Saving Seafood

DNA surprises surfacing in the Atlantic: Species found far north of normal range

May 12, 2020 — The following was released by The Rockefeller University:

In brief: Rockefeller University scientists investigating shifting Atlantic Ocean migration patterns bottled the genetic traces of species far north of their normal homes.

By simply fishing for DNA in seawater, the researchers found Brazilian cownose rays and Gulf kingfishes – never known north of the Gulf of Mexico, and Chesapeake Bay, VA respectively – off the New Jersey shore, a 2 hour drive south of New York City.

The two-year study demonstrates an accurate, inexpensive way to detect long-predicted marine life range changes.

Author Mark Stoeckle and Director Jesse Ausubel of The Rockefeller University Program for the Human Environment are available for interviews.

The paper, “Improved Environmental DNA Reference Library Detects Overlooked Marine Fishes in New Jersey, United States,” published the journal Frontiers in Marine Science, is available at https://bit.ly/2WD6OXE

Read the full release here

MARYLAND: Maligned cownose ray could be vulnerable to overfishing, study suggests

August 30, 2018 — Chesapeake Bay watermen have long viewed the cownose ray as a pest, preying on a vulnerable oyster population. Their contempt even inspired tournaments of bow-wielding ray hunters — a practice the state has banned, at least temporarily.

But new research backs up concerns that the winged creatures could themselves be susceptible to overfishing, an outcome that some scientists fear could harm the bay’s health.

Scientists at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in Edgewater, Md., tracked a group of rays over two years. The rays, they found in research published last week in the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series, spend their winters around Cape Canaveral, Fla., then migrate north in the spring to the same rivers where researchers initially found them — perhaps the rivers and creeks where they were born.

The finding could be valuable as Maryland fishery regulators develop the state’s first plan to manage the cownose ray population, balancing the concerns of the seafood industry with the limited data available on the rays’ place in the Chesapeake ecosystem.

Read the full story at The Washington Post