IMEP 143 Part 1 Winter Flounder And Sapropel

BlueChip · October 14, 2024, 11:53:36 AM

IMEP #143 Part 1: Seafood Disease and Warm Waters 1980-2000
Clinton Harbor Seafood Disease and Warm Water Bacteria 1980-2000
"Understanding Science Through History" 
Fecal and Vibrio Bacteria as Climate Indicators 
The NAO Cycle, Sapropel and Winter Flounder 
Viewpoint of Tim Visel, no other agency or organization 
The Danger of a Warming Planet 
July 2021 – This is a Delayed Report
Revised to February 2023
(Tim Visel Retired from The Sound School – June 30, 2022)
Thank you, Blue Crab Forum™ for Posting These Habitat History Reports – Over 350,000 views

A Note from Tim Visel

Sadly, few people know about the NAO today – first studied by Alfred Defant in 1925 but long known in the Viking culture of seafaring history as impacting navigation. The North Atlantic Oscillation is described as the position and strength of a semi- permanent, low pressure system west of Iceland – in many texts it is mentioned as the "Icelandic low." A strong Icelandic low meant that storms were pulled westward to it like a magnet – a strong westerly jet stream across North America. A weak icelandic low allowed cold air to bulge far to the south (which happened in February of 2021 to Texas) and warm air to be drawn north – into the Hudson Bay. This storm track is inland of New England's coast and provides warmer Gulf Stream air being drawn up with lows along the Atlantic Seaboard. These are known as the Hudson Bay Lows. A more offshore storm track provides the classic "North Easter" low pressure systems which draws down colder Canadian air to mix with Gulf Stream moisture resulting in heavy snows and winter gales from the east and northeast. The strength of the westerly sub polar jet that bends the jet stream in a huge wave that dips into the US. If the westerly jet weakens it allows cold air south and warm air north – a climate feature of the NAO. Because of its East/West orientation Long Island Sound could at times become dangerous to shipping and navigation. A 1755 nautical chart of Long Island Sound shows a section that is labeled the "Devils Belt" next to the Connecticut shore.

It is the NAO that caused shipping and navigation interests to first seek federal funds to build Connecticut breakwaters in the 1870's. This can be clearly seen today in the two breakwater complexes to the east of Cedar Island and offshore Clinton Harbor. The 1940's return to cold saw temperatures fall to -36^oF in Cheshire, CT and caused the return of thick ice along the shoreline (the 1943 winter was especially cold – records in CT indicate that temperatures fell to -32^oF, almost as cold as the 1870's winters - See IMEP #69: A Caution for Hunters Tick Disease, posted December 18, 2018, The Blue Crab Forum™ Hunting thread). The return to bitter winters foretold a period of increased storm intensity in the 1950's and 1960's.

This is the period that winter flounders thrived in Clinton Harbor, oysters still were in water warm enough to reproduce in rivers but cool enough to avoid shellfish disease. A weak NAO (or positive phase) in the 1990s would bring oyster and flounder disease to inshore waters and lobster disease in Long Island Sound. Warmer water meant to end the dominance of these two species after the colder negative NAO of the 1950s and 1960s. During this time lobster and winter flounder recruitment (year class) was strong. In the hot 1990's both these species would suffer nearly complete recruitment failures.

Central Connecticut Observations

This negative NAO was also the time of barrier spit movements and breaks. Colder seawater is more damaging to beaches and shore structures (erosion) because it is heavier or denser. This is very evident in the removal of beach sand in the winter to offshore bars and the return of sand in warmer water springs. At the small beach at the tidal inlet of Tom's Creek Madison, CT (stabilized in 1955 with two steel pile driven jetties) much of the beach "disappeared" in the winter to then "return" in the spring. Some years it was as much as 50 feet to the high tide line. Combined with sea level rise the position of Cedar Island a barrier spit (Clinton, CT) has been moving toward the Clinton mainland and early maps clearly represent three distinct lobes or fans in which sand had been driven through previous breaches in the barrier spit nearby. This is the "thick" spots in barrier beaches years after breaches have "healed." These breaches allow sand to flow inland and form a delta fan like structures that appear on old maps and charts. They can also explain or record periods of high energy events and movement of the sand itself. These are the shallow habitats of which we call nursery grounds today for many species of fish and shellfish.

A Climate Shift to Heat in the 1980's

Clinton Harbor with the increasing heat and poor flushing (often termed stagnation in the historical fisheries literature) now experienced massive algal blooms and in an article in Soundings™ Magazine also detailed numerous media reports (See Appendix #5) with headlines such as "Clinton Harbor Plagued With Slimy Green Algae" New Haven Register, Sunday, August 9, 1987 by Paul Tancreel (See Appendix #3). But other factors were developing – Clinton Harbor was long recognized as a significant nursery habitat for winter flounder – winter flounder were showing an increase of the microsporan parasite Glugea stephani. Some of the initial research was conducted in Clinton Harbor by Wayne Castonquay (Castonquay, W. M., 1988 M.S. Thesis University of Connecticut – On The Occurrence of Gluge Stephani) included microsporidiosis in Long Island Sound winter flounder, Pseudopleuronectes americanus. (See his comments about conditions in Clinton Harbor in IMEP #70-B, posted July 26, 2019, The Blue Crab Forum™ Eeling, Oystering, and Fishing thread.) The increase in this parasite was associated to hot seawater temperatures (See Appendix #7). Another factor was the presence of decaying plant tissue was found to harbor cysts (See R.A. Khan Newfoundland University, 2003). This journal article The Effect, Distribution and Prevalence of Glugea stephani In Winter Flounder found elevated disease presence near pulp and paper mills in Newfoundland. In 1981 this winter flounder intestinal parasite was found in New York and New Jersey waters to be present in a about 7% of 4002 sampled fish (Takvorian et al., Journal of Fish Biology 1991, Vol. 18, Issue 4, Rutgers University).

