David Stanhope

Derelict fishing gear in Chesapeake Bay, Virginia: Spatial patterns and implications for marine fauna

Derelict fishing gear is a source of mortality for target and non-target marine species. A program employing commercial watermen to remove marine debris provided a novel opportunity to collect extensive spatially-explicit information for four consecutive winters (2008-2012) on the type, distribution, and abundance of derelict fishing gear and bycatch in Virginia waters of Chesapeake Bay. The most abundant form of derelict gear recovered was blue crab pots with almost 32,000 recovered. Derelict pots were widely distributed, but with notable hotspot areas, capturing 40 species and over 31,000 marine organisms. The target species, blue crab, experienced the highest mortality from lost pots with an estimated 900,000 animals killed each year, a potential annual economic loss to the fishery of

Experiments with By-Catch Reduction Devices to Exclude Diamondback Terrapins and Retain Blue Crabs

300,000. Important fishery species were captured and killed in derelict pots including Atlantic croaker and black sea bass. While some causes of gear loss are unavoidable, others can be managed to minimize loss.

Isle of Wight County, Virginia - Shoreline Inventory Report: Methods and Guidelines

Experiments were completed in SE Virginia during June–July 2014 and 2015 to examine the responses of blue crabs (Callinectes sapidus) and diamondback terrapins (Malaclemys terrapin) to commercial-style crab pots modified in visual and other ways that might attract and retain crabs while excluding terrapins as by-catch. In a seawater tank, far fewer crabs entered crab pots fitted with red plastic by-catch reduction devices (BRDs), relative to pots without BRDs. Crab retention times, however, were significantly longer in pots fitted with red BRDs. In a second experiment, fewer terrapins entered crab pots with funnels painted red relative to black. From a field pilot study, the legal crab catch from pots with red BRDs was similar to pots without BRDs, and terrapin by-catch was reduced. Relative to those treatments, fewer crabs and more terrapins were captured in pots with orange BRDs and blue BRDs, and in pots with a magnetic field directed into the funnel openings. Based on these results, a final field trial yielded comparable crab catch from 15 pots without BRDs and 15 pots fitted with red plastic BRDs. Of a by-catch of 68 terrapins, 58 were from pots without BRDs. The structure and color of BRDs can exclude most terrapins; because crab retention rates are high, the net effect of BRDs on crab catch is relatively minor, even though fewer crabs may enter pots fitted with BRDs.

Prince George County and the City of Hopewell, Virginia Shoreline Inventory Report Methods and Guidelines

Recommended Citation Berman, M.R., Nunez, K., Rudnicky, T., Bradshaw, J., Duhring, K., Brown, K.F., Hendricks, J., Stanhope, D., Angstadt, K., Tombleson, C., Weiss, D.,and Hershner, C.H. 2017. Isle of Wight County, Virginia -Shoreline Inventory Report: Methods and Guidelines, SRAMSOE no. 465. Comprehensive Coastal Inventory Program, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College of William and Mary, Gloucester Point, Virginia, 23062.

Summary Tables: City of Chesapeake, Virginia Shoreline Inventory Report

Recommended Citation Berman, M.R., Nunez, K., Killeen, S., Rudnicky, T., Bradshaw, J., Stanhope, D., Duhring, K., Hendricks, J., Weiss, D. and Hershner, C.H. 2016. Prince George County, Virginia Shoreline Inventory Report: Methods and Guidelines, SRAMSOE no.449, Comprehensive Coastal Inventory Program, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College of William and Mary, Gloucester Point, Virginia, 23062

Gloucester County, Virginia Shoreline Inventory Report Methods and Guidelines

Recommended Citation Berman, M.R., Nunez, K., Killeen, S., Rudnicky, T., Bradshaw, J., Stanhope, D., Duhring, K., Brown, K.F., Hendricks, J., Weiss, D. and Hershner, C.H. 2016. City of Chesapeake, Virginia Shoreline Inventory Report: Methods and Guidelines, SRAMSOE no.451. Comprehensive Coastal Inventory Program, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College of William and Mary, Gloucester Point, Virginia, 23062.

Middlesex County, Virginia Shoreline Inventory Report Methods and Guidelines

Recommended Citation Berman, M.R., Nunez, K., Killeen, S., Rudnicky, T., Bradshaw, J., Duhring, K., Stanhope, D., Angstadt, K., Tombleson, C., Weiss, D. and Hershner, C.H. 2014. Gloucester County, Virginia Shoreline Inventory Report: Methods and Guidelines, SRAMSOE no.441, Comprehensive Coastal Inventory Program, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College of William and Mary, Gloucester Point, Virginia, 23062

Summary Tables: Middlesex County, Virginia Shoreline Inventory Report

Recommended Citation Berman, M.R., Nunez, K., Killeen, S., Rudnicky, T., Bradshaw, J., Angstadt, K., Stanhope, D., Tombleson, C., Duhring, K., Weiss, D. and Hershner, C.H. 2015. Middlesex County, Virginia Shoreline Inventory Report: Methods and Guidelines, SRAMSOE no.447. Comprehensive Coastal Inventory Program, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College of William and Mary, Gloucester Point, Virginia, 23062.

Fishery failure, unemployed commercial fishers, and lost blue crab pots: An unexpected success story

Recommended Citation Berman, M., Nunez, K., Killeen, S., Rudnicky, T., Bradshaw, J., Angstadt, K., Stanhope, D., Tombleson, C., Duhring, K., Weiss, D., & Hershner, C. (2015) Summary Tables: Middlesex County, Virginia Shoreline Inventory Report. Special report in Applied Marine Science and Ocean Engineering No 447. Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College of William and Mary. https://doi.org/10.21220/V5GX5X