PEARL and the Clean Water Act at MD Power Plant
( continued from page 12) Last year, PEARL began the development of web tools using the data visualization software Tableau ®. These tools allow watermen, state regulators and officials, and the public to access the results of the survey from anywhere with an internet connection. The visualizations are interactive, allowing users to ask and answer their own questions, as well as easily understandable for non-scientists. This year, PEARL is continuing to refine and promote the tools. They were recently showcased at the 43 rd East Coast Commercial Fishermen’ s and Aquaculture Trade Exposition in Ocean City, MD where they generated significant interest from local fishermen. The fishermen also provided valuable feedback to guide the development of the data tools in order to better serve their information needs. See the latest crab survey data tools on the PEARL webpage www. morgan. edu / pearl.
The solid gray line indicates the percentage of the total catch that is 5 inches( legal size) or greater. The solid blue line indicates the percentage of the total catch that is made up of male crabs 5 inches or greater. Labeled percentages are from 2016 data. Dashed lines show overall trends. Note that there has been a general downward trend in both since the survey’ s inception, however, variability is great. Recent years show a moderate upward trend. It remains to be seen if this will continue.
Meet PEARL Scientist Adam Copeland
Adam Copeland is a Senior Research Technician at PEARL. He is primarily responsible for conducting the Dominion George Abbe Blue Crab Survey, which involves fishing for and counting a ton of crabs!
The survey has been ongoing since 1968 and is the only independent crab population survey in the state. He uses specialized software to create data visualization web tools so that watermen, state agencies, and the public can all access and understand the 48 years of data. Adam also manages environmental impact assessments at several MD power plants, mentor summer interns, SCUBA dive for scientific collection, and other field-work-related duties for crab surveying or assisting other scientist at PEARL.
Adam graduated from Northeastern University in Boston, MA with a Bachelors of Science in Biology. My primary research interests are in population ecology and demographics, juvenile recruitment, fisheries management, and community engagement in science.
PEARL and the Clean Water Act at MD Power Plant
This past year, PEARL researchers spent many hours from March through November collecting samples both during the day and at night and in all kinds of weather conditions. The samples that they were collecting were microscopic fish eggs and larvae( also called ichthyoplankton). They were collecting the fish eggs and larvae for a study on the impact of power plant water intakes on the populations of fish eggs and larvae. The studies are required by the Clean Water Act.
The sampling occurred at the NRG Energy owned Dickerson Generating Station( upper Potomac River), the Morgantown Generating Station( lower Potomac River), and the Chalk Point Generating Station( Patuxent River).
PEARL researchers collected fish eggs and larvae samples from the power plant intake or discharge areas using nets deployed by boat. Then samples were sent to another contractor, Environmental Consulting( continue on page 14)
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