sampling in Forecasting Comparison of Projected Recruitment Trend (Assuming 50% recruited at age 9 yr) to Observed Trawl Survey Catch in Region 5 (Washington County) 1.0 Eastern Maine 40

Projected 0.8 Observed Recruits (80-89 mm) 30

0.6 R2 = 0.70 p = 0.001 20 0.4

10

0.2

Projected Recruitment Index Recruitment Projected Observed Catch per 20 min Tow min 20 per Catch Observed

0.0 0 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Geographic Patterns 2009

Gulf of St. Gulf of St. SuctionSuction samples Samples Lawrence CollectorsCollectors Lawrence 20072009 PEI 20072009 PEI

QC NB Gulf of St. NL QC NB Gulf of St. NL Lawrence Lawrence ME PEI ME PEI NB NB ME NS ME NS Older NH NS NH NS NH Gulf of YoY juv NH Gulf of Gulf of Gulf of MA Maine MA Maine MA Maine MA Maine RIRI RIRI Gulf of St. Gulf of St. Suction Samples Lawrence Collectors Lawrence 2009 PEI 2009 PEI

NB NB

ME ME

NS NS

NH NH Gulf of Gulf of MA Maine MA Maine RI RI BOF 0 20 15 5050 10 5

100 0 Temperature( GOM 0 20 15 5050 10 5

Depth Depth (m) 100 0 ° SNE C) 0 20 15 5050 10

5

100

0

Jul

Jan

Jun

Oct

Feb

Apr

Sep

Dec

Mar

Aug

Nov May