Impact of oyster over harvesting on condition of fish in Calcasieu Estuary

[MathGeek]

We've managed to complete a draft of the paper. It still has some revising to go, but it seemed like a good time to offer to email a copy to interested parties here who are willing to give the paper a read and email feedback to us.

If you would like a copy of the paper to read, send me a PM, including your real name and your email address. Please understand that we do not want the paper distributed beyond those we email it to directly, because we do not yet have approval for public release, and the paper is still in the revision process. Also please understand that we would prefer comments on the draft stage to be emailed privately rather than discussed in a public forum. Public discussion will be appropriate after publication.

The abstract is below. Smalls, Duckbutter, and W, I am particularly interested in your feedback. Assistance that proves particularly useful will be recognized in the acknowledgements section if the party providing it agrees. Smalls, if you agree, we'll add you to the acknowledgements for helping out with the survey.

From 2009 to 2011 the Calcasieu Estuary of the Louisiana Gulf Coast was subject to heavy oyster harvesting pressure and stocks of the eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) were significantly reduced, especially on the east side of Calcasieu Lake. To study potential impact in fish, creel surveys were performed over three week periods in spring 2011 and 2012 at the Calcasieu estuary. Weights and lengths were measured for red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus), spotted seatrout (Cynoscion nebulosus), black drum (Pogonias cromis), and gafftopsail catfish (Bagre marinus). Relative condition factors were calculated relative to expected weights for each species. A normal relative condition factor is 1.00. In each species, the relative condition factor was significantly below 1.00 for both years, and the condition factors tend to be lower in 2012 than in 2011. Furthermore, the more strongly benthic feeding species, black drum and the gafftopsail catfish, show the lowest relative condition factors. Though there are other possible contributors to the decrease in relative condition factors reported here, consideration of possible contributing factors and the fact that benthic species are most strongly affected suggests that increased harvest pressure on oysters is likely a strong contributor to the decrease in relative condition factor.