HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT #4, Fall 2008 FISHERIES

DUE Tuesday, December 2 by 5 pm

Data from the National Marine Fisheries Service have been collected for you on the number of pounds of blue crabs and oysters caught commercially in both Virginia and South Carolina from 1950 until 2007. The data are presented in a spreadsheet format.

(1) Examine the data for each state. Please process the data in some way that helps to demonstrate changes in the commercial catch from 1950 until the present. You may wish to make another table or a figure, but remember to process the data. That means that you should not simply graph the data given, but should group the data or make some calculations based on data, or something like that. You do not have to use all of the data presented, but you should use some data from both states and for both species.

(2) Assume that blue crabs and oysters live in approximately the same areas - the marshes and estuaries along the coasts of both states. Remember that blue crabs are mobile while oysters are stationary. Based on what you know about the changes in human population and water quality along coastlines during the time period presented, discuss some possible reasons for the patterns you observe in the data. Did both states show the same patterns? Did both organisms show the same patterns? If there are differences, why? If no differences, why?

(3) Have we done a good job of managing blue crab and oyster “fishing”? You may wish to read sections from your text for insights on fisheries. What suggestions do you have for these two industries? Would you have the same suggestions for both states?

You will be graded both on your content and on your writing. Use the rubric to guide you.

The following data come from the NOAA Fisheries, Office of Science and Technology, Commercial Fisheries Report.

VIRGINIA			SOUTH CAROLINA
Year	Blue Crabs	Eastern Oysters	Year	Blue Crabs	Eastern Oysters
	millions of lbs	millions of lbs.		millions of lbs	millions of lbs.
1950	46.40	15.55	1950	2.87	1.37
1951	37.58	15.08	1951	2.55	1.93
1952	33.54	18.13	1952	2.61	2.25
1953	32.33	19.51	1953	3.77	2.25
1954	32.47	21.22	1954	2.49	2.56
1955	26.89	21.96	1955	4.64	1.34
1956	25.75	21.22	1956	1.90	2.19
1957	24.88	20.09	1957	3.58	1.85
1958	17.75	25.50	1958	4.84	1.44
1959	21.15	21.36	1959	4.77	1.92
1960	39.27	15.34	1960	7.12	2.63
1961	43.98	17.16	1961	4.67	2.54
1962	53.67	11.80	1962	6.34	2.67
1963	46.14	10.52	1963	8.84	3.83
1964	51.57	14.15	1964	9.44	2.51
1965	50.56	12.57	1965	7.42	2.81
1966	63.73	9.44	1966	5.73	2.62
1967	54.82	9.06	1967	5.25	2.26
1968	44.84	7.81	1968	3.86	2.12
1969	33.64	7.44	1969	8.25	0.96
1970	42.42	8.04	1970	6.95	0.85
1971	47.81	8.44	1971	7.51	1.10
1972	48.55	5.01	1972	7.42	1.12
1973	36.75	4.98	1973	7.95	0.88
1974	40.85	6.74	1974	7.55	1.19
1975	34.82	6.24	1975	6.39	1.04
1976	25.76	6.08	1976	5.74	1.19
1977	37.18	4.99	1977	7.33	1.28
1978	36.05	8.09	1978	9.40	1.54
1979	39.83	8.20	1979	7.73	1.69
1980	37.69	7.85	1980	6.22	1.44
1981	42.04	5.88	1981	3.11	1.47
1982	44.03	5.25	1982	6.31	1.62
1983	46.10	4.19	1983	5.59	1.81
1984	49.46	4.32	1984	4.23	1.66
1985	40.73	4.52	1985	4.45	1.28
1986	37.52	5.78	1986	5.95	0.66
1987	32.05	4.83	1987	5.40	0.43
1988	36.23	2.93	1988	6.87	0.30
1989	43.25	1.97	1989	5.70	0.40
1990	49.01	1.63	1990	5.20	0.23
1991	43.58	1.70	1991	5.49	0.37
1992	23.31	0.73	1992	7.22	0.34
1993	51.40	0.41	1993	6.13	0.36
1994	34.02	0.30	1994	7.14	0.30
1995	30.80	0.40	1995	7.04	0.28
1996	32.52	0.16	1996	5.88	0.26
1997	37.00	0.30	1997	6.15	0.20
1998	32.15	0.22	1998	7.46	0.20
1999	29.34	0.35	1999	6.52	0.25
2000	26.77	0.16	2000	5.67	0.27
2001	22.69	0.21	2001	5.43	0.27
2002	25.17	0.10	2002	4.36	0.26
2003	19.86	0.08	2003	4.33	0.28
2004	26.00	0.04	2004	4.32	0.28
2005	24.98	no data	2005	4.32	0.31
2006	21.82	0.02	2006	4.32	0.29
2007	17.79	0.04	2007	4.07	0.28