The 2023 State of the Ecosystem Reports are live! They show continuing physical, chemical, and biological changes in coastal Mid-Atlantic and New England ecosystems. Environmental conditions continue to push historical boundaries, altering the ecosystems, their inhabitants, and their productivity.

Our Woods Hole Science Aquarium’s main gallery and outdoor seal area are now open to the public. Summer hours begin after Memorial Day and continue through Labor Day: Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and closed for all federal holidays, including Memorial Day. The upper gallery remains closed while repairs are made. This work is expected to be completed during the late summer or fall. 

This year marks 27 years of collaboration with Maine Department of Marine Resources to monitor Atlantic salmon migrating down Maine’s Narraguagus River to the ocean. From late April to early June, we use screw traps to estimate the number of smolts exiting the river and collect other biological data. Long-term monitoring surveys like this help us understand how climate change impacts the timing of smolt migration. The team developed a model that linked fish movements to temperatures near juvenile salmon nursery areas. This study provides managers with a tool to annually refine protective measures at dams. What other threats do Atlantic salmon face? Play the animation to find out.

One of our Apex Predator Program’s tagged sharks was recently recaptured in the English Channel after nearly 25 years! In June 1998, a tope shark—also called school shark, soupfin shark, and snapper shark—was tagged just east of the Isle of Wight by one of our international volunteers, a recreational angler. Last month, the Sussex Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority reported that a commercial gillnetter caught this shark in March, approximately 4 nautical miles west of its tagging location. This is the longest-at-liberty tope shark since our Cooperative Shark Tagging Program began in 1962. We only have one species with a longer time at liberty, a sandbar shark at liberty for almost 28 years. Our tagging program has tagged 85 tope sharks—this recapture is just 1 of 14 to date. While these sharks aren’t found in our region, they can be found off the West Coast of the United States and in much of the Eastern Pacific, Western Pacific, Western Indian Ocean, and Eastern Atlantic, including the British Isles.

Are you a commercial seafood harvester? If so, please take this survey about national seafood marketing practices. We will use the survey results to better understand how our country’s commercial seafood harvesters market their catch. The research team hope survey findings will help increase visibility on domestic seafood and the role seafood harvesters play in supporting our food system. There’s a recording of an informational webinar about the survey available for viewing. This survey is led by NOAA Fisheries, the University of Maine, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It ends July 2023.

Scientists at our science center use passive acoustics in a variety of ways, including documenting the presence of endangered North Atlantic right whales in our region. Their findings from January 2020 to June 2022 are now available in these reports. They can also be found in our Passive Acoustic Cetacean Map. Only vocally-active individuals calling within range of passive acoustic recorders can be detected and documented. Animals that are silent or calling beyond the range of recorders can’t be detected and are not represented in these reports. These reports help inform management decisions, address questions from the public, and more.

Over the last several months, scientists at our Sandy Hook Lab have been working with Dan Ward of Ward Aquafarms on an aquaculture tautog study. The goals are to find the best conditions for spawning of adults and for rearing embryos, larvae, and juveniles. The research team have been exposing embryos and early larvae to a wide range of temperatures, stocking densities, tank size and style, and prey quality and quantity. For the juvenile stage part of the study, they’ll transfer them to Ward Aquafarms. There they intend to identify the best conditions for growing juveniles into adults. Aquacultured tautog offer a year-round supply of market-size fish, boosting regional economies while offsetting fishing pressures. This research is funded by the Northeast Regional Aquaculture Center and the joint project agreement between NOAA and the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries of the Republic of Korea.

United States Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut, along with local officials, recently toured our Milford Lab. They learned about a new study of oyster health in Long Island Sound, a multigenerational experiment on ocean acidification effects on bay scallops, and the recent shellfish hatchery renovations to support our new Northeast Oyster Breeding Program with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. They also learned about our field study on the habitat value of oyster aquaculture gear and visited the R/V Loosanoff. The Milford Lab has been conducting science to support sustainable aquaculture since 1931. 

Marine Mammal Ecosystem Survey Completed

In March and April, our science center joined the Southeast Fisheries Science Center to conduct a marine mammal ecosystem survey aboard the NOAA Ship Gordon Gunter. The survey was conducted from New Jersey to North Carolina from the U.S. Continental Shelf to the Exclusive Economic Zone—an area of the ocean extending 200 nautical miles beyond our coastline. Our goal was to collect data we can use to estimate the distribution and abundance of whales, dolphins, and seabirds, and relate them to their physical and biological ecosystem. Multiple scientific teams participated in the survey. Our scientists searched for marine mammals using high-powered binoculars and collected plankton using sampling nets and an echosounder. Our marine mammal team documented 445 marine mammal sightings that included Clymene dolphins, false killer whales, short-finned and long-finned pilot whales, humpback whales and rarely seen blue whales. The seabird team documented hundreds of bird sightings, including a white-tailed tropicbird. This survey was conducted under the Atlantic Marine Assessment Program for Protected Species Program—a comprehensive multi-agency research program in the U.S. Atlantic Ocean, from Maine to the Florida Keys. 

The Northeast Fisheries Science Center hosted the National Stock Assessment Workshop and the Maturity Assessment, Reproductive Variability, and Life Strategies Workshop in early May. This was the first time these two communities of scientists have come together in one location. Research fishery biologist Jon Deroba from our Population Dynamics Branch and the chief of our Population Biology Branch, Rich McBride represented our science center on the steering committee. They helped plan the training day, presentations and posters, keynote speaker, and other workshop activities. A number of our scientists presented their work at each of the workshops. Holding these two workshops together emphasizes the importance of life history data to stock assessments and the importance of stock assessments to developing scientific advice. This effort improves our science and supports our stakeholders and partners.