As the heat of the 1980's continued, the presence of this winter flounder parasite increased. But so also the amount of organic matter carried by rain into the Clinton Harbor region. A Shellfish Survey with the Clinton Shellfish Commission in 1986 found in some places two feet of ground leaf organic matter. A large deposit of loose organic material had accumulated on the north side of Clinton Harbor which had buried oysters along its edge killing them. I had seen this material while oystering in the Hammonasset River in the 1970s and 1980s. After Hurricane Gloria in September 1985 a large amount of organic debris had suffocated oysters. A survey in 1987 showed that the shell base in places was under four to six feet of organic paste. Shellfishers on Cape Cod especially those that shellfished in Lewis Bay took me out to examine the leaf remains they called "Oatmeal" in 1982. This oatmeal was now covering bottoms (up to two feet estimated) in areas of Lewis bay areas that once was productive for bay scallops and clams (See IMEP #28: A Caution Regarding Black Mayonnaise Habitats, posted October 2, 2014, The Blue Crab Forum™ and IMEP #27, posted Sept. 30, 2014). This loose organic material could be moved by an oar.

In the spring of 1988, a proposal to enlarge a Clinton Harbor Marina was made in an area that had seen a large accumulation of organics. As part of the environmental review a six-volume environmental site survey study was developed. At the same oysters were buried as winter flounder abundance declined. Part 4 of volume 1 by Geonographic Studies Inc., July 1986, Cedar Island Marine Expansion Preliminary report page 4 described Core Sections of 2 feet – collected by SCUBA found this at Site I:

"At Site I, there was a larger of light fluff or unconsolidated matter about four inches deep with over laid a firm bottom. When cores were taken the second bottom could be felt below the fluff layer." A person standing there would easily sink 8-10 inches. These cores contained the remains of soft shell clams."

Winter flounder had been an abundant inshore species in Connecticut and associated with bivalve shell in Clinton Harbor. Conversations with George McNeil (T. Visel, personal communication, 1980's) that leaves bury these oyster beds and it was a constant struggle to keep oysters free of them. Mr. McNeil mentioned that thick ice in the 1950's tended to clear oyster beds of leaves. On the ebb flow as the tide dropped the velocity under the ice increased creating an ice induced "scour." In the 1980's winter ice was much less and leaves "got stuck" in the lower river and turned black. This burial aspect could be found with a 10-foot pipe (T. Visel, observations).

The Hammonasset River – Clinton Harbor estuary had huge river oyster beds a known habitat to support winter flounder. While seed oystering it was common to have a large flounder in the back of the hand hauled oyster dredge. It was thought that shelly areas held more food especially crab species and that the oystering was in fact a chumming activity for winter flounder. In the 1940's and 1950's it was a common practice to follow oyster dredge vessels for rod and reel flounder fisheries (personal comments to T. Visel from Hillard Bloom, George McNeil, Frank Dolan and Larry Malloy, J.R. Nelson) some long-time flounder fishers may recall heading to oyster beds to fish for winter flounder. Winter flounder and oysters have a long "habitat history"
John Curtis, then director of the Bridgeport Aquaculture School, provided some comments about winter flounder fishing while growing up in Bridgeport, Connecticut to me last January. On January 19, 2009, John Curtis wrote to me:

"I would love to see the old days back when, fishing for flounder with my Dad, we would automatically seek out oyster beds. Oyster grounds were always the fail-proof spots to pick up flatfish. A seeming eternity ago, when my family moved to the Black Rock section of Bridgeport, we lived on a street parallel to Black Rock Harbor. I remember the commercial oyster boats working the harbor from the mouth to almost as deep as Fayerweather Yacht Club into the harbor. My Dad and I started fishing in a 16-foot dory with a 7HP Elgin outboard and when springtime came, we would need to go no farther than the oyster beds in the harbor. It was a sure bet that we would come with a bushel of flounder. As we increased the size and horsepower of our boats, we would venture out of the harbor to explore "new" territory – mud flats, sandy bottom and deep water. Although these areas would provide some fish, they were never to the level of consistency or dependability of oyster grounds.
In those days of yore, the shoreline was just oyster bed after oyster bed and we would fish each one from Stratford Point down to the Norwalk Islands. We would seek the beds that were being worked by the boats, stirring up the bottom. My favorite and most producing beds were just inside Penfield Reef and towards the beach. I believe they were Flowers' beds as I know the ones in Black Rock Harbor were. The results were the same in all locations: lots of fish from throwback size to two-pounders.
We would run out of sandworms (a whole flat) before we knew it. I'd be pulling bits of worm out of the mouths of the flounder in the basket just to keep fishing. But, as you know, fish populations have declined to a point today where, if you bring home a fish or two, you had a 'good' day. Fishing on those beds was amazing. Drifting past them would produce no fish. So, it was a known strategy for optimum flounder fishing, to figure the tide and wind so that you would start at one end of the bed and drift to the other end. The most remarkable memory is the fact of the sheer amounts of flounder in those small concentrated areas: 'tons and tons' of small fish – a hatchery, a breeding ground, a feeding ground!!! Today, as I explore those same areas, I find that the bottom is completely 'soft' and 'mucky'."

I observed similar winter flounder habitats in eastern Connecticut especially formerly productive coves crossed by the railroad. The Hammonasset River had huge amounts of winter flounder habitat, both supporting YOY (Young of Year) and adults. (See IMEP #43 posted on January 16, 2015 for a discussion of Clinton winter flounder fishery).

Goldberg, R. et al., Variability In Habitat Use By Young Of The Year Winter Flounder in Estuaries 25 (2) 215-226 and reported (looked at Connecticut winter flounder habitat) found that YOY:

"Were found in higher densities in unvegetated areas adjacent to eelgrass. The exception was in the Hammonasset River in 1995 when densities were higher in eelgrass. We conclude that the type of habitat most important to YOY winter flounder varies among estuaries and as a result, care should be taken in defining EFH, based only on limited spatial and temporal sampling."

This is known as the edge effect – that forage existed around the edge of structure in this case eelgrass.

Howell P. J. et al., 1999 – Juvenile Winter Flounder Distribution by Habitat Type Estuaries 22 (4) 1090-1095 also found that:

"Highest densities within a site most often occurred in mud/shell litter habitat followed by mud wood litter and mud/no litter habitats. Sandy sites with or without litter yielded the lowest densities."

Clinton Harbor was one of the five sites surveyed for this above study.

