Oceanography | Vol.31, No.3
SIDEBAR | Sand Lance: Newcomers to Fishery Management Plans
To explore the role of a tiny fish in the North Atlantic Ocean ecosystem, 55 sci-
entists, natural resource managers, and conservationists attended a sand lance
workshop in May 2017 at the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge in Newburyport,
Massachusetts.
The participants concluded that research is needed into how climate change
may influence the fish, and what effect possible offshore energy development or
sand and gravel mining may have on sand lance.
“We have an opportunity to proactively manage a fish that’s not currently tar-
geted for commercial harvest in the US,” says biologist Lynda Welch of the Maine
Coastal Islands National Wildlife Refuge. She, Wiley, and Michelle Staudinger, sci-
ence coordinator of the Northeast Climate Science Center at the University of
Massachusetts Amherst, were co-organizers of the workshop.
“There’s no active talk—yet—of a sand lance fishery,” says Wiley, “but there’s also
no protection for sand lance or the ‘ecosystem services’ they provide.”
For insights into what a fishery management plan for sand lance might look
like, the scientists are reviewing harvest levels for species with similar ecosystem
roles, such as herring and menhaden in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions.
“Management plans for these ‘forage fish’ must balance the needs of the fish with
those of commercial endeavors,” says Staudinger. “We’d like to see the same
approach for sand lance.”
The researchers say that US fisheries managers can learn from overharvesting
of sand lance in the UK. Uncontrolled fishing for sand lance there led to crashes
of seabirds such as black-legged kittiwakes, which depend on sand lance. To
avoid a repeat, the UK sand lance fishery is now managed as several smaller sub-
populations rather than one overall population. That allows biologists to change
harvest levels based on the presence of seabirds, whales, and other sand lance-
eating species.
The future for North Atlantic humpback whales, says Wiley, depends on a fish so
small it’s a mere glint in the sunlight.
are near the seafloor. One humpback the
researchers studied side-rolled every 6 m.
The maneuver netted 10 to 17 scoops of
fish per dive.
Where sand lance are found in the Gulf
of Maine, so, too, humpbacks. Although
last summer’s research cruise was sched-
uled to depart from Provincetown, the sand
lance—and the whales—took up residence
off a different Cape Cod port, Chatham. To
keep up with the shifting scene, the sci-
entists moved R/V Auk from its berth in
Provincetown to a dock in Chatham. “We
may be all about whales,” says Wiley, “but
they’re all about sand lance. So we look at
where sand lance are concentrated.”
Adds Mike Thompson, a spatial ecol-
ogist at the Stellwagen Bank National
Marine Sanctuary, “Whales, seabirds like
shearwaters, and pretty much anything
looking for a meal here is feeding on
these fish. We’re starting to understand
that on Stellwagen Bank, it all depends on
sand lance.”
To track the fish, Wiley, Thompson, and
crew use the SEABed Observation and
Sampling System, or SEABOSS. This boxy
eye-in-the-sea allows researchers to col-
lect sediment samples and obtain videos
of sand lance seafloor hangouts. Sand
lance surveys are conducted at 44 sta-
tions on or near Stellwagen Bank at vari-
ous times of year, including about a month
before the whale cruise in June.
TO TAG A WHALE
R/V Auk serves as the mother ship of two
smaller boats, the rigid-hulled inflatable
boats (RHIBs) Balena and Luna. Balena
ferries biologists to the center of a whale
pod. There, in an attempt to place a track-
ing tag on a humpback, the researchers
nose up to a whale whose flank, where
the tag will be placed, is exposed.
The digital tag, or DTAG, is attached with
a suction cup. This acoustic recording
tag provides data on the whale’s orienta-
tion (pitch, roll, and heading) and depth—
50 times per second. The DTAG also
records all sounds made and heard by the
tagged whale, says Wiley. Visualization
software
called
TrackPlot
provides
(right) A Cory’s shearwater with a
sand lance in its bill. The slender body
shape of sand lance makes the fish an
ideal prey item for seabirds. Image:
NOAA/SBNMS
(below) Feeding humpback whales
concentrate sand lance at the surface,
where the fish are also eaten by sea-
birds. Image: NOAA/SBNMS; NMFS
permit #782-1719
Oceanography | Vol.31, No.3