PERFORMANCE REPORT FOR FEDERAL AID GRANT F-63-R, SEGMENT 9 2018 MARINE AND ESTUARINE FINFISH ECOLOGICAL AND HABITAT INVESTIGATIONS DNR 17-120419-191 Maryland Department of Natural Resources Fishing and Boating Services Tawes State Office Building B-2 Annapolis, Maryland 21401 December, 2019 Larry Hogan Fishing and Boating Services Jeannie Haddaway-Riccio Governor Chesapeake Finfish Program Secretary Boyd Rutherford Tawes State Office Building Lt. Governor 580 Taylor Avenue Annapolis, Maryland 21401 1 State of Maryland Department of Natural Resources Larry Hogan Governor Boyd Rutherford Lt. Governor Jeannie Haddaway-Riccio Secretary Department of Natural Resources Mission For today and tomorrow, the Department of Natural Resources inspires people to enjoy and live in harmony with their environment, and to protect what makes Maryland unique – our treasured Chesapeake Bay, our diverse landscapes and our living and natural resources. Fishing and Boating Services 580 Taylor Avenue Annapolis, MD 21401 dnr.maryland.gov 1-877-620-8DNR Ext. 8305 410-260-8305 2 The facilities and services of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources are available to all without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, national origin or physical or mental disability. This document is available in alternative format upon request from a qualified individual with a disability. © 2004 Maryland Department of Natural Resources 3 This grant was funded by the State of Maryland Fisheries Management and Protection Fund and Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration Acts (Dingell-Johnson/Wallop-Breaux) 4 Approval Lynn Waller Fegley Division Director: Stock Health, Data Management and Analysis Fishing and Boating Services Department of Natural Resources James H. Uphoff, Jr. Stock Health, Data Management and Analysis Division Fishing and Boating Services Fisheries Habitat and Ecosystem Program Department of Natural Resources 5 Acknowledgements The Maryland Department of Natural Resources and program staff would like to thank all volunteers and organizations who assisted us in 2018. Volunteer / Sampling organization Mattawoman Mattawoman Creek Watershed Society Anita Leight Bush River Estuary Center Marek Topolski Mapping MD DNR 6 Project Staff Jim Uphoff Margaret McGinty Alexis Park Carrie Hoover Marcus Patton (seasonal) Report Organization This report was completed during December, 2019. It consists of summaries of activities for Jobs 1–4 under this grant cycle. All pages are numbered sequentially; there are no separate page numbering systems for each Job. Job 1 activities are reported in separate numbered sections. For example, Job 1, section 1 would cover habitat reference points (Job 1) for stream spawning habitat of anadromous fish (Section 1). Tables in Job 1 are numbered as section number – table number (1-1, 1-2, etc). Figures are numbered in the same fashion. Throughout the report, multiple references to past annual report analyses are referred to. The complete PDF versions of many past annual reports can be found under the Publications and Report link on the Fisheries Habitat and Ecosystem (FHEP) website page on the Maryland DNR website. The website address is http://dnr.maryland.gov/fisheries/Pages/FHEP/pubs.aspx . Table 1 provides the page number for each job and section. Table 1. Job and section number, topic covered, and page number. Job Section Topic Pages 1 1-3 Executive summary 8-10 1 1-3 Background 11-16 1 1-3 Common spatial and statistical methods 17-22 1 1 Anadromous fish stream spawning habitat 23-71 1 2 Yellow Perch larval habitat 72-108 1 3 Summer fish community and habitat dynamics 109-195 1 1-3 Synthesis 196-198 2 Supporting activities 199-201 3 Spatial data for prioritizing habitat 202-222 4 Striped Bass forage benchmarks 223-283 7 STATE: MARYLAND SURVEY TITLE: MARINE AND ESTUARINE FINFISH ECOLOGICAL AND HABITAT INVESTIGATIONS PROJECT 1: HABITAT AND ECOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT FOR RECREATIONALLY IMPORTANT FINFISH Job 1: Development of habitat-based reference points for recreationally important Chesapeake Bay fishes of special concern: development targets and thresholds Executive Summary Spatial Analyses - We used property tax map based counts of structures in a watershed (C), standardized to hectares (C/ha), as our indicator of development. Recalculation of the equation previously used to convert annual estimates of C/ha to estimates of impervious surface (IS) was necessary in 2018 due to a new time-series provided by MD Department of Planning, as well as inconsistencies found in the data for some watersheds up to 2002. New estimates of C/ha that were equivalent to 5% IS (target level of development for fisheries; a rural watershed), 10% IS (development threshold for a suburban