The problem with many winter flounder habitat studies are that they happened after a heat driven wide spread habitat failure. The waters became very warm post 1998 and habitat quality changed. Trying to assess the best flounder habitats after a habitat failure is similar in my mind the same is searching for green trees after a forest fire. Eelgrass meadows now became hot and gathered organics in a low oxygen peat. This area held heat and lost a habitat advantage for winter flounder. Sulfide formed signaling low oxygen in shallow waters. Looking for winter flounder during a hot August summer day in shallow areas would lead to almost certain disappointing results.

In cooler water, for example, winter flounder could be found in or near shallow eelgrass. In warm water, these eelgrass beds were avoided (personal experiences and observations, T. Visel) as they acted as a heat sink. Water temperatures over eelgrass flats were measurable higher on hot summer days. In cold periods Rhode Island salt ponds (1950's and 1960's) were tremendous producers of young of the year YOY winter flounder. In the heat of the 1900's and 2000's these hot low oxygen sulfide rich waters held few or little flounder. The impact of climate to habitat change is sadly frequently overlooked. We often instead focus upon "overfishing." This tends to underestimate the danger of just a few degrees increase in heat will do and the danger of climate warming - my view.

Clinton Harbor offers an opportunity to study the impact of heat and the increase in seafood disease associated with it. We need to look at many species, oysters once abundant became diseased or with fin rot of winter flounder and once abundant became diseased (vibrio) and the marked increase in swimmers itch cercariae was also noticed by bathers and reported (See Appendix #1 and Appendix #2) (A 1988 press release I authorized about Schistosomatidae, parasitic trematode warms, penetrating the skin of Clinton beach bathers was not favorably received by then the Connecticut Office of Tourism as I recall).

Dr. Gordon Van Ness of the Shoreline Clinic first reported this worm infestation in 1978 describing it as "clammer's itch" (See IMEP #28: The Day, August 30, 1978, pg. 2). At the same time the once huge Hammonasset seed oyster beds were showing high percentages of Haplosporidium nelsoni -otherwise known as MSX the dreaded oyster disease, see Appendix #9. While these multiple disease vectors (occurrences) increased Clinton Harbor was in the grips of a massive macro algae bloom.

This is a climate signal for a shift in the bacterial nitrogen pathways from nitrate to ammonia another hot seawater habitat condition. Macro algae thrive in waters enriched in ammonium a byproduct of low oxygen hot seawater organic composting. A huge amount of sapropel was accumulating (then called black mayonnaise) and was suffocating oyster beds. This nutrient rich water sloshed back and forth with the tides and with warm temperatures filled the bottom of Clinton Harbor with "spaghetti weed" Chaetomorpha linum and responds first to ammonia before nitrate (Taras Plesku, March 14, 2021, Unraveling The Utility Of Chaetomopha linum). The bloom grew so thick it fouled outboard engines and caused the lower units to be wrapped in it shutting down coolant water.

This algae thrives in low disturbance areas in regions with high labile organic matter (ROM) and can form high density mats (See Carlo Sorce et al., 2018 Marine Pollution Bulletin, Vol. 129, #2, pp. 772-781).

I was watching what Dr. Donald Rhoads had described to me just a few years ago. A shift in plants signaled a change in bacterial/nitrogen generation – and the increase in macroalgae. Clinton Harbor was experiencing such as shift and a New Haven Register Article titled "Clinton Harbor Plagued with Slimy Green Algae Lack of Oxygen, Restricted Flushing Causes Problem" with pictures of Jack Andrews of J and J Lobster Company holding a fouled water pump (See Appendix #2).

At the end of the article I based my prediction on the shallow waters undergoing this transition first "any area with restricted flushing like Clinton Harbor will have black mayonnaise and an algae buildup resulting in oxygen depletion" (See Appendix #2).

A review of the current literature does indicate a connection between fish and shellfish disease, temperature and the bacterial reduction of organic matter in shallow waters. When Dr. Rhoads in 1985 described Long Island Sound sapropels as deepening, it was in response to oxygen availability; warmer waters naturally contain less oxygen. So, warm climate periods would favor the slower sulfur-reducing bacteria in sapropel (black mayonnaise). This compost would grow deeper in heat. A series of cold then warm climate cycles would leave a habitat history in our coves and bays as sea levels increased. At times, rising sea level and storms would claim some of this sapropel compost and some salt marshes as well. In warmer, storm-free periods, it would build up. One of the indicators could be the presence of vibrio species, linked to fish disease (winter flounder fin rot) and shellfish shell erosion (lobster shell disease). These vibrio pathogens thrive in heat and were rare during the colder 1950's.

Each warm period would bring disease and seafood death to the shallows. The 1898 brown tide/red tide blooms of upper Narragansett Bay shocked researchers at the time, and Dr. A. Mead's account from a report authored by Scott Nixon in 1989 "An Extraordinary Red Tide and Fish Kill in Narragansett Bay" is still important today. Dr. Mead described a red tide bloom as a plague in 1899 in an article in the November 1899 Journal of Science article titled "An Investigation of the Plague Which Destroyed Multitudes of Fish and Crustacea During the Fall of 1898."

The 1890's brought a succession of warm winters and hot summers. In 1899, New England had an "ice famine." Fresh waters were so warm that ice did not form, creating a market shortage. But the warmth would bring changes to salt waters as well, a suspected sulfide kill of oysters in 1890 in deeper waters as experienced by the oyster industry.

Long Island Sound bottom surveys (1890's) were urgently requested by oyster growers. Thousands of bushels of oysters were now dying and the Navy, interested in oceanography for producing accurate charts, conducted a survey then, finding a blue-black greasy substance that smelled badly. This a quote from The New London Day newspaper Friday, March 1890 – "Long Island Sound – Remarkable Revelations – A Bottom of Putrid Things" – (Captain Platt, US Navy).

The Rise of Sapropel

The Day: New London, CT, Friday, March 21, 1890

From the reports and comments, I have been able to review the Connecticut Oyster Industry suffered a deep water, sulfide kill in the fall of 1886. The 1880's saw Connecticut's oyster industry grow rapidly as the waters warmed from the very cold 1870's. George McNeil termed these bottom kills as producing "stools" oysters that dredged from the bottom with rancid meats and smell – I will let readers make the analogy. Shells were still paired but with no meat or rotting meats. (This historical oyster literature does contain references to sets upon the stools in other reports). The smells from these decaying oysters (according to George McNeil) was strong enough to cause you to wretch, a financial loss of this year crop but a reluctance to replant beds again. Similar sulfide kills (they did not call from sulfide kills then but referenced as putrid muds) in 1887 and 1888 following very warm winters and brutal heat waves. These dead beds occurred in deep waters with little current and happened on occasion so often that deep beds were abandoned. In times of heat salt water will stagnate below a density divide called a thermocline. The die off of oysters must have been so large in 1889 as to request Government help in 1890 from the Navy first then to the United States Fish Commission.

