Eastern Shore Laboratory, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College of William and Mary

The Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) Eastern Shore Laboratory (ESL) is located in the coastal village of Wachapreague, Virginia, on the landward margin of a mid-Atlantic barrier island-salt marsh-la goon system. The facility serves as both a field station in support of re search and teaching activities and as a site for resident research in coastal ecology and aquaculture. By virtue of its access to the unique coastal habi tats, excellent water quality, and an extensive seawater laboratory, the fa cility affords educational and re search opportunities not available elsewhere within the region

Past, Present and Future of Research at VIMS

Mark Luchenbach, Virginia Institute of Marine Science and School of Marine Science, College of William & Mary, Associate Dean of Research and Advisory Services, presents the research of the institute, highlighting the exponential growth of research output. As part of the year-long 75th anniversary celebration, this symposium brings together presentations from both alumni and current students to provide a historical and forward-looking perspective on the impacts that members of the VIMS community have made to the world

Oyster Gardening in Virginia: An Overview of Techniques

This document is intended to respond to a growing demand for information on intensive, off- bottom aquaculture of the eastern oyster, Crassostrea vlrginica, in Virginia and neighboring coastal states and represents an attempt to partially fulfill the requests from oyster gardeners for information on approaches towards culturing oysters

Population Assessment of Eastern Oysters (Crassostrea virginica) in the Seaside Coastal Bays

Declines of oyster populations and commercial harvest from the Virginia seaside coastal bays have followed similar patterns, though not as severe, as those in Chesapeake Bay. High prevalence of Dermo disease (Perkinsus marinus) and MSX disease (Haplosporidium nelsoni) coupled with over harvest and habitat destruction have dramatically reduced populations. Nevertheless, there are several promising signs that significant enhancement of the population could be achieved with well conceived restoration efforts. Oyster habitat and population distribution were examined in the coastal bay system on the seaside of the Eastern Shore of Virginia. This system is composed of barrier islands, salt marshes, broad and shallow coastal bays, intertidal mud flats, and deeper water channels. Manmade shorelines such as bulkhead and rip rap are prevalent in limited areas. This study provides the first quantitative assessment of oyster population abundance on a region wide scale in the coastal bays on the seaside of Virginia’s Eastern Shore. Our estimate of 3.2 billion oysters in this region exceeds the most recent population estimate of 1.8 billion oysters for the entire Virginia portion of Chesapeake Bay produced by the VIMS CBOPE (http://web.vims.edu/mollusc/cbope/VAPDFfiles/VABasin2006.pdf). At the time of our sampling, Dec. 2007 – June 2008, the oyster population was comprised of a wide range of sizes representing several year classes that suggest a self-sustaining population with the potential for significant expansion. The spatially-explicit oyster population GIS product developed through this work provides a valuable tool for guiding fisheries resource management and restoration activities for oysters in this region. The ultimate usefulness of this product lies in its integrative aspect as a GIS tool

Recruitment, substrate quality and standing stock monitoring in support of NOAA-ACOA oyster restoration projects in the Great Wicomico, Rappahannock, Piankatank and Lynnhaven River Basins, 2004-2006 : supplementary materials

Many factors affect the success of oyster restoration efforts. This supplemental report details the VIMS effort under this NOAA-funded program to monitor some of those factors in the Great Wicomico, Rappahannock, Piankatank and Lynnhaven Rivers. Specifically, it details monitoring of (1) oyster settlement at two reefs in each of those tributaries from May to November from 2004 – 2006, along with additional widespread recruitment monitoring in the Lynnhaven River in 2005 & 2006, (2) substrate condition on the same eight reefs during spring, summer and fall of 2004 – 2006, (3) oyster abundance on Shell Bar reef in the Great Wicomico River before and the deployment of hatchery-produced oysters in the spring of 2005, and (4) oyster population distribution, abundance and size in the Lynnhaven River basin during the period from April 2005 – March 2006

Linking watershed loading and basin-level carrying capacity models to evaluate the effects of land use on primary production and shellfish aquaculture

Aquaculture production of hard clams, Mercenaria mercenaria, in the lower Chesapeake Bay, Virginia, U.S.A., has increased dramatically within the last decade. In recent years concern has been raised that some growing areas may be approaching the exploitation carrying capacity for clam production. Preliminary calculations indicate that large-scale intensive clam aquaculture may be controlling nutrient and phytoplankton dynamics in this system. To date, carrying capacity models have not been applied to this system, but we are in the process of building models for that purpose. Moreover changing land use in the watersheds surrounding the clam-producing areas raises the need for an improved understanding of how these changes will affect water quality, primary production and shellfish production. We describe an ongoing project linking a watershed-based loading model with a physical transport-based water quality model to simulate primary production and predict carrying capacity for clam aquaculture. Extensive calibration and verification of the water quality model has demonstrated its utility for simulating primary production and water quality parameters in the Chesapeake Bay. In our present efforts, watershed loading models have been developed and tested for predicting both surface and groundwater inputs into the coastal waters. We are currently coupling the water quality and watershed loading models, and developing clam physiology and population-level sub-models. Also, under development is a sediment deposition/resuspension sub-model. Each of these components will be linked to estimate exploitation carrying capacity for clam production in this system. Our goal is to use the coupled models to predict how varying land use scenarios impact water quality, primary production and shellfish carrying capacity of coastal waters

Sperm Swimming Speeds In The Eastern Oyster Crassostrea Virginica (Gmelin, 1791)

Oysters, like the vast majority of sessile marine invertebrates, shed sperm and eggs into the water column where fertilization subsequently occurs. The fate of the gametes depends on their passive movements at various scales in a high-viscosity environment, the longevity of the sperm\u27s ability to affect oriented movement, the rate of sperm movement toward the egg target, and the ability of sperm to effect fertilization. Oyster sperm swim in a helical pattern with a mean forward progression velocity of 0.057 +/- 0.010 mm/sec (SE; n = 25) with the 95 percentile range extending from 0.036-0.078 mm/sec, a value comparable with that reported for echinoderm sperm

Nondaily Deposition Of Striae In The Bay Scallop Argopecten Irradians (Concentricus) In The Laboratory

Small (similar to 15 mm) and large (similar to 30 mm) calcein-marked bay scallops, Argopecten irradians, held for 2, 4, and 6 wk in the laboratory under natural illumination and conditions of high and low flow rates deposited significantly more striae on the surface of the left (dark) shell valve compared with the right (light) shell valve. Small scallops deposited an average of 0.55 stria per day, 0.42 stria per day, and 0.34 stria per day, respectively, during the 2-, 4-, and 6-wk experiments, whereas large scallops had a lower frequency of stria formation (0.20 stria per day, 0.18 stria per day, and 0.17 stria per day, respectively). Striae deposition and interstria distance were highly variable among small A. irradians. No relationship in interstria distance was obvious in A. irradians that deposited the same number of striae during 6 wk (0.45 striae per day) and held under conditions of high flow rate, indicating that stria formation is not synchronous with changes in the environment. Our results demonstrate unequivocally that in, A. irradians, stria formation is nondaily and is related to shell growth rate. The largest and oldest scallops (similar to 30 mm and 1.4 y old) formed striae at a rate of 0.17-0.2 stria per day whereas smaller and younger fast-growing A. irradians formed between 0.34 striae per day and 0.55 stria per day-clear evidence of nondaily and nonrhythmic deposition of striae in this pectinid species. Thus, striae cannot be used as a chronological marker with which environmental conditions can be compared