Academia, non-profits benefit from license funding

Annually, the Division of Marine Fisheries Director’s office consults with staff to determine research needs that will assist efforts to manage the marine resources of North Carolina. Subsequent to this determination, and in accordance with the North Carolina Marine Resources Fund and Marine Resources Endowment Fund Strategic Plan to Manage, Protect, Restore, Develop, Cultivate, Conserve, and Enhance North Carolina’s Marine Resources, the division will issue a request for proposals with specific priority needs. Proposals from accredited universities, colleges, or local and state governments located within North Carolina are eligible to receive funding. Non-profit organizations desiring funding must partner with an eligible entity to submit a proposal.

Projects can fall under one of the two goals of the Strategic Plan: (1) Marine Resources and Habitat Management, or (2) Access and Education.

One current project receiving funding from the CRFL RFP is under the supervision of UNC professor Dr. Joel Fodrie. This project titled, “Effects of isolated marsh islands and fringing mainland marshes on secondary production and food web dynamics in tidal estuaries” seeks to conduct research to clarify the linkages between coastal fish habitat and fish production. This project will identify how different types of tidal marshes influence production of fish and crustaceans. Additionally, this will identify the key aspects of habitat function and how these functions are affected by human activities.

Fodrie’s project examines marsh islands in Bogue, Back, and Core sounds to assess fish and invertebrate abundance, as well as prey using a variety of gears. Field based tagging studies have been conducted of target species to determine residency of juvenile fish to the marsh islands or mainland habitat. Lipid content and percent dry weight is examined to determine relative quality of the marsh nursery habitats. Finally, a stable isotype analysis will be conducted to construct food webs to determine primary and secondary production from the marsh of recreationally important fish production throughout the estuary.

This two-year project began in July 2018 and is on its second year of funding. PhD candidate Shelby Ziegler has conducted much of the work on this project, and has recently had work related to this CRFL project on the following media sources:

UNC CEE News: https://cee.unc.edu/2017/03/not-all-marshes-are-created-equal/

UNC-TV: http://science.unctv.org/content/video/marsh-nightlife

UNC Research Magazine: https://endeavors.unc.edu/marsh-madness/

WCTI News: https://wcti12.com/news/local/student-shows-how-wetlands-impact-fishing…