These sulfide events could happen during winter in shallow waters and deep waters in late summer but both had a low oxygen relationship – when the absence of oxygen aids sulfate reducing bacteria that now utilize sulfate as a respiratory oxygen source and in this process release the rotten egg smells of hydrogen sulfide gas. Sulfate reducing bacteria will never face an oxygen shortage as the amount of sulfate dissolved in sea water is termed "non-limiting." Sapropel sulfide events were often of short duration, a strong storm or cold weather could return oxygen levels to those that prevented sulfide discharges what could be a toxic residue in September is gone after the first fall or winter storms. (In saltwater ponds and lakes this is called the fall "overturn"). Sulfide fish kills are often the same way – quick deadly but after a few weeks leaving little signs except in the oyster industry example "stools" on production oyster beds. It is also possible that disease outbreaks, called "gapers" were presented under a different term "stools" – MSX reports today mention recent dead oysters in the presence of sulfur smells and the chemistry of sapropel deserves a much closer look as a possible MSX trigger.

One of the attributes of sapropel formation is the very strong (sulfide) smell – the rotten egg smells" found so often in the fisheries literature that plagued egg producers during the same period. (heat waves drove thousands to growing shore communities in the 1890's). We are fortunate to have both the Navy observations and US Fish Commission report – although the report is dated march 21, 1890, I suspect the Navy report was from the summer of 1889. The US Fish Commission report is June 1890. After the strong winter storms Long Island Sound waters are described as mixed, surface and bottom waters by strong storms and tides. In fact, the US Fish Commission report gives Long Island Sound a clean bill of health which within a decade would sustain the massive 1898 lobster die off Southern New England and numerous spectacular fish kills as waters continued to warm (my comments, T. Visel).

Long Island Sound The New London Day, March 21, 1890
Remarkable Revelations – A Bottom of Putrid Things
New York Commercial Advertiser

"The United States Fish Commission have before them a report made by Captain Platt of the United States Navy, which, if sustained by further investigations, will give the dweller along Long Island Sound good reason for alarm and lead them to an appreciation of the evil which is being done by making a dumping ground of the Sound. Owing to the sensational character of the suggestions made in the report to publicity has been given to it as yet, the purpose being to have Captain Platt (US Navy) continue his investigation next season with the aid of the coast survey. {Which occurred the following June, T. Visel.}

The US Fish Commission has been making an investigation, through Captain Platt of the condition of the deep water oyster beds in Long Island Sound, to determine the cause of the repeated failures of the oyster crops. It was possible during the season to make only a reconnaissance of the field but enough was seen to lead Captain Platt to believe that the condition of Long Island Sound, owing to dumping and the emptying of sewage, was in a condition to threaten the health of all the cities in the vicinity.

Captain Platt has had more than 30 years' experience as a hydrographer, and was the first to being deep sea dredging so that his opinion on such matters is of some value. His attention was directed to the oyster beds along the Connecticut shore, and he made dredging there and in the middle of the Sound. At the conclusion of his examination he was of the opinion that the destruction of the oysters was not due to the ravages of starfish, as was at first supposed, but was the result of the poisoning of the water of the sound by sewage and dumping of rubbish. He so reported to the commission, and recommended a more thorough investigation of the matter as soon as possible, for if the conditions were as they appeared to him to be, it was of the utmost importance that something should be done at once.

In the first place, he found that the oysters were discolored, tasteless and evidently unhealthy, indicating that they were being exposed to some very unfavorable conditions (this is the same type of reports that York River oyster growers mentioned to Paul Galtsoff in 1935 – see sulfide toxicity of sulfate black water, T. Visel). Then his dredging seemed to disclose the cause. In the vicinity of the beds his dredge brought up from the bottom a foul deposit which gave forth such a stench that it was almost impossible to examine it. In 90 feet of water in the middle of the sound he brought up old boots and a great variety of decayed refuse matter which had evidently been on the bottom without moving much with the tide, for a very long time among other things his dredge brought up an old mattress which fell to pieces when brought to the surface and gave out such a foul smell that it was impossible to remain in its vicinity, and it had to be at once dropped back into the water or no one could have remained on deck. All the matter brought up had this same foul smell and showed the evidence of city refuse. The water splattered from the dredge coming off this foul matter discolored paints wherever it struck (sulfide rich sapropel – suspected, T. Visel).

The whole bottom seemed to be of this decayed and offensive matter very different from these bottom as it is under ordinary conditions. Dredging from the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico have no smell whatever, whereas the hand coming in contact with any of the muck from the bottom of Long Island Sound, hours of washing would not rid the flesh from the smell. (Many fishers have experienced these black mayonnaise stains and are termed the sulfur dead line on Cape Cod, T. Visel).

There was no sign of vegetable life brought up, and it was, in fact, impossible that any sort of life could exist when exposed to the immense mass of decayed matter. Capt. Platt was of the opinion that the matter from this water was poisonous to the oysters and all other fish, and he believed that the whole Sound was so polluted as to threaten the health of the hundreds of thousands of people dwelling in its vicinity. The presence of decayed refuse of the sort be found seemed to him to indicate very clearly that the theory that the tide washes the sewage out to sea is erroneous, and calculations as to the tide bear him out in this idea.

The opinions he expressed in his report, subject to revision, of course, after further investigations were that the sewage of all the cities bordering on the Sound was poisoning the water so as to destroy the animacular and the vegetable life; that the work done in dredging the harbors and the mouths of rivers had still more contributed to this result because of the accumulation of waste for many generations being removed from its resting place and dumped in the middle of the sound; that the tidal currents and counter currents were such as merely to shift those deposits back and forth over a small distance and not carry them off at all that is, while one tide may take the deposits along with it for a way, the return tide brings it all back again – and finally, that the condition of the Sound is such as to warrant grave fears that should an epidemic as yellow fever, once get a lodgment the result would be a pestilence of unprecedented duration and deadliness.

