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A Final Report entitled: Survey of shellfish resources in the proposed force main alignment route in the Lower James River, 2021
Mann, Roger Melissa Southworth Missy Southworth
Mann, Roger
Melissa Southworth Missy Southworth
Abstract
A forced main pipeline is to be installed across the lower James River from (approximately) Newport News Point to the Suffolk shoreline east of Pig Point. This part of Hampton Roads has long supported a fishery for hard clam (Mercenaria mercenaria) and contains a portion of Baylor Grounds, which supports an oyster (Crassostrea virginica) fishery. The last comprehensive survey of hard clam resources in Hampton Roads was completed by a joint effort of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) and the Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC) in 2001-2002 when hard clams were present both upstream and downstream of the proposed construction location. AECOM, through Waterways, approached VIMS to perform a survey of the current hard clam and oyster resource in the proposed installation area. A field survey was completed in May 2021 in a swath extending 100 m both downstream and upstream of the proposed cut. A sampling grid was developed by the Repletion Program at VMRC based on a sampling density of one sample station per every 5 acres (389.2 acres for a total of 78 samples). Each sample was a one-meter square collection with a hydraulic patent tong. Mean clam density was 0.08 m-2 , for a total of approximately 122,728 clams present on the 389.2 acres. Oysters were present within the boundary of the Baylor Grounds (102 acres) as well as on a small section of the area near the proposed bend in the line (3 acres), covering approximately 105 acres of the proposed cut area. Mean oyster density within this area was 2.0 oysters m-2, for a total of approximately 849,828 live oysters present. There were no significant oyster populations in the majority of the proposed cut area, and clam densities were comparatively low as well as shown by the comparison of previous surveys.
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2021
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Virginia Institute of Marine Science
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