Fisheries
Striped Bass Survey, Chesapeake Bay, Maryland
Project Scientist
Mr. Bernier collected data on the striped bass (Morone saxatilis) recreational fishing effort and harvest in the Maryland portion of the Chesapeake Bay. The survey design included an intercept survey to collect data to estimate catch per unit effort and a telephone survey to collect data to estimate fishing effort. The survey was designed to collect fishing trip information from randomly-selected Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) license holders. Data was collected weekly for a seven weed duration. Results of the survey were provided to the DNR for consideration in future striped bass management efforts.
Cape Cod Water Resources Restoration Project, Barnstable County, Massachusetts
Project Scientist
Mr. Bernier supported the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) compliance effort for a $30 million project initiated by Natural Resources Conservation Service-Massachusetts and numerous project partners throughout Cape Cod. The project involved over 75 projects which were broken down by restoration type, including salt marsh, shellfish habitat, and fish passage. Mr. Bernier was also responsible for the completion of an Environmental Assessment under NEPA for the rehabilitation of Santuit Pond Dam, a project add-on, which included the rehabilitation of a pre-20th century dam, construction of a new fish ladder, compensatory wetland mitigation of impacted bogs, and a wetland habitat assessment and functional evaluation. Additionally, Mr. Bernier designed and completed an in-field chance encounter survey and suitable breeding habitat survey for the state-protected eastern box turtle (Terrapene carolina).
Byram Lake, Mount Kisco, Westchester County, New York
Project Scientist
Mr. Bernier designed and directed an electrofishing survey to examine the demographics of the lake’s fishery. Data was collected utilizing an electrofishing boat which shocked available habitats around the perimeter of the lake. All species encountered were collected, identified to species level, measured, and released. The results of the electrofishing survey were included in a report which analyzed the results of the survey and provided management recommendations to improve the sport fish fishery of the lake.
Deep Water Wind, New Shoreham, Rhode Island
Project Scientist
Mr. Bernier assisted with the development of the preliminary protocols to document the marine fisheries off the coast of Block Island for the future development of the Deep Water Wind off-shore wind project. He was responsible for ensuring that survey protocols were developed to adequately collect sufficient data and that data would be effectively organized and maintained.
For-Hire Survey, Atlantic Fleet, United States
Project Scientist
Mr. Bernier was responsible for the collection of data on the recreational catch and effort for the for-hire (i.e., charter and party/headboat) fleet of the Atlantic United States. For-hire vessels were sampled weekly from a coast-wide vessel directory to report trip information regarding fishing activity including number of hours fished, number of persons who fished, species targeted, and individuals caught, and individuals kept. Data was provided to the National Marine Fisheries Service for inclusion in future fisheries management efforts.
Large Pelagic Species Survey, Atlantic Fleet, United States
Project Scientist
Mr. Bernier collected data about the recreational fishery directed at large pelagic species such as tunas, billfishes, swordfish, sharks, and other similar sport fishes in the offshore waters from Maine through Virginia. The survey included two complementary surveys, the Large Pelagics Intercept Survey (LPIS) and the Large Pelagics Telephone Survey (LPTS), both of which collected data on the effort and average catch per trip which yielded the estimates necessary to estimate total catch by individual species. The LPIS collected data in the field utilizing dockside surveys of fishing access sites to collect data from private and charterboat captains who had just completed fishing trips. The LPTS collected data used to estimate the total number of boat trips on which anglers fished with rod and reel or handline for large pelagic species. The LPTS effort included interviewing the captains of both charter/headboats and commercial fishing vessels fishing for highly migratory species.