The Peconic bay scallop, Argopecten irradians irradians, was once an iconic species on Long Island of high economic importance. Between 1985 and 1995, these populations were decimated in response to multiple stressors driven by an increase in eutrophic conditions within the Estuary, which is located on eastern Long Island, where habitats such as this one support several economically important shellfish and finfish fisheries being targeted by recreational and commercial fishermen.
The two most notable drivers of the bay scallop population decline were the loss of eelgrass (Zostera marina) habitats and outbreaks of harmful algal blooms of Aureococcus anophagefferens, also known as Brown tides (Fonseca and Uhrin, 2009; Carrol et al., 2010 and Wall et al., 2013). See more via "About" >>