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James Sulikowski, Ph.D., associate professor, Department of Marine Sciences, has been awarded a $227,000 grant from the Southern New England Collaborative Research Initiative (SNECRI) to help define the ecological impacts of spiny dogfish, and a $348,000 grant from NOAA to determine the degree of demographic connectivity and correspondence among sturgeon species.

SNECRI Grant for Dogfish Research
Sulikowski is the principal investigator of the $227,000 SNECRI grant for dogfish research.The status of the spiny dogfish, Squalus acanthias, population in the northwest Atlantic Ocean has become a contentious issue. Distributed from Greenland to Florida, this species was once considered to be the most abundant shark throughout this geographic range. However, with the decline of traditional groundfish resources in the last 15 years, an increase in directed fishing for spiny dogfish has resulted in a nearly ten-fold increase in U.S. landings from 1987-1996. The culmination of this fishing pressure was presumed responsible for the population biomass falling below threshold levels in 2005. Currently, agencies rely on Northeast Fishery Science Center (NEFSC) bottom trawl survey data to estimate spawning stock biomass and make management decisions.

Sulikowski's research will investigate movement patterns and trawling survey data on spiny dogfish. He will evaluate sampling methods, ongoing satellite tagging studies of spiny dogfish, sex ratio, as well as the ratio of spiny dogfish to other groundfish captured during this study. He will study the trophic dynamics of spiny dogfish to test for direct and indirect competition and the impacts of these interactions on other commercially important species in this ecosystem. Finally, Sulikowski will determine if the gear type, depth, fishing location and/or water temperature significantly affects catches of spiny dogfish. This data will be used to develop fishery based mathematical models that will predict catches of spiny dogfish based on these variables, and the results will be compared to estimates made from NEFSC trawl abundance surveys.

NOAA Section 6 Funding Grant for Sturgeon Research
Sulikowski is the co-investigator of the NOAA Section 6 Funding Grant for sturgeon research.The U.S. distribution of Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrhynchus oxyrhynchus) and shortnose sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum) is from Florida to Maine; both are species of concern throughout their ranges. The Maine distinct population segment (DPS) of Atlantic sturgeon (ATS) has a moderate risk of becoming endangered in the next 20 years. 

The shortnose sturgeon (SNS) was listed as endangered in 1967 and remains listed range wide under the ESA to present day, with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) now recognizing 19 river-specific DPSs from New Brunswick, Canada to Florida, USA. 

In collaboration with the Maine Department of Marine Resources and the University of Maine, a three-year project will begin in 2010 to determine the degree of demographic connectivity (immigration and emigration) and correspondence (similarity or uniqueness of demographic parameters) among sturgeon species of Maine and beyond using acoustic telemetry and genetic analyses of fin clips.

Understanding demographic connectivity and correspondence is essential for determining management actions for recovery of these species.