There is no disposition on the part of Captain Platt or the Fish Commission to start a sensation and they will not adopt the report as a declarative of actual fact without further investigation, but they consider the evidence in support of the theories sufficient to warrant a thorough investigation, which they contemplate starting next season in cooperation with the coast survey. They desire to make a more careful test and analysis of the water of the sound, and to make a thorough study of the tidal currents." (This report was based upon biological examination and the application of analytical chemistry to biological observations points to continued problems in habitat study today, T. Visel).

"Captain Platt US Navy 1890 Long Island Sound Survey US Fish Commission"

Report of the Superintendent of the US Coast Guard and Geodetic Survey

Showing The Progress of the Work During the Fiscal Year Ending with June 1891

In Two Parts, Part 1, 1892

Washington Govern Printing Office 1892

Record Pg. 118 Special Operations Pg. 84

"Physical Hydrography Observations of tides currents, and densities and temperature in Long Island Sound in connection with the work of the U.S. Fish Commission – Reference was made in the last Annual Report to the beginning of the work in Long Island Sound undertaken jointly by the Fish Commission and the Coast and Geodetic Survey. The cruise of the U.S. Fish Commission steamer Fish Hawk, Lieut. Robert Platt US Navy command afforded an opportunity for the prosecution by the survey of certain investigations in physical hydrography which it was desirable to make in the Sound and the offer kindly made by the Fish Commission to furnish quarters and transportation to the officer of the survey assigned to this work, and to cooperation with him otherwise its execution was gladly accepted. Densities and temperature at each of the current stations No 4 to 18 inclusive the density and temperature of the water at surface and bottom were observed once every hour during the entire time of the occupation of the station. These observations were made by Mr. W. C. Kendall, biologist of the Fish Hawk, with salinometer and thermometer belonging to the Fish Commission. Mr. Haskell will take an early opportunity of preparing for publicizing a report describing the methods of his work and presenting its results.

1890 pg. 16 Report of Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries by E. E. Haskell

Chemical inquiry – Mr. Neher joined the Fish Hawk on June 9, 1890 and the remainder of that month was mostly occupied in perfecting the arrangements for the chemical analyses, in preparing the reagents, and in making the preliminary tests. The object of the investigation being simply to ascertain the relative purity of the water in the Sound, the tests applied were chiefly those used to detect sewage contamination by volumetric color metric and gas metric methods.

The Wanklyn test was resorted for determined the amount of free and albuminoid ammonia contained in the water offers a means of measuring relatively the organic pollution of the same. A few tests were made by the aluminum method for ascertaining the amount of nitrogen as nitrates and nitrites, and the ration of the dissolved oxygen was also determined in some instances. The samples of water analyzed were taken both from the surface and from the bottom in all depths down to 28 fathoms, and under many different conditions, as in the open Sound over clean bottoms, and about the dumping – grounds and in some of the harbors. Owing to the fact that no standing of purity of seawater with reference to oysters or to the general health of adjacent land has been established, Mr. Neher found it difficult to interpret his results in that respect (so the standard for drinking water was used – T. Visel). When the amount of free ammonia in portable water exceeds .01 it is generally considered to be due to recent sewage contamination and the amount of albuminoidal ammonia in a safe drinking water should not much exceed .015 parts per 100,000 parts of the water. The figures furnished by Mr. Neher's tests may be summarized as follows: At the mouth of the Connecticut River.

.005 Of free ammonia, and .013 of albuminoid ammonia, on a line across the Sound opposite the mouth of this river .002 and .015 respectively; a second line somewhat further west .005 and .01 and .016, and at Throgs Neck .023 and .018. The last two undoubtedly show the influences of the East River. On or near the dumping grounds off New Haven, Bridgeport, Norwalk and Stamford the amount of free ammonia ranged from .006 to .013 and the albuminoid from .014 to 0.19. These dumping places have always been regarded as the most serious to the oyster grounds in Long Island Sound but the chemical observation fail to support that claim. In New Haven Harbor the free ammonia amounts to .013 and the albuminoid to .018 while in Bridgeport Harbor they were .02 and .018 respectively.

It may, therefore, safely be concluded that so far as regards organic impurities, the oyster beds Long Island Sound are in no immediate danger from that cause. The result of the dredging work also supports this conclusion the animals taken of all kinds being generally in good and healthy conditions."

While we have, for the first time, dated observations of sulfide rich bottoms and the report of the Fish Commission staff because they had no way or measure for sapropel metabolism and had only water quality (drinking water standards at the time) based upon ammonia – the ammonia tests in June would reflect cool, well mixed sea water while what Captain Platt was bottom samples that were in heat very different. Oysters lived on the bottom but drinking water criteria was used for the investigation.

The conclusion that the only factor that could harm the oysters – was us (sewage) so it was logical then (a frequent misconception) that any indicator for us (drinking standard) could be equated to habitat health. (This unfortunately continues today) the Fish Commission dismissed the oyster industry concerns (I don't think they were happy with the conclusion). We know that during the winter bacterial nitrogen composting tends to show more nitrate than ammonia so season testing alone was significant.

Of course, environmental history was to worsen as the brutal heat waves intensified as the 1890s progressed. The 1896 wave killed thousands in New England's central cities. The 1898 oyster set was large but killed in the shallows by "black water" – (George McNeil, personal communication to Tim Visel) and what was left was destroyed by the Portland Gale in November 1898 (A late, out of season hurricane). Two months earlier, A.D. Mead by Brown declared that plague had descended upon Rhode Island following a massive 1898 fish kill. A few months later Southern New England suffered a massive lobster die off. This Southern New England lobster die off resulted in the New England Lobster Convention of 1903. At the same time small black sea bass were caught in fish surveys that stunned fishery managers as Block Island fishers reported strange new fish never seen before. The areas first impacted by this increase of heat was the shallows and includes diseases. In 1998 lobsters died off again and people asked if Long Island Sound was dying similar to the 1890's reports.

Climate should be an integral part of shallow water fishery habitat studies – my view Tim Visel.

Appendix #1

B2. SOUNDINGS

FEBRUARY 1988

Town considers unblocking old river channel
_____________
By Patrick O'Grady

Clinton, Conn., officials are wrestling with the problem of pollution and poor shellfishing in Clinton Harbor.

