@article{rudershausen_schmidt_merrell_runde_buckel_2023, title={Effectiveness of Venting and Recompression for Increasing Postrelease Survival of Barotraumatized Black Sea Bass across a Range of Depths}, volume={43}, ISSN={0275-5947 1548-8675}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/nafm.10864}, DOI={10.1002/nafm.10864}, abstractNote={AbstractThe effectiveness of venting and recompression for increasing postrelease survival for fish that experience barotrauma has rarely been tested across a range of depths. We conducted a field tag–recapture experiment to test how well venting and recompression each increased postrelease survival of Black Sea Bass Centropristis striata relative to untreated controls at three different depth ranges on the U.S. South Atlantic continental shelf: 24–26, 29–32, and 35–38 m. Venting and recompression were applied by researchers alongside untreated controls at all three depths, and venting by anglers who were inexperienced with this technique was an additional treatment at the intermediate depth. Tests of independence were used to evaluate the association between treatment type (venting versus controls) and postrelease submergence at each depth. Cox proportional hazards models were fit to the tag–recapture data that were collected at each depth to determine whether the experimental treatment influenced postrelease survival. Postrelease submergence was significantly higher in vented fish at the intermediate and deep depths but not at the shallow depth. The hazards rates were not significant for venting and recompression at the shallow and intermediate depths but were at the deepest depth, demonstrating that these techniques practiced at >35 m increased postrelease survival relative to untreated controls. Mean increases in absolute survival at the 35–38 m depth were calculated to be 6.8% and 8.1% relative to controls when using venting and recompression, respectively. The results further suggest that anglers who are unfamiliar with venting do not reduce postrelease survival compared with venting by experienced personnel. These results provide guidance to fishery managers who are tasked with seeking methods to reduce catch‐and‐release mortality for an important reef species. Taken together, the findings from submergence success and survival models suggest that both venting and recompression should be encouraged to increase the postrelease survival of Black Sea Bass that are caught from depths >29 m.}, number={1}, journal={North American Journal of Fisheries Management}, publisher={Wiley}, author={Rudershausen, Paul J. and Schmidt, Hailey M. and Merrell, Jeffery H. and Runde, Brendan J. and Buckel, Jeffrey A.}, year={2023}, month={Feb}, pages={257–267} }
 @article{rudershausen_poland_merrell_pelletier_mikles_buckel_2021, title={Estimating discard mortality using meta-analysis and fishery-dependent sampling}, volume={240}, ISSN={0165-7836}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.fishres.2021.105962}, DOI={10.1016/j.fishres.2021.105962}, abstractNote={Estimates of discard mortality are difficult to obtain. Meta-analysis or life-history-based approaches to estimate discard mortality could provide informed estimates when direct empirical estimates are not available. We used data from published literature across a variety of fish species to determine if hooking condition (good vs. poor) and species-specific values for the Brody growth coefficient (K: a measure of fish physiology) were meaningful factors influencing discard mortality in hook and line fisheries. We then examined whether a two-step approach, combining condition- and physiology-specific estimates of discard mortality with data on proportion-by-hooking-condition hooking information for a fishery, could result in an estimate of discard mortality for dolphinfish Coryphaena hippurus comparable to an empirical estimate. A model with hooking condition, K and their interaction best fitted the published discard mortality data. K was an important negative covariate of discard mortality for good hooking condition, with higher K species experiencing greater rates of survival. In contrast, species in poor condition had similarly low rates of survival across a range of K values. Results suggests that hooking condition is the dominant source of mortality when fish are hooked in vital areas but that physiology should also be taken into account when estimating discard mortality for good condition fish. For the recreational dolphinfish fishery in the southeastern US, we estimated a median proportional discard mortality rate of 0.12 (95 % credible set: 0.07, 0.17) when combining the meta-analysis and field-collected proportion-by-condition data. This estimate was lower than the empirical estimate of dolphinfish discard mortality but the credible sets overlapped (median: 0.25; 95 % credible set: 0.05, 0.39). Estimates of discard mortality from our meta-analytic approach may be applicable to fisheries where empirical estimates of discard mortality are not available and hooking injuries are the dominant source of mortality.}, journal={Fisheries Research}, publisher={Elsevier BV}, author={Rudershausen, P.J. and Poland, S.J. and Merrell, J.H. and Pelletier, C.B. and Mikles, C.S. and Buckel, J.A.}, year={2021}, month={Aug}, pages={105962} }
