OCS Study BOEM 2021-036 New York Bight Fish, Fisheries, and Sand Features: Data Review Volume 1: Literature Synthesis and Gap Analysis US Department of the Interior Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Headquarters (Sterling, VA) OCS Study BOEM 2021-036 New York Bight Fish, Fisheries, and Sand Features: Data Review Volume 1: Literature Synthesis and Gap Analysis June 2021 Authors: Thomas M. Grothues, Carolyn M. Iwicki, Gary L. Taghon, Sarah Borsetti, Elias J. Hunter Prepared under BOEM Agreement # M20AC00003 By New Jersey Agriculture and Experiment Stations Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey 88 Lipman Drive New Brunswick, NJ 08901 US Department of the Interior Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Headquarters (Sterling, VA) DISCLAIMER Study collaboration and funding were provided by the US Department of the Interior, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), Environmental Studies Program, Washington, DC, under Agreement Number M20AC0003. This report has been technically reviewed by BOEM, and it has been approved for publication. The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as representing the opinions or policies of the US Government, nor does mention of trade names or commercial products constitute endorsement or recommendation for use. REPORT AVAILABILITY To download a PDF file of this report, go to the US Department of the Interior, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Data and Information Systems webpage (http://www.boem.gov/Environmental-Studies- EnvData/), click on the link for the Environmental Studies Program Information System (ESPIS), and search on 2021-036. The report is also available at the National Technical Reports Library at https://ntrl.ntis.gov/NTRL/. CITATION Grothues TM, Iwicki CM, Taghon GL, Borsetti S, Hunter E. 2021. Literature synthesis of NY Bight fish, fisheries, and sand features; volume 1: literature synthesis and gap analysis. Sterling (VA): US Department of the Interior, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. OCS Study BOEM 2021-036. 114 p. ABOUT THE COVER Contents of a trawl aboard the commercial trawler FV Viking II during a study on bycatch along a shoreface sand ridge off Little Egg Inlet, New Jersey. Clearnose Skate, Windowpane Flounder, clams, Channeled Whelk, and Atlantic Horseshoe Crab represent resources that utilize sand habitat in this area. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Margaret Shaw, Miranda Rosen, Thomas Ertle and Thomas TJ Johnson contributed to the literature search, table builds and formatting. Eleanor Bochenek, Kenneth W. Able and Nathalie Grothues helped with editing. Contents List of Figures ................................................................................................................................................ iii List of Tables ................................................................................................................................................ iv List of Abbreviations and Acronyms .............................................................................................................. v 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Statement of Need ........................................................................................................................ 1 1.2 Understanding Extraction as Perturbation .................................................................................... 1 1.3 Report Structure ............................................................................................................................ 2 2 Physical Habitat of the NYB .................................................................................................................. 3 2.1 Geographic Definition .................................................................................................................... 3 2.2 Circulation ..................................................................................................................................... 7 2.3 Climate and Seasonality ............................................................................................................... 8 2.4 Productivity and Benthic-pelagic Coupling .................................................................................. 10 3 Ecology of NYB Fishes and Invertebrates .......................................................................................... 11 3.1 Early Life History ......................................................................................................................... 11 3.1.1 Pelagic Larvae ..................................................................................................................... 11 3.1.2 Anadromy and Brooding ..................................................................................................... 13 3.1.3 Live Birth and Egg Capsule Birth ........................................................................................ 13 3.2 Overwintering .............................................................................................................................. 14 3.3 Distribution and Habitat Use ....................................................................................................... 14 3.3.1 Habitat Suitability................................................................................................................. 14 3.3.2 Dispersal, Migration, and Ranging ...................................................................................... 16 3.3.3 Burial ................................................................................................................................... 18 3.3.4 Species Accounts ................................................................................................................ 18 3.4 Assemblages ............................................................................................................................... 45 3.5 Mechanisms of Disruption ........................................................................................................... 45 3.5.1 Disease and Parasitism ...................................................................................................... 45 3.5.2 Storms ................................................................................................................................. 46 3.5.3 Shoreface Sand Ridges ...................................................................................................... 48 3.5.4 Water Temperature Change ............................................................................................... 49 3.5.5 Fishing ................................................................................................................................. 50 3.5.6 Ocean Acidification.............................................................................................................. 51 4 Human uses of NYB Fish Resources ................................................................................................. 54 4.1 Fisheries ...................................................................................................................................... 54 i 4.2 Diving .......................................................................................................................................... 54 5 Conclusions ......................................................................................................................................... 56 5.1 Range Buffers Local Impacts ...................................................................................................... 56 5.2 Connections to Estuaries Are Important in the NYB ................................................................... 57 5.3 Nursery and Adult Habitat Is Frequently Decoupled ................................................................... 57 5.4 Species of Concern Frequent the NYB ....................................................................................... 57 5.5 Climate Change Is Changing Habitat Suitability ......................................................................... 57 5.6 Sand Is a Structural Habitat Component for Fishes Beyond Foraging Substrate ...................... 58 6 Knowledge Gaps ................................................................................................................................. 59 6.1 Life History .................................................................................................................................. 59 6.2 The Role of Sand Ridge Topography as Fish Habitat ................................................................ 62 6.3 Response to Dredging Activity .................................................................................................... 64 6.4 Scaling ......................................................................................................................................... 65 7 Literature Inventory ............................................................................................................................. 70 7.1 Literature Search Methods .......................................................................................................... 70 7.2 Literature Inventory ..................................................................................................................... 70 8 Companion Data Review and Synthesis............................................................................................