Asian Tiger Shrimp Found in Gulf of Mexico - South Atlantic

Fishermen and other mariners are reporting higher numbers of non-native Asian tiger shrimp occuring off the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts. In response to the phenomenon, NOAA recently announced that scientists have begun studying causes of the increase as well as possible consequences for native fish and seafood in both areas.

Researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are working with state agencies from North Carolina to Texas to look into how this transplanted species from Indo-Pacific, Asian and Australian waters reached U.S. waters, and what the increase in sightings means for native species.

According to USGS officials, reports of Asian tiger shrimp increased tenfold in 2011. The cause of the rapid increase in tiger shrimp populations remains uncertain. NOAA scientists are launching a research effort to understand more about the biology of these shrimp and how they may affect the ecology of native fisheries and coastal ecosystems.

Anyone who sees one or more shrimp suspected to be an Asian tiger shrimp is asked to note the location and report the sighting to the USGS NAS database at http://nas.er.usgs.gov/SightingReport.aspx

source: NOAA FishNews

Invasive Lionfish

lionfish photo credit: U.S. Geological Survey

The rapid spread of lionfishes along the U.S. eastern seaboard, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean is the first documented case of a non-native marine fish establishing a self-sustaining population in the region, according to recent U.S. Geological Survey studies.

“Nothing like this has been seen before in these waters,” said Dr. Pam Schofield, a biologist with the USGS Southeast Ecological Science Center here.  “We’ve observed sightings of numerous non-native species, but the extent and speed with which lionfish have spread has been unprecedented; lionfishes pretty much blanketed the Caribbean in three short years.”

More than 30 species of non-native marine fishes have been sighted off the coast of Florida alone, but until now none of these have demonstrated the ability to survive, reproduce, and spread successfully. Although lionfishes originally came from the Indo-West Pacific Ocean, there are now self-sustaining populations spreading along the western Atlantic coast of the U.S. and throughout the Caribbean.

Invasive lionfishes were first reported off Florida’s Atlantic coast in the mid-1980s, but did not become numerous in the region until 2000.  Since then, the lionfish population has rapidly spread north through the Atlantic Ocean and south throughout most of the Caribbean. The spreading population is now working its way around the Gulf of Mexico.

Eradication of lionfishes is probably not possible, admits Schofield. Yet, local control efforts may be able to keep the population tamped down, releasing pressure on the native ecosystem.  Many Caribbean countries such as Bermuda and the Cayman Islands have begun lionfish control programs.  In the U.S., REEF held a series of lionfish derbies in the Florida Keys that resulted in more than 600 lionfishes being removed from the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.

Schofield’s most recent paper, “Update on geographic spread of invasive lionfishes in the Western North Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico,” was published in the Dec. 2010 issue of Aquatic Invasions; it updates a 2009 article published in the same journal.   For more information on lionfish, see the USGS Lionfish Factsheet.

Background on lionfish biology and ecology is also available on NOAA’s Lionfish Website. Information on REEF’s lionfish programs is available at their website.

source: U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey

Alaska Sea Grant Receives Research Grants

Federal and state grants totaling over $1 million will be used by Alaska Sea Grant to establish a statewide network of citizen scientists to track the spread of marine invasive species; conduct an instruction and training program aimed at jump-starting the shellfish farming industry; and launch an effort to collect better information about marine mammals that strand on the state’s coast.

Ray RaLonde, the Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program (MAP) aquaculture specialist, received a two-year, $284,000 grant from the National Sea Grant Program and Alaska Sea Grant to reinvigorate the state’s sluggish shellfish farming industry.

Gary Freitag, the Alaska Sea Grant MAP agent based in Ketchikan, received a two-year, $599,975 grant from the National Sea Grant Program, Alaska Sea Grant, the Aquatic BioInvasion and Policy Institute, and the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center. The grant will be used to train local citizen scientists in 30 coastal communities who will serve as the backbone to a new statewide marine invasive species monitoring and detection program. The citizen scientists will conduct field-based observations, using standardized and established protocols, to search for invasive marine species.

Kate Wynne, Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program marine mammal specialist based in Kodiak, received a two-year, $137,000 grant from the NOAA Fisheries Office of Protected Resources and Alaska Sea Grant. Wynne will use the grant to train and equip MAP agents to respond to marine mammal strandings and to collect data and tissue samples over the next two years.