Environmental Conservation Professors Receive $250,000 from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution to Study Black Sea Bass

Research
Estefany Argueta
PhD candidate Estefany Argueta with a black sea bass. Image Credit: John Solem.
Brian Cheng
Brian Cheng of the Department of Environmental Conservation.

Brian Cheng and Lisa Komoroske, associate professors in the College of Natural Sciences’s Department of Environmental Conservation, have received a Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Sea Grant totaling $250,000 to study black sea bass, a marine fish that is fueling an emerging fishery in Massachusetts. This grant is part of a $1.6 million total, focused on four research projects, that will “investigate pressing concerns related to Massachusetts’ vital aquaculture and fisheries industries.” 

Daniel McKiernan
Daniel McKiernan, director of the MA Division of Marine Fisheries.

While many fisheries have historically declined over time, the black sea bass—a migratory species—is shifting north and increasing in abundance in Massachusetts waters. Based out of the UMass Amherst Gloucester Marine Station, Cheng and Komoroske’s research on black sea bass populations north and south of Cape Cod seeks to give us a better understanding of what causes their migration in and out of Massachusetts, and help develop a baseline of information to guide their conservation and management.  

Bill Hoffman
Bill Hoffman, fisheries biologist at the MA Division of Marine Fisheries, suturing a black sea bass with an acoustic pinger. The pingers allow for the tracking of black sea bass throughout their migratory route.

“This Sea Grant will further an ongoing strategic partnership between UMass Amherst and the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF), facilitating the collection of essential black sea bass data,” says Cheng. “It will also provide unique opportunities for UMass students to dive in the ocean, and work on boats and in the lab, alongside DMF scientists.” 

Employing acoustic telemetry, genetic-kinship approaches, and environmental data assessments, this research will fill gaps in knowledge necessary for sustainably managing fisheries and will inform the management and conservation of other species that are shifting their range north, such as blue crab and tautog (black fish). 

Estefany Argueta
PhD candidate Estefany Argueta. Image Credit: John Solem.

“Black sea bass offer much hope and opportunity, showing a prosperous and expanding fishery in the Northeast,” argues Cheng. “This project will provide a better understanding of black sea bass migration and ecology, so we can develop a resilient and sustainable fishery for all the people of the Commonwealth to benefit from.” 

Learn more about Cheng and Lisa Komoroske’s work on the black sea bass.

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