indicate fluctuations in areal distribution and availability and 

 do not necessarily signify changes in population abundance. It 

 also appears that offshore conditions may have delayed the seasonal 

 immigration to shallow waters for some species (Howe et al. , 1985) . 

 In terms of the Buzzards Bay Disposal Site, it is difficult to make 

 inferences with these data concerning the fish population at or 

 adjacent to the disposal site. The aforementioned data and trends 

 represent the entire region of Massachusetts state territorial 

 waters. A more accurate assessment of impacts to fisheries 

 resources at the Buzzards Bay Disposal Site could be made by 

 employing BRAT (Benthic Remote Assessment Technique) studies in the 

 immediate area. 



5.3 Biological Implications for Dredged Material Disposal 



If the REMOTS® data obtained at the Buzzards Bay Disposal 

 Site (Menzie et al . 1982) are still accurate, then some aspects of 

 the potential impacts of future disposal operations at this site 

 can be assessed. Past disposal operations at the site appear to 

 have altered the benthic community structure of the region relative 

 to the ambient mud bottom community (hydrozoa and Stages I and II, 

 versus Stage III). As of 1982, however, there was no evidence of 

 any significant impacts immediately to the east or west of the 

 site. This suggests that the benthic disturbance caused by 

 disposal has been limited to the confines of the site. 



Disposal of dredged material on areas characterized by 

 the ambient, soft bottom community of Buzzards Bay (e.g., the 

 eastern flat community) would compromise those assemblages. 

 Experiments on the burial of natural assemblages of invertebrates 

 in Buzzards Bay (Nichols et al. . 1978) show that most muddy bottom 

 animals can escape burial in 5-10 cm of sediment. However, no 

 infauna can escape deposit ional layers in excess of 30 cm. As 

 observed in previous DAMOS monitoring programs, surface-dwelling 

 tubicolous polychaetes rapidly recolonize disposal mounds. In 

 Buzzards Bay, these pioneering assemblages will likely be dominated 

 by capitellid polychaetes (Sander et al. , 1980) . In the absence 

 of further disposal, return to the mature soft bottom community 

 typical of Buzzards Bay will eventually occur. However, because 

 much of the Buzzards Bay Disposal Site has been "disturbed" by past 

 disposal efforts, return to pre-disposal levels (i.e., a Stage I 

 or II community) at the disposal site will probably occur rapidly 

 (less than one year). 



Localized disturbance and the associated replacement of 

 deep-dwelling infauna with a near-surface community may enhance 

 secondary productivity (Rhoads et al . , 1978). Low-order 

 successional stage, surface-dwelling assemblages are more 

 productive and more readily available to demersal fish than 

 deep-dwelling seres. An important implication of this 

 recolonization pattern at any disposal site and- at the Buzzards Bay 



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