Contact:

Teri Frady, NOAA
Teri.Frady@noaa.gov
(508) 495-2239

Ellen Mecray, USGS
emecray@usgs.gov
(508) 457-2213

Todd McLeish, URI
tmcleish@uri.edu
(508) 874-7892

MA05.15

September 12, 2005

NMFS Northeast Fisheries Science Center

N         E         W         S

Sea Squirts Are a Nuisance
on Georges Bank

Tunicate colony of Didemnum sp., with a typical lumpy surface, encrusting and cementing pebbles and a razor clam shell that form the seabed. Photo by Dann Blackwood, U.S. Geological Survey.

Woods Hole, MA -- Researchers have just completed a field survey of the invasive sea squirt colony on the Georges Bank, first discovered in 2003. A wider area was searched for the sea squirt this year, and it was mapped over about twice the area observed in 2004. Results show that the species is present in two adjacent areas totaling 88 square miles in U.S. waters near the U.S.-Canada boundary. The very large mat-like colonies observed in 2004 have been replaced by fewer smaller ones. The Georges Bank occurrence is the largest known infestation of colonial sea squirts in a major offshore fishing ground.

For the full release, click here.

For additional photos from the cruise, a chart showing locations mapped during the cruise, and more information the worldwide occurrence of this invasive species, visit the U.S. website on marine nuisance species here.

NOAA Fisheries Service is dedicated to protecting and preserving our nation’s living marine resources and their habitats through scientific research, management and enforcement. NOAA Fisheries Service provides effective stewardship of these resources for the benefit of the nation, supporting coastal communities that depend upon them, and helping to provide safe and healthy seafood to consumers and recreational opportunities for the American public.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, an agency of the U.S. Commerce Department, is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events and providing environmental stewardship of our nation’s coastal and marine resources. Through the emerging Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), NOAA is working with our federal partners and nearly 60 countries to develop a global monitoring network that is as integrated as the planet it observes.

On the Web:
NMFS Northeast Region: http://www.nero.noaa.gov
NOAA Fisheries Service: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov
NOAA: http://www.noaa.gov

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