SEA GRANT STORY IDEAS FOR WEEK OF FEBRUARY 22, 1999
DNA "FINGERPRINTS" MAY HELP MAKE SUSTAINABLE SQUID FISHERY
Commercial fishing efforts for long-finned squid off of New England have increased in recent years. It is now a fishery with domestic and foreign markets worth approximately $30 million per year. While this is good for the fishing industry, fishery managers are worried about the long-term impacts of commercial fishing on squid population levels. Woods Hole Sea Grant-funded researcher Roger Hanlon has been studying the reproductive strategies of squid which could provide important insights into the fishery and how to manage it. DNA "fingerprinting" helps Hanlon "identify individual members of a population at a genetic level." This technique allows Hanlon to prove multiple paternity in individual "egg fingers," each of which contains approximately 200 eggs laid in a communal egg mass by a female. This multiple paternity insures genetic diversity. That is good news for the squid and, to a certain degree, the fisherman.
CONTACT: Roger Hanlon, Senior Scientist, Director of the Marine Resources Center, Marine Biological Laboratory (Woods Hole, MA), (O) (508) 289-7700, [email protected]
RESEARCHERS EXAMINE WAYS TO MONITOR FRESHWATER IMPACT ON MARSHES While freshwater diverting dams have damaged many coastal wetlands, a team of Texas A&M University researchers is looking at ways to monitor the impact and timing of periodic influxes of freshwater on marshes and estuaries. In a project funded by Texas Sea Grant, soil and crop scientists James Heilman and Kevin McInnes are measuring the rates at which carbon dioxide is taken up and released by marsh plants. They are using this information to determine when injections of freshwater can have the most beneficial effects on plant production. "By monitoring the carbon dioxide exchange, we know exactly what those plants in the marsh are doing," Heilman said. He points out that this knowledge will help researchers devise ways to better care for marshes and estuaries, particularly those wetlands that have been disturbed or have had their supplies of freshwater diverted. By better managing marsh systems, he said, scientists can help to maintain and improve marsh productivity.
CONTACT: James Heilman, Texas Sea Grant Researcher (O) (409) 845-7169; [email protected] (Bryan, TX)
LOWER WATER LEVELS FORECAST BOATER PROBLEMS ON LAKE ERIE With the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers forecasting that Lake Erie's water level is likely to be 18 inches lower this summer than last, and over two feet lower than mid-summer 1997, boaters can expect problems operating in shallow harbors and around reefs and shoals. Fred Snyder, Ohio Sea Grant Extension, says "There is likely to be some prop damage, and we are trying to get the word out so people, can make adjustments in their boating." Lake Erie water levels rise and fall throughout the year with the lowest levels in January or February, the highest in June.
CONTACT: Fred Snyder, Ohio Sea Grant Extension, (O) 614-336-6217, [email protected]
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