Clam predator protection is effective and necessary for food production

Munroe, Daphne M.; Kraeuter, John N.; Beal, Brian F.; Chew, K.K.; Luckenbach, Mark W.; Peterson, Charles P.

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2015.09.042

Cited by 23 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…Soon after, Bob Paine demonstrated that the removal of predatory sea stars along the rocky intertidal shores of Washington resulted in less predation on mussels and an extraordinary community transformation (Paine 1966, Paine & Schindler 2002. Since those early studies in rocky intertidal systems, studies have documented the importance of predator-prey interactions in the structure and function of a wealth of marine systems, including pelagic ecosystems (Heithaus et al 2008), mudflats (Reise 1977, Peterson 1982, Munroe et al 2015, salt marshes (Silliman & Bertness 2002, Silliman et al 2005, subtidal reefs (Barkai & McQuaid 1988), and seagrass beds (Heck & Thoman 1981, Orth et al 1984. Predator-prey interactions are also known to play an important role in marine bioinvasions (Rilov 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Behavioral Defenses of Shellfish Prey under Ocean Acidification

Clements

Comeau

2019

Journal of Shellfish Research

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Behavioral Defenses of Shellfish Prey under Ocean Acidification

Clements

Comeau

2019

Journal of Shellfish Research

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“…The significant recovery of the hard clam population in Shinnecock Bay catalyzed the establishment of the Long Island Shellfish Restoration Program by the NYSDEC in 2018 using a highly similar approach to what has been reported here: creating small regions (~2,000m 2 ) with high densities of hard clams (~25 m -2 ) in no-harvest regions with water and sediment quality that is supportive of multiple life stages of hard clams and residence times that will allow larvae to settle in neighboring estuarine regions. Given the high mortality of juvenile hard clams (Juanes, 1992;Peterson et al, 1995;Gosselin and Qian, 1997;Munroe et al, 2015), it would seem that mass spawning events associated with spawner sanctuaries are required to overcome such mortality and is a preferrable restoration approach given the ability of each pair of adult hard clams to create millions of offspring annually (Kraeuter and Castagna, 2001). Moreover, the larger aerial coverage of larval settlement compared to that obtainable through manual planting of juvenile clams provides a greater likelihood of juvenile clams settling in regions hospitable for their survival.…”

Section: Prospects For Estuarine Ecosystem Restorationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Given the widespread declines of bivalve populations around the world (Jackson et al, 2001;Kraeuter et al, 2008;Beck et al, 2011), there is great interest in developing approaches to restore these populations (Duarte et al, 2020), including alleviating recruitment limitation via stocking substrate/shell material (oysters; Waldbusser et al, 2011), juveniles (oysters, clams; Peterson et al, 1995;Baggett et al, 2015), or adult spawning stock (scallops, hard clams; Kassner and Malouf, 1982;Doall et al, 2008;Tettelbach et al, 2011). Large quantities of small juvenile bivalves can be quickly reared and planted for restoration, but predation of bivalves is strongly size dependent, with rapid, mass mortality occurring for individuals smaller than predation refuge threshold sizes (Juanes, 1992;Peterson et al, 1995;Gosselin and Qian, 1997;Munroe et al, 2015). Consequently, restoration projects reliant on the distribution of small juvenile bivalves have met with limited success (Peterson et al, 1995;Geraldi et al, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rebuilding A Collapsed Bivalve Population, Restoring Seagrass Meadows, and Eradicating Harmful Algal Blooms In A Temperate Lagoon Using Spawner Sanctuaries

