Abstract
Shellfish growers routinely observe fish and invertebrates interacting with their aquaculture gear. To quantitatively assess these interactions, underwater action cameras (GoPro®) were used to document fish and invertebrate activity in and around floating oyster bags, cages, and a natural marsh habitat on an oyster farm in the Little Egg Harbor region of Barnegat Bay, New Jersey, USA, in 2018. A free and open-source event-logging software was used to analyze video files. A total of 21 species from 4 phyla were identified across all days and sites. Nekton were quantified from continuously recorded video using the MaxN abundance metric, defined as the maximum number of individuals of a given species present within each 1 min segment of video. Species of both ecological and economic importance in the local ecosystem used the 3 intertidal habitats. Abundance and community composition observed around oyster cages differed from that around floating oyster bags and marsh edge; the latter 2 habitats were not significantly different. Juvenile fish were frequently observed, suggesting that the oyster farm may provide similar natural history functions as other natural marsh habitat.
Highlights
Complex structure in marine ecosystems provides habitat heterogeneity and increased surface area for organisms (e.g. Soniat et al 2004)
The US shellfish aquaculture industry has experienced rapid growth in the last decade, and both regulators and coastal communities are interested in environmental benefits that may be provided by aquaculture gear
Several species observed in this study were only associated with aquaculture habitats, suggesting that the oyster farm gear may provide a habitat element not found on adjacent natural structured habitat
Summary
Complex structure in marine ecosystems provides habitat heterogeneity and increased surface area for organisms (e.g. Soniat et al 2004). Complex structure in marine ecosystems provides habitat heterogeneity and increased surface area for organisms Shellfish farming may provide such a complex structure to the surrounding environment. Oyster farming makes up one-third of all shellfish production worldwide (Wijsman et al 2019) and constitutes the largest portion of US shellfish aquaculture operations both in terms of revenue and production (NMFS 2020). The US shellfish aquaculture industry has experienced rapid growth in the last decade, and both regulators and coastal communities are interested in environmental benefits that may be provided by aquaculture gear. Off-bottom oyster cages and floating gear are an Previous studies in the USA have examined the community assemblages associated with oyster farms. It is well established that aquaculture gear alters habitat (e.g. increases structural complexity) and the benthic community of the habitat in which the gear is placed. O’Beirn et al (2004) documented 45 species of macrofauna utilizing floating oyster
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