At the forefront of collaborative research to build a sustainable future for the fishing industry and coastal communities stands NC State’s Center for Marine Sciences and Technology (CMAST). Located on the shoreline of Bogue Sound in Morehead City, North Carolina, CMAST plays an important role in progressing our understanding of marine ecosystems through environmental research, outreach, and management practices. Just a few of the programs focused on by CMAST include coastal and marine toxicology, marine ecology and conservation, fisheries ecology, marine metabolomics and seafood science. One major body of water being actively monitored by the Center is at the heart of Bluewater Yacht Sales’s North Carolina territory, the Croatan-AlbemarlePamlico Estuarine System, also known as CAPES. Spanning over 3,000 square miles of open water, these inshore waters serve as the country’s second largest estuarine system—only the Chesapeake Bay system is larger. Home to salt marshes, open sounds and other shallow estuarine areas, CAPES serves as a nursery area for 90 percent of the saltwater fish and shellfish found in North Carolina. With its proximity to the Gulf Stream and the wealth of data that can be collected from this expansive ecosystem, it’s clear that monitoring ofCAPES isofparamount importance to anyone with a commercial or recreational interest in North Carolina’s fisheries. However, CMAST’s efforts extend far beyond estuary systems to offshore pelagic habitats and species as well. Most notably, they’ve been partnering with the Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament, where research and conservation efforts intersect with one of the most popular fishing tournaments in the world. Specifically through the Big Rock tournament, CMAST collects tissue samples and documents the stomach contents from mahi mahi, wahoo and yellowfin tuna caught during the tournament. This valuable data from various pelagic species contributes to a growing body of knowledge and studies on their biology, habitats and behavior. “The long-term data set on these pelagic species is unique and invaluable in gaining a better understanding of many aspects of their biology, including foraging ecology and mercury levels.” said Jeffrey Buckel, a professor at CMAST. While one CMAST team is tasked with performing dockside sampling and measurements on the gamefish during Big Rock, a second team focuses on researching the blue marlin, trucking them down the road to the CMAST facility, where researchers such as graduate student Ryan Tharp process each fish. “We take a variety of samples like stomach contents, skin tissue, liver tissue, muscle tissue, gonad tissue, and THE COLLABORATION BETWEEN CMAST AND THE BIG ROCK BLUE MARLIN TOURNAMENT SHOWCASES THE INTERSECTION OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH WITH THE EXCITEMENT OF BIG GAME SPORT FISHING. photos: Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament & CMAST 7 2024 SEASON
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