Officials in Clinton, located about 20 miles east of New Haven, are trying to determine how much of the harbor's pollution is tied to pollution problems on Long Island Sound. They are also trying to determine if the closing of a waterway contributed to the Clinton Harbor pollution.

Town officials are considering reopening the Straits of Dardanelles, which links Cedar Island with Hammonasset Point.

Water from the Hammonasset River used to flow through the straits and is believed to have flushed sediment from the harbor. The straits were closed in 1953.
Environmental experts meeting with area residents this past fall questioned whether reopening the straits would solve the sediment problem.

Frank Bohlen, a professor of marine sciences at the University of Connecticut, told the local meeting of about 75 people that town officials shouldn't assume reopening the straits would solve the problem or that closing the straits caused the pollution in the first place.

"You must go after the point source of discharge and look at the street drains and runoff from construction often." Bohlen said. "The cause of the pollution must be established."
Timothy Visel of the Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program said the inner harbor pollution is not unique to Clinton. "It is happening up and down the shoreline," he said.
"The water quality if unacceptable with a high count of coliform bacteria and more and more inshore areas are being closed off to shellfishing," he said.
Visel said Clinton's inner harbor was closed to shellfishing in 1978 and the outer harbor was closed in 1985.

Visel also cited a recent closure of part of the shoreline in adjacent Westbrook, Conn., to shellfiishing as further evidence of increasing pollution.
Visel said the Clean Water Act helped to clean up much of the industrial pollution. But when more sewage treatment plant started up, the coliform bacteria increased, he said.
In Western Connecticut, some towns are being sued because violations regarding discharge from sewage treatment plants, Visel said. Clinton is considering building a waste-water treatment plant on the Hammonasset River.

Michel Ludwig, an ecologist with the National Marine Fisheries Service in Milford, Conn., said that development in Clinton has increased the sediment being dumped into the harbor.
"Opening the straits will have a relatively small influence on the flushing of the harbor.," said Ludwig, "unless it is dredged deep and wide."
Ludwig estimates the opening would have to be at least 8 feet deep and a few hundred feet wide. He said that if the opening becomes the main channel, silt may build up in the current navigation channel.

Ludwig suggested that a thorough dredging of the main navigation channel that flows around the end of Cedar Island may help the tidal flushing of the inner harbor.
Residents say the closing of the straits has caused a buildup of sediment on the north side of the island. "There is a foot of much where there used to be sand," said a Cedar Island resident. "We used to dig clams there, but not anymore.

Town officials are considering reopening the Straits of Dardanelles, which links Cedar Island with Hammonasset Point.

Water from the Hammonasset River used to flow through the straits and is believed to have flushed sediment from the harbor. The straits were closed in 1953.
Environmental experts meeting with area residents this past fall questioned whether reopening the straits would solve the sediment problem.

Frank Bohlen, a professor of marine sciences at the University of Connecticut, told the local meeting of about 75 people that town officials shouldn't assume reopening the straits would solve the problem or that closing the straits caused the pollution in the first place.
"You must go after the point source of discharge and look at the street drains and runoff from construction often." Bohlen said. "The cause of the pollution must be established."

Timothy Visel of the Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program said the inner harbor pollution is not unique to Clinton. "It is happening up and down the shoreline," he said.
"The water quality if unacceptable with a high count of coliform bacteria and more and more inshore areas are being closed off to shellfishing," he said.

Visel said Clinton's inner harbor was closed to shellfishing in 1978 and the outer harbor was closed in 1985.

Visel also cited a recent closure of part of the shoreline in adjacent Westbrook, Conn., to shellfiishing as further evidence of increasing pollution.

Visel said the Clean Water Act helped to clean up much of the industrial pollution. But when more sewage treatment plant started up, the coliform bacteria increased, he said.
In Western Connecticut, some towns are being sued because violations regarding discharge from sewage treatment plants, Visel said. Clinton is considering building a waste-water treatment plant on the Hammonasset River.

Michel Ludwig, an ecologist with the National Marine Fisheries Service in Milford, Conn., said that development in Clinton has increased the sediment being dumped into the harbor.
"Opening the straits will have a relatively small influence on the flushing of the harbor.," said Ludwig, "unless it is dredged deep and wide."

Ludwig estimates the opening would have to be at least 8 feet deep and a few hundred feet wide. He said that if the opening becomes the main channel, silt may build up in the current navigation channel.

Ludwig suggested that a thorough dredging of the main navigation channel that flows around the end of Cedar Island may help the tidal flushing of the inner harbor.
Residents say the closing of the straits has caused a buildup of sediment on the north side of the island. "There is a foot of muck where there used to be sand," said a Cedar Island resident. "We used to dig clams there, but not anymore.

Appendix #2

New Haven Register

Clinton Harbor plagued with slimy, green algae: Lack of oxygen, restricted flushing causes problem

By Paula Tancrell, Register Staff

Sunday, August 9, 1987

CLINTON – A slimy, green algae that has plagued anglers and boaters in Clinton Harbor this summer appears to be part of a larger problem along Long Island Sound.
"I've never seen anything like this before in my life," said Jack P. Andrews, owner of J&J Lobster on Commerce Street.
          "I've burned out three pumps already this summer. It's ruining the fishing, clamming and everything in the harbor."
          Referring to the marine algae as "green, slimy stuff," John Anderson, Jack's father, said the algae clogs the engines in fishing boats.
          "You haven't got a chance to catch a fish with that slimy stuff everywhere. When you put a hook out, it just gets lost in the algae," Jack Anderson said.
          Lobster pots that the firm stores under the docks are covered with algae, cutting off the oxygen supply to the crustaceans and killing them, he said.
          Fishermen must constantly dive under their boats to clean clogged motors, or they risk burning out their engines, Jack Anderson said.
          Timothy Visel, a marine biologist with the University of Connecticut Extension Service, said the algae buildup in Clinton Harbor appears to be the result of depletion of oxygen in the water.
          He said depletion also is occurring in other areas of Long Island Sound, especially in the western part of the state, and is killing marine life.
          Visel said there are usually two main reasons for oxygen depletion: buildup of nutrients and a reduction in tidal flushing.
          Jack Anderson thinks the closing of a harbor inlet known as the Straits of Dardanelles in the 1930's behind the algae problem.
          Water from the Hammonasset River once flowed through the straits and flushed out the harbor.
          The town asked the US Army Corps of Engineers to fill the straits, linking Cedar Island to part what is now Hammonasset Beach State Park.
          The river slows as it curves around Cedar Island and no longer flushes the harbor of silt, sticks, leaves and other dead organic matter, Anderson said.
          Visel said he noticed signs of oxygen depletion and "algae blooms" in the Clinton Harbor area in 1985.
          The algae and "black mayonnaise," decayed leaves and other organic matter, eventually will destroy the state's bodies of water, Visel said. "The ponds will go first, then the larger bodies of water will go later," he said.
          "Any area with restricted flushing, like Clinton Harbor, will have black mayonnaise and an algae buildup resulting in oxygen depletion," Visel said.

