New York Sea Grant

Long-term periodic monitoring on New York’s ocean shoreline showed that, despite waxing and waning in the course of any year, beaches have maintained a stable average width between about 200 and 300 feet. To examine the shorter-term patterns of change in the beach width, camera images were calibrated to allow beach widths to be determined. Beach widths measured at low tide varied between less than 60 feet to more than 175 feet between January 2023 and the end of January 2024. A pattern of modulation showed a quasi-cyclical behavior with periods between 5 and 15 days. This seems consistent with the classic synoptic periods of between two and seven days for the passage of mesoscale weather systems. Large variations seem to coincide with wave activity monitored 30 nautical miles south of Long Island (NOAA station 44025) as represented by a “Dalrymple Parameter”1 (Dp) and taking into account wave height, period and sediment settling speed. Beach widths increased at a rate of about 2.5 feet per week as wave activity decreased over the summer.

Abstract Striped bass,Morone saxatilis, is an anadromous fish native to the North American Atlantic Coast and is well recognized as one of the most important and highly regarded recreational fisheries in the United States. Decades of research have been conducted on striped bass and its hybrid (striped bass × white bassMorone chrysops) and culture methods have been established, particularly for the hybrid striped bass, the fourth largest finfish aquaculture industry in the United States (US $50 million). Domesticated striped bass have been developed since the 1990s and broodstock are available from the government for commercial fry production using novel hormone‐free methods along with traditional hormone‐induced tank and strip spawning. No commercial‐scale intensive larval rearing technologies have been developed at present and current fingerling production is conducted in fertilized freshwater ponds. Larval diets have not been successfully used as first feeds; however, they have been used for weaning from live feeds prior to metamorphosis. Striped bass can be grown out in marine (32 ppt) or freshwater (<5 ppt); however, they require high hardness (200+ ppm) and some salinity (8–10 ppt) to offset handling stress. Juveniles must be 1–10 g/fish prior to stocking into marine water. Commercially available fingerling, growout, and broodstock feeds are available from several vendors. Striped bass may reach 1.36 kg/fish in recirculating aquaculture by 18 months and as much as 2.27 kg/fish by 24 months. Farm gate value of striped bass has not been determined, although seasonally available wild‐harvested striped bass are valued at about US $6.50 to US $10.14 per kg and cultured hybrid striped bass are valued at about US $8.45 to US $9.25 per kg whole; the farm gate value for cultured striped bass may be as much as US $10.00 or more per kg depending on demand and market. The ideal market size is between 1.36 and 2.72 kg/fish, which is considerably larger than the traditional 0.68 to 0.90 kg/fish for the hybrid striped bass market.

A growing body of literature has examined the underrepresentation of women of color (WOC) in university engineering programs, but its primary focus has been on the experiences of women students of color. Research on WOC in engineering is usually drawn from all of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, which does little to illuminate the nuanced experiences of WOC within engineering culture. We sought a primary emphasis on persistence and perseverance rather than the typical examinations on mentoring, inventions, work-life balance, or the challenges that WOC face in engineering faculty environments. There are few studies on how and why women of color persist in academia in the face of the intersection of racism and sexism. Using intersectionality as a theoretical framework and inductive qualitative analyses of interviews with 56 women of color who identified as Asian, Black, Latina, and/or multiracial, we analyzed the sources of support for their persistence. Asking which collective factors support WOC in general and which are unique to each of the racial/gender groups, we identified three major themes−persistence is aided by (1) supportive colleagues internal to the department or institution, (2) supportive colleagues external to the institution, and (3) the intersectional considerations of group-specific nuances shared by Black, Latina, and Asian women engineering faculty members. The implications suggest women of color thrive in departments with supportive faculty, proactive leadership, and a commitment to professional development. We outline specific racial group interventions that can be beneficial for Asian, Black, and Latina engineering faculty.

Mercury is a neurotoxic pollutant and contamination in remote ecosystems due to atmospheric mercury deposition coupled with watershed characteristics that influence mercury bioavailability. Biological interactions that affect mercury bioaccumulation are especially relevant as fish assemblages change in response to species introductions and lake management practices. We studied the influence of shifting food web dynamics on mercury in fisheries of Little Moose Lake in the southwestern Adirondack Mountains of New York, USA. Annual removal of non-native Smallmouth Bass (Micropterus dolomieu) has been used as a management strategy since 2000 to restore the native fish assemblage and food web in favor of Lake Trout (Salvelinus namaycush). Changes in total mercury, stable carbon (13C/12C) and nitrogen (15N/14N) isotopes, and growth were evaluated for Lake Trout and Smallmouth Bass. Growth rates increased for both predators and trophic position increased for Lake Trout post-removal. Mercury concentrations in Lake Trout increased over the 16-year study period influenced by a diet shift from invertebrates to higher trophic level prey fish, regardless of increased growth. Smallmouth Bass mercury concentrations decreased with compensatory growth from a reduced population size. These contrasting trends indicate that changes in mercury deposition were not the primary driver for mercury bioaccumulation responses in Little Moose Lake. Stable isotope values changed for both predators and for several lower trophic level organisms, likely reflecting changes in nutrient cycling and/or inputs. Our findings emphasize the potential role of fisheries management on whole-lake and predatory fish responses to mercury contamination in temperate lakes.