et al. 2022

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During the past century, bivalve populations across the globe have collapsed, resulting in negative ecosystem consequences due to their outsized impact on shallow estuaries. In response, there has been strong interest in the restoration of marine bivalve populations. Here, we present a decade-long restoration effort that sought to rebuild a collapsed (99.5% reduction in harvest) and recruitment-limited population of hard clams (Mercenaria mercenaria) in Shinnecock Bay, NY, USA, using spawner sanctuaries: no-harvest zones where adults were planted at high densities (~27 m-2). Between 2012 to 2019, more than 3.2 million clams were planted in 64 discrete sanctuary plots (~1,850 m2 each) located in zones with maximal larval retention and sediment and seawater characteristics that would maximize the conditioning and spawning of adults. Hydrodynamic models, quantification of hard clam larvae, and spatial recruitment patterns demonstrated larvae spawned within sanctuaries were transported to regions where clam densities significantly increased 18-fold over seven years (2015-2021; p<0.001) and harvests significantly increased more than 16-fold over nine years (2012-2021; p<0.0001). Increases in populations and harvests were caused by smaller clams recruited within the time frame of the creation of spawner sanctuaries. Higher clam densities caused biological filtration times of the bay to decrease from up to three months at the start of the project to as low as 10 days in 2021. Concurrently, concentrations of the harmful brown tide alga, Aureococcus anophagefferens, and chlorophyll a significantly decreased (p<0.005) while water clarity and the extent of seagrass beds significantly increased (p<0.05). Increases in clam landings and improvements in water quality were not observed in adjacent lagoonal estuaries where restoration did not occur. Given these outcomes and the global need for rebuilding marine life, the implementation of spawner sanctuaries using the criteria set forth herein may be a promising approach for restoring hard clam and other bivalve populations in estuaries elsewhere.

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“…When deployed onto the clam lease, clammers use a variety of approaches to prevent predation, but the 2 primary strategies are (1) bottom planting or (2) bagged planting (Whetstone et al 2005). Bottom planting involves scattering clams onto the seabed, allowing the clams to burrow as per their natural lifestyle (Yang et al 2016), and then placing a cover material atop the clams (Whetstone et al 2005, Munroe et al 2015. Sturmer et al (2014) found that bottom planting yielded larger clams, but lower survival rates than bagged planting strategies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Breaking bags and crunching clams: assessing whitespotted eagle ray interactions with hard clam aquaculture gear

Cahill

McCulloch

DeGroot

et al. 2023

Aquacult. Environ. Interact.

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Shallow coastal waters are commonly used in shellfish aquaculture for ‘grow-out’ of bivalves like the hard clam Mercenaria mercenaria. These locations have substantially higher clam densities than the surrounding environment and attract molluscivores, requiring clammers to incorporate anti-predator materials into their grow-out gear to protect their product. However, the effectiveness of these materials against larger predators like rays remains untested. Inspired by clammer reports of predator-inflicted damage to grow-out gear, we assessed the capacity of the whitespotted eagle ray Aetobatus narinari to interact with clams housed within a suite of industry standard anti-predator materials. Mesocosm experiments were conducted where rays were exposed to unprotected clams (control), clams inside polyester mesh clam bags (dipped in a latex net coating and non-dipped), and under high density polyethylene (HDPE) or chicken wire cover netting. Gear interactions were quantified from video footage throughout the course of the experiment (5 h), and clam mortality was assessed after the completion of each trial. While rays were capable of consuming clams through bags, anti-predator treatments reduced clam mortality 4- to 10-fold compared to control plots. Double-layered (i.e. bags with cover netting) treatments had the lowest clam mortality (0.6 ± 0.1%; mean ± SE), highlighting the utility of this type of protection in limiting ray impacts. Though not significantly greater, we noted relatively high levels of interactions with HDPE netting over other materials, which was facilitated by the material ensnaring the lower dental plate of the rays. Clammers should consider adopting multi-layered anti-predator gear; however, resecuring materials periodically remains imperative at reducing ray interactions.

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Clam predator protection is effective and necessary for food production

Cited by 23 publications

References 30 publications

Behavioral Defenses of Shellfish Prey under Ocean Acidification

Behavioral Defenses of Shellfish Prey under Ocean Acidification

Rebuilding A Collapsed Bivalve Population, Restoring Seagrass Meadows, and Eradicating Harmful Algal Blooms In A Temperate Lagoon Using Spawner Sanctuaries

Breaking bags and crunching clams: assessing whitespotted eagle ray interactions with hard clam aquaculture gear

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