Graduate Research Assistantship in Fisheries (MS or PhD)

Qualifications:

Program http://www.mees.umd.edu/

•Background in fisheries, marine science, invertebrate zoology, age and

growth studies, statistics

Description:

•A graduate research assistant is needed to conduct a field and lab study on

age, growth, and reproduction of whelks (Busycotypus sp) in Massachusetts

•The New England whelk (or conch) fishery has expanded rapidly from

bycatch-only to a directed fishery as lobster fishing has declined.

•Whelks are slow growing , late maturing, animals with low fecundity, and

may be protrandrous hermaphrodites, making them extremely susceptible to

overfishing.

•Virtually nothing is known about growth, age, or sexual maturity of whelks

in New England, so current management is based solely on size, season, and

effort restrictions.

•The requirement for bait creates heavy fishing pressure on horseshoe crab

populations, which are already fully exploited in New England.

•Working with fishermen and managers, we will determine growth rates, age

distributions, and size/age of sexual maturity in order to improve the

conservation of Massachusetts whelks in a sustainable manner.

Contact:

University of Maryland Eastern Shore

Living Marine Resources Cooperative Science Center

Princess Anne, MD 21853

bgstevens@umes.edu

http://www.umes.edu/LMRCSC