March 2009
Maryland Sea Grant presented the new operational structure for Ecosystem Based Fisheries Management for the Chesapeake Bay at the Chesapeake Research Consortium Conference,
Ecosystem Based Management: the Chesapeake and Other Systems, this past month. MDSG's series of presentations on EBFM included an overview of the structure and process, an update on the Striped Bass Species Team's progress to date, and an introduction to the work plan for the Habitat Suitability Quantitative Ecosystem Team (QET) which met for the first time in conjunction with a Habitat Suitability Workshop led by Dave Secor (UMCES) and Denise Breitburg (SERC). The first two presentations were followed by a panel discussion including Steve Murawski (NOAA) on EBFM in the Chesapeake Bay which included contrasting perspectives on ecosystem approaches to fisheries management presented by Eric Schwaab (Maryland DNR) and Vince O'Shea (ASMFC). The panel and presentations stimulated a healthy dialogue and constructive feedback for Maryland Sea Grant in moving forward with the EBFM implementation process.
The Habitat Suitability Workshop featured a series of invited speakers who presented a variety of models with the potential to assist the Habitat Suitability QET in developing ecosystem-based reference points for striped bass and other key species in EBFM planning. Among others, Elizabeth North (UMCES) discussed coupling hydrodynamic, larval transport, and demographic models to enhance the prediction of habitat suitability; Rom Lipcius (VIMS, Co-Chair of the Habitat QET) presented a metapopulation connectivity model for targeting carrying capacity in nursery habitats; and the NOAA Cooperative Oxford Laboratory presented a series of modeling efforts designed specifically to address striped bass habitat concerns in Chesapeake Bay. The Habitat Suitability QET concluded from the presentations and subsequent discussion that a substantive first step in their work plan will be to develop a reference point for % carrying capacity for striped bass which would allow them to address the issues of warming, eutrophication, and hypoxia noted by the Striped Bass Species Team in their ecosystem issue briefs
All four of the QETs (Habitat Suitability, Stock Assessment, Socioeconomics, and Foodwebs) will be meeting in late April in College Park, Maryland to begin work on the ecosystem issue briefs developed by the Striped Bass Species Team. The meeting will include several invited speakers to define quantitative reference points and point to their application in developing control rules for EBFM. Additionally, each of the teams will have the opportunity to meet individually to address the specific ecosystem concerns for striped bass relevant to their field of expertise.
Current ActivitiesMaryland Sea Grant is now extending invitations to nominated experts for the Alosine Species Team. This team will be formed and begin work by the end of April 2009. Please contact Shannon Green, Fisheries Ecosystem Coordinator for Maryland Sea Grant, for further information. Thank you!
sgreen@mdsg.umd.edu (301) 405-6372
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List of Updates September 2010 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 May/June 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008
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