A simple problem with a complex solution? A multi-decade investigation of the decline of thorny skate in the Gulf of Maine
Seminar Announcement
Department of Fisheries Oceanography
"A simple problem with a complex solution? A multi-decade investigation of the decline of thorny skate in the Gulf of Maine"
Dr. Jeff Kneebone, Senior Scientist
New England Aquarium Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life
Wednesday, November 5, 2025
3pm-4pm
SMAST E 101-103 and via Zoom
Abstract:
The Northeast Skate Complex Management Plan was established in 2003 with a primary objective of rebuilding four overfished skate populations in the northeastern US. One of those overfished species, the thorny skate (Amblyraja radiata), had experienced a nearly 90% decline in abundance since the 1960s and was placed under a harvest moratorium to drastically reduce fishing mortality. Around the same time that the moratorium was implemented, research on thorny skate commenced in the Gulf of Maine with the aim of collecting biological and ecological data that will inform decisions on population recovery. However, over two decades later, while all three other overfished skate species have been fully rebuilt, thorny skate remains under a moratorium, and their biomass is presently near an all-time low. Facing failed rebuilding, managers and fishery scientists are now posed with new questions around why the thorny skate population has not responded more positively to decreased fishing mortality and what to do moving forward. New data from long-term tagging and genetics studies have finally provided some answers to these questions, but the answers might make future management of the Skate Complex more complex.
Join Meeting
https://umassd.zoom.us/j/93758230260
Note: Meeting ID and password required. Please email contact to obtain.
SMAST East 101-103
: 836 S. Rodney French Boulevard, New Bedford MA 02744
Callie Rumbut
c.rumbut@umassd.edu
https://umassd.zoom.us/j/93758230260