 @article{rudershausen_merrell_buckel_2021, title={Factors Influencing Colonization and Survival of Juvenile Blue Crabs Callinectes sapidus in Southeastern U.S. Tidal Creeks}, volume={13}, ISSN={1424-2818}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/d13100491}, DOI={10.3390/d13100491}, abstractNote={Tidal creeks along the southeastern U.S. and Gulf of Mexico coastlines provide nursery habitats for commercially and ecologically important nekton, including juvenile blue crabs Callinectes sapidus, a valuable and heavily landed seafood species. Instream and watershed urbanization may influence the habitat value that tidal creeks provide to blue crabs. We investigated natural and anthropogenic factors influencing juvenile blue crab occupancy dynamics in eight first-order tidal creeks in coastal North Carolina (USA). An auto-logistic hierarchical multi-season (dynamic) occupancy model with separate ecological and observation sub-models was fitted to juvenile blue crab presence/absence data collected over replicate sampling visits in multiple seasons at three fixed trapping sites in each creek. Colonization and survival are the processes operating on occupancy that are estimated with this formulation of the model. Covariates considered in the ecological sub-model included watershed imperviousness, the percent of salt marsh in each creek’s high tide area, percent salt marsh edge, site-level water depth, and site-level salinity. Temperature, salinity, and dissolved oxygen were covariates considered in the observation sub-model. In the ecological sub-model, watershed imperviousness was a meaningful negative covariate and site-level salinity was a positive covariate of survival probability. Imperviousness and salinity were each marginally meaningful on colonization probability. Water temperature was a positive covariate of detection probability in the observation sub-model. Mean estimated detection probability across all sites and seasons of the study was 0.186. The results suggest that development in tidal creek watersheds will impact occupancy dynamics of juvenile blue crabs. This places an emphasis on minimizing losses of natural land cover classes in tidal creek watersheds to reduce the negative impacts to populations of this important species. Future research should explore the relationship between imperviousness and salinity fluctuations in tidal creeks to better understand how changing land cover influences water chemistry and ultimately the demographics of juvenile blue crabs.}, number={10}, journal={Diversity}, publisher={MDPI AG}, author={Rudershausen, Paul J. and Merrell, Jeffery H. and Buckel, Jeffrey A.}, year={2021}, month={Oct}, pages={491} }
 @article{rudershausen_m. lee_lombardo_merrell_buckel_2019, title={Survival and Habitat of Yellow‐Phase American Eels in North Carolina Tidal Creeks}, volume={148}, ISSN={0002-8487 1548-8659}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/tafs.10190}, DOI={10.1002/tafs.10190}, abstractNote={AbstractWe estimated rates of survival as well as effects of habitat on catch rates of juvenile yellow‐phase American Eels Anguilla rostrata in southeastern U.S. tidal creeks. We trapped and marked eels with PIT tags at 24 fixed sites in eight North Carolina tidal creeks and then recaptured and resighted the tagged individuals to estimate apparent survival. Separate Cormack–Jolly–Seber (CJS) models were fitted to mark–recapture data (eight creeks) versus mark–resight data (four creeks) to estimate apparent survival. Median annual apparent survival (Φ) was higher when the CJS model was fitted to mark–resight data (Φ = 0.15) than to mark–recapture data (Φ = 0.013). Negative binomially distributed models were fitted to catch rates of both tagged and untagged eels to test for habitat, development, and seasonal effects. The presence/absence of culverts and season were meaningful covariates of catch rates; greater catches were found at sites possessing culverts and during the spring. Other habitat and development factors at the site, creek, and watershed levels were not important covariates of catch rates. Partitioning the sources of loss of yellow‐phase American Eels from these systems into mortality versus emigration would be useful future research in the southeastern U.S. coastal region. Further study into how culverts affect yellow‐phase American Eel habitation and movement in southeastern U.S. estuaries is also warranted.}, number={5}, journal={Transactions of the American Fisheries Society}, publisher={Wiley}, author={Rudershausen, Paul J. and M. Lee, Laura and Lombardo, Steven M. and Merrell, Jeffery H. and Buckel, Jeffrey A.}, year={2019}, month={Aug}, pages={978–990} }
 @article{rudershausen_merrell_buckel_2018, title={Fragmentation of habitat affects communities and movement of nekton in salt marsh tidal creeks}, volume={586}, ISSN={["1616-1599"]}, DOI={10.3354/meps12385}, abstractNote={Supplement. Code modified from Kéry (2010) for fitting random-intercept binomially distributed generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs) (logit links) via Bayesian inference to data on movement of adult Fundulus heteroclitus past road and reference crossings in North Carolina tidal creeks. GLMMs were run through R software by calling JAGS software. Similar code was used for additional models fitted to other combinations of covariates (see Table 3).}, journal={MARINE ECOLOGY PROGRESS SERIES}, author={Rudershausen, Paul J. and Merrell, Jeffery H. and Buckel, Jeffrey A.}, year={2018}, month={Jan}, pages={57–72} }