watershed), and 15% IS (highly developed suburban watershed) were estimated as 0.37, 0.86, and 1.35 C/ha, respectively. Previous C/ha estimates corresponding to 5%, 10%, and 15% IS were 0.27, 0.83, and 1.59, respectively (Uphoff et al. 2018). Percent of watershed in agriculture, forest, and wetlands were estimated from Maryland Department of Planning spatial data. Section 1, Stream Ichthyoplankton - Proportion of samples with Herring eggs and-or larvae (Pherr) provided a reasonably precise indicator of habitat occupation based on encounter rate. Regression analyses that included spawning stock categories (0 for low during 2005-2011 and 1 for high during 2012-2018), indicated significant and logical relationships among Pherr, C/ha, and conductivity consistent with the hypothesis that urbanization was detrimental to stream spawning. Predicted Pherr declined by 53% over the range of observed C/ha (0.07-1.52; and increased by 55% between the two spawning stock categories. Predicted Pherr declined by 47% over the range of observed conductivity standardized to its baseline (1.14-2.19) and increased by 57% between the two spawning stock categories. The high spawning stock category in the analysis of 2005-2018 corresponded with closure of Maryland’s River Herring fisheries in 2011, closure of most other in-river fisheries along the Atlantic Coast by 2012, and caps on River Herring bycatch in coastal Atlantic Herring and Atlantic Mackerel fisheries. Herring spawning declined in streams as watersheds developed and conductivity increased. Conductivity was positively related with C/ha in our analysis, and with urbanization in other studies. Estimates of Pherr were more strongly related to C/ha than conductivity. Estimates of Pherr were consistently high in the three watersheds dominated by agriculture. Importance of forest cover could not be assessed with confidence since it was possible that forest cover estimates included residential tree cover. Conductivity was positively related with C/ha in our analysis and with urbanization in other studies. Estimates of Pherr were consistently high in the three watersheds dominated by agriculture, while importance of forest cover could not be assessed with confidence since it was possible that forest cover estimates included residential tree cover. General development targets and limits for C/ha or IS worked reasonably well in 8 characterizing habitat conditions for stream spawning of Herring. Low estimates of Pherr (≤ 0.4) were much more frequent beyond the C/ha threshold or when standardized conductivity was 1.5- times or more than the baseline level. Estimates of Pherr were consistently above 0.6 when development was less than the C/ha target. Section 2, Yellow Perch Larval Presence-Absence Sampling - Annual Lp, the proportion of tows with Yellow Perch larvae during a standard time period and where larvae would be expected, provides a cost-effective measure of the product of egg production and survival through the early postlarval stage. General patterns of large scale land use and Lp emerged from the expanded analyses conducted for this report: Lp was negatively related to development and positively associated with forest and agriculture. Development was an important influence on Yellow Perch egg and larval dynamics and negative changes generally conformed to development reference points. Higher DO and pH measurements in urbanized large subestuaries sampled since 2015 (Patuxent and Wicomico rivers) during Lp surveys indicated their water quality dynamics were different from the rural, agricultural Choptank River watershed. Years of high spring discharge favor anadromous fish recruitment in Chesapeake Bay and may represent episodes of hydrologic transport of accumulated organic matter from riparian marshes and forests of watersheds that fuel zooplankton production and feeding success. Amount of organic matter present in Lp samples was negatively influenced by development in Chesapeake Bay subestuaries. Wetlands appeared to be an important source of organic matter in the subestuaries we studied. At least five habitat related factors can be identified that potentially contribute to variations in Lp: salinity, summer hypoxia, maternal influence, winter temperature, and watershed development. These factors may not be independent and there is considerable potential for interactions among them. Section 3: Estuarine Community Sampling in Summer:Dissolved Oxygen Dynamics - Correlation analyses of DO with temperature and C/ha in subestuaries sampled since 2003 indicated that DO responded differently depending on salinity classification. Mean bottom DO in summer surveys declined with development in mesohaline subestuaries, reaching average levels below 3.0 mg/L when development was beyond its threshold, but it did not decline