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Figure 1 
Map showing the 20 sites sampled for the Maryland Depart¬ 
ment of Natural Resources’ Coastal Bays Fisheries Investi¬ 
gations Trawl and Beach Seine Survey in Maryland coastal 
bays. 
Bay (Fig. 1). The northern bays (area north of the Ocean 
City Inlet) are Assawoman and Isle of Wight Bay, and 
the southern bays (area south of the Ocean City Inlet) 
are Newport Bay, Sinepuxent, and Chincoteague Bay 
(Fig. 1). The MCBs are one of the most diverse estu¬ 
aries on the east coast (U.S. EPA, 2006). The system 
covers about 453 km 2 and supports many species includ¬ 
ing finfish, mollusks, crustaceans, birds, and mammals 
(ANEP 6 ). Groundwater is the primary source of fresh¬ 
water flow into the bays (Wazniak et ah, 2004a); salini¬ 
ties are high in the bays except in areas upstream in 
the tributary rivers and creeks (Wazniak et ah, 2004b). 
Flushing is slow because of limited tidal exchange be¬ 
tween the bays and the ocean through the Ocean City 
and Chincoteague Inlets, and circulation is limited by 
6 NEP (Association of National Estuary Programs). 2001. 
Maryland Coastal Bays. Fact Card. [Available from Mary¬ 
land Coastal Bays Program, 8219 Stephen Decatur Hwy. 
Berlin, MD 21811.] 
wind (Wazniak et al., 2004b). The Ocean 
City Inlet was opened as a corridor by a 
hurricane in 1933 and has been kept open 
as a navigation channel by 2 rock jetties 
along its north and south banks (Wazniak 
et al., 2004a). 
The coastal bays are a tourist attrac¬ 
tion, bringing more than 11 million visi¬ 
tors annually to the Eastern Shore of 
Maryland (MCBP 7 ). This high level of 
use has caused the bays to degrade over 
time, lowering water quality and result¬ 
ing in a current overall condition rating 
of “Moderate,” a C+ rating on a multi¬ 
agency report card which is used to track 
the health of the MCB ecosystem and is 
updated annually (IAN, 2015). There is 
evidence that the abundance of forage 
fish has declined in the lagoons over the 
past 20 years (Casey et al. 8 ; Pincin et al., 
2014), suggesting that fish populations in 
the MCBs are changing and require fur¬ 
ther investigations. 
Sampling and data analysis 
The Maryland Department of Natural 
Resources Coastal Bays Fisheries Inves¬ 
tigations Trawl and Beach Seine Survey 
is conducted annually at 20 fixed loca¬ 
tions that are sampled once a month in 
the MCBs (Fig. 1) from April until Octo¬ 
ber. The gear used is a 4.9-m semiballoon 
trawl with 3.18 cm mesh in the outer net, 
1.27 cm of mesh in the inner liner, and 
2.86 cm of mesh in the codend; a tickler 
chain is used, and trawling duration at 
each of the 20 sites was 6 min (Bolinger 
et al. 9 ). Along with numbers of black sea 
bass at each site, abiotic factors were re¬ 
corded, including water temperature (degrees Celsius), 
dissolved oxygen (milligrams per liter), salinity, Sec- 
chi disk depth (centimeters), and water depth (meters). 
The time series of data collected from 1989 to 2013 
was used to assess the spatial and temporal changes 
in abundance of black sea bass. 
Catch-per-unit-of-effort (CPUE) was used as an indi¬ 
cator of abundance for black sea bass (Bolinger et al. 8 ), 
7 MCBP (Maryland Coastal Bays Program). 2017. Mission 
and history. Maryland Dep. Nat. Resour., Annapolis, MD. 
[Available from website, accessed July 2017.] 
8 Casey, J. F., S. B. Doctor, and A. E. Wesche. 2001. Inves¬ 
tigation of Maryland’s Atlantic Ocean and Coastal Bay Fin- 
fish Stocks, 28 p. Federal Aid Project No. F-50-R. [Available 
from Maryland Dep. Nat. Resour., Fish. Serv., Tawes State 
Office, Bldg. 2, 580 Taylor Ave., Annapolis, MD.] 
9 Bolinger, A., S. Doctor, A. Luettel, M. Luisi, and G. Ty¬ 
ler. 2007. Investigation of Maryland’s coastal bays and 
Atlantic Ocean finfish stock: 2007 report, 153 p. Federal 
Aid Project No. F-50-R-16. Maryland Dep. Nat. Resour., Fish. 
Serv., Annapolis, MD.. [Available from website.] 