Appendix #3

The incidence of Glugea stephani (Protozoa: Microsporida) in winter flounder, Pseudopleuronectes americanus, from the New York – New Jersey Lower Bay Complex and factors influencing it
February 2011- Canadian Journal of Zoology, 69(2): 317-321
DOI: 10.1139/z91-051
Authors: Ann Cali, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Peter M. Takvorian, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

Abstract

The microsporidium Glugea stephani is endemic in winter flounder from the New york – New Jersey area. The prevalence of infection fluctuates with water temperature on a seasonal basis, increasing in summer and decreasing in winter. From March 1981 through December 1983, 32 monthly collections were conducted. During this period 4002 winter flounder were caught and examined, 301 (7.5%) of which were infected. Data collected during the study indicated that although several factors may influence the host–parasite interaction, only water temperature changes could be statistically correlated with G. stephani infection in this winter flounder population. In an effort to determine what factors other than temperature affect prevalence of infection, fish length, sex, diet, and spawning behaviour were examined. Although these factors do not, at first, appear to influence infectivity, stress imposed on the host by physiological and environmental changes may be significant. Our results are compared with those from G. stephani in its type host, the European flounder Platichthys flesus.

Appendix #4

UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT

COOPERATIVE EXTENSION SERVICE

SEA GRANT MARINE ADVISORY PROGRAM

June 2, 1986

Anita R. Freudenthal, PhD
Marine Biologist
Bureau of Water Pollution Control
Nassau County – Dept, of Health
240 Old Country Road
Mineola, New York 11501

Dear Dr. Freudenthal:

It was very interesting meeting you at the recent NESSA meeting in Mystic, Connecticut. Our conversations on the swimmers' itch problem were very helpful. We, too, have received complaints of late season infections (September – October) by shellfishermen. I thought these were jellyfish incidents until I spoke with you. Your information was that this late season incident was likely due to the periwinkle Littorina. My experience is that of the early season infection from Ilyanassa obsolete or mud snail. I was infected with this type at a field demonstration in Niantic, Connecticut in 1983.

          Now for the good news, a new drug, praziquantel, is effective in eliminating the liver fluke in just one treatment. The first use of this drug has occurred in Groton with farm animals as reported by Ron Chappel, Chairman of the Town of Groton Shellfish Commission. I will try to obtain more information on praziquantel. In the meantime, any information on the late season Littorina infection would be very helpful. I have enclosed my entire swimmers' itch file and a recent MAP newsletter.
          I look forward to hearing from you.

                                                                   Sincerely,

                                                                   Timothy C. Visel
                                                                   Regional Marine Extension
                                                                   Specialist Fisheries/Aquaculture
TCV/smr

Appendix #5

Cooperative Extension Service Marine Advisory Service

National Sea Grant Program Cooperating

Reply To:

Dr. Gordon Hutchinson                                            Marine Advisory Service
136 Sherman Avenue                                               University of Connecticut
New Haven, CT 06511                                              Avery Point, Groton, CT 06340
Tel: (203) 445-xxxx

                                                                             February 19, 1985

Dear Dr. Hutchinson:

          I have enclosed the information on "swimmer's itch" you requested. I believe little in the way of research has been conducted in this area. Therefore, I will describe some of my personal observations of measurable effects – having been infected twice in the last two years.

          My employment here at the Marine Advisory Service requires field work as an "Extension Agent Specialist" in the area of fisheries/aquaculture. In this capacity, I work with a large number of recreational and commercial fin and shellfishermen. I explained one of my work areas that of habitat restoration – aquacultural reclamation projects. This requires the removal of unreduced (oxygen depleted) organic matter from formerly productive shellfish. This project is undertaken in this fashion; surveys determine the depth of organic debris, observations of the areas (white sulfur reducing bacteria films, for instance) or hydrogen sulfide smells, interviews with local residents (usually these lead to heated discussions revolving upon the disappearance of fish such as flounder and blue crabs) and photography. In most instances, productive oyster beds are buried beneath 3 to 5 feet of dark, soft muck. Oystermen utilizing hand oyster dredges break up this layered material (it has the consistency of mayonnaise) with an outgoing tide when it has sufficient oxygen to be utilized (by shrimp and other vegetarians) and naturally recycled. In this way, large accumulations of organic debris are removed from a creek or river on an outgoing tide very rapidly. Once this occurs, the environment is recolonized by aerobic life replacing the anaerobic organisms (bacteria). Also, immediately, flounder return (especially the juveniles) blue crabs appear, crabs excavate new caverns, marsh birds return to feed on the new fiddler crab populations that themselves feed upon the restored shellfish habitat. The change is so rapid and so beneficial it is hard to visualize without field examinations (See Old Saybrook articles). That is what brings me to the topic of swimmers' itch. Before a project such as this is commenced, I like to walk the area personally noting dead or buried shellfish beds, absence of fish and crabs, etc. I usually bring at least one local resident of the town or community to explain the process and the potential benefits.

          It is during these preliminary surveys that I (and whomever is with me) contract swimmers' itch or blood fluke. My habitat restoration projects by their very nature are located in marine degraded areas where oxygen depletion is a major factor. Often this oxygen depletion is the result of high plant and seaweed productivity in a nutrient-enhanced environment (street runoff is very nutrient rich). Because creek rivers and marshes are natural drainage areas, vast amounts of street and storm runoff fertilize then encouraging tremendous growth of marine algae – especially sea lettuce, Ulva lactuca. In the summer, warm seawater contains less oxygen (inverse solubility law) and by late August, aerobic respiration ceases and anaerobic processes commence. It is interesting to note how many coastal residents increasingly complain about foul odors from estuaries in late summer. This process allows the large accumulations of unreduced organic matter to appear and favors an increase in the mud snail, Ilyanassa obsoleta, that consumes this excess vegetation.

          Interviews with fishermen and swimmers typify the sequence of infection/contamination. A given area or cove (it doesn't seem to matter what town, the stories are so similar they can be generalized) that was a good shellfish habitat suffers eutrophication from this nutrient-enhanced algae. A layer of black muck forms and grows in depth causing circulation to drop. Water temperatures in the cove or salt pond rise due to the reduced circulation and this favors the life cycle of the blood fluke. As the water temperatures go up, less available oxygen accelerates anaerobic respiration and, of course, the buildup of this black organic debris. (I have noticed accumulations of over 12 inches per year). The population of the mud snail increases (personal observations) until unbelievable numbers are present. It is in this soft oxygen-depleted environment when circulation is constricted combined with warm water and large snail populations you are guaranteed a significant infection of the blood fluke or swimmers' itch. I have had over 30 infection sites and have examined clammers at the Marine Sciences Institute with over 60 infection sites. Unfortunately, the problem seems to be increasing at an alarming rate. I understand that swans (waterfowl) can spread and carry this disease. My concern is that some of our coves contain far too many swans – so many that the fecal material builds up on the bottom. Of course, this fecal material enhances seaweed growth and acts to spread the disease. One positive note, after a habitat restoration project is completed, circulation is improved providing more oxygen and reducing organic accumulation to manageable levels. Mud snail populations diminish and I no longer fear wading in the water and have on many occasions with no ill effects. It seems that the article about controlling mud snails by rehabilitating mud flats was absolutely correct. I obtained this article from Mr. Jack Milkofsky, Town Sanitorian of Old Saybrook, last summer after a large outbreak of swimmers' itch that hit Westbrook shellfishermen.

          I believe that unless something is done to correct these degraded habitats, this health problem will get worse. Of course, my expertise is in shellfish habitats and my programs are specifically designed for shellfish reclamation but the evidence indicates a related bonus for swimmers and bathers that utilize beaches and recreation areas in Connecticut. I can provide names and addresses of people who have been infected (many have vowed not to swim in Connecticut again) if that would be of assistance (the pain associated with the swelling and drainage is truly excruciating). Recreational blue crabbers are also effected (even though they do not enter the water to bathe or swim) when they step into warm stagnant pools in mud choked mosquito control ditches. Unfortunately, the Department of Health Services ditch maintenance program has been suspended pending permit reviews on a State and federal level. Phil Jackson, Chairman of the Clinton Shellfish Commission, called me last night about an unrelated matter. When questioned about the blood fluke, he told me that Clinton Town Beach was hit very hard last year. He, himself, was seriously infected. This "snail fever" is most cruel to young children and babies whose parents let them wade in these shallow, warm pools for safety. Perhaps a medical journal could distribute this information or generate some research proposals. In this way, action policies and public education programs can be implemented before more summer residents and visitors are infected.

I hope this material is of some interest and help to you.

                                                Sincerely yours,

                                                Timothy C. Visel
                                                Regional Marine Extension Specialist
                                                Fisheries/Aquaculture
TCV/doc

Appendix #6

Journal of Shellfish Research, Vol. 34, No. 2, 297-3-2, 2015

AN EPIZOOTIC OF HAPLOSPORIDIUM NELSONI IN THE EASTERN OYSTERS CRASSOSTREA VIRGINICA COLLECTED FROM THE CONNECTICUT COASTLINE IN 1986 AND 1987: AN EXAMINATION OF ARCHIVED SLIDES

INKE SUNILA^1* AND TIMOTHY VISEL²
¹ State of Connecticut, Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Aquaculture, PO Box 97, Milford, CT 06460
² The Sound School, 60 South Water Street, New Haven, CT 06519

ABSTRACT Massive mortalities of eastern oysters Crassostrea virginica were observed in 1984 and 1985 along Connecticuts shoreline in Long Island Sound. An archived collection of histological slides was discovered which contained sections of oysters sampled for the late Dr. Sung Feng at the University of Connecticut in response to the oyster mortality event. Oysters from the Hammonasset River, East River, Tom's Creek, and Pawcatuck River were collected for histopathological examination between June of 1986 and December of 1987. A reference sample was collected from Mecox Bay on the Atlantic shore of Long Island, NY. The slide collection consisted of 781 oysters, 59 of which were gapers. Examination of the slides, performed decades later, revealed an epizootic of Haplosporidium nelsoni. The highest prevalence of H. nelsoni occurred in the Hammonasset River in June of 1987 with a 52% prevalence. No H. nelsoni was detected in the reference sample from Mecox Bay, NY. While H. nelsoni plasmodia were detected in 41% of the gapers, 80% of had a terminal infection. Dr. Feng's archived slide collection demonstrates a wide-spread H. nelsoni epizootic in the mid-1980s in Long Island Sound and establishes the involvement of H. nelsoni in the observed oyster mortalities.
KEY WORDS: oysters, MSX, Haplosporidium nelson, Crassostrea virginia

Appendix #7

Cedar Island Marina Inc.

"THE FAMILY BOATING RESORT"

CLINTON, CONNECTICUT 06413 PHONE (203) 669-8684

November 13, 1987

Timothy C. Visel, Extension Marine Agent
University of Connecticut
Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program
Avery Point Campus
Groton, Connecticut 06340

Dear Tim:

          Enclosed is a three-volume set comprising the final copy of our application for marina expansion.

          We would, of course, welcome the opportunity to discuss the full application materials with you at your convenience. We would also welcome the opportunity to discuss the problems of water circulation and water quality in Clinton Harbor.

          Please do not hesitate contacting us with any of your questions or concerns.

                                                                   Very cordially,

                                                                   CEDAR ISLAND MARINA, INC.
                                                                   Jeffrey Shapiro, President
JS/blk
Enclosure

IMEP 143 Part 1 Winter Flounder And Sapropel

BlueChip