Provision of Habitat to Temperate Reef Fish by Two Designs of Oyster Aquaculture Cage

Acknowledgements This work was supported by the NOAA Fisheries Northeast Fisheries Science Center and the NOAA Fisheries Office of Aquaculture. Background Shellfish aquaculture gear can support shelter oriented wild fish by providing structurally complex habitat (Ferriss et al. 2021, Theuerkauf et al. 2021). Black sea bass, cunner, scup and tautog at various life stages have been observed grazing on colonizers inhabiting shelf and bag style cages, suggesting that aquaculture gear provides a food source for these species (Mercaldo-Allen 2025, Phillips 2025) Fish abundance on oyster cage farms corresponded closely with season which aligns with common northern temperate oyster farm practices. A better understanding of the interactions of wild fish with shellfish farms can inform fisheries resource management through quantification of the potential benefits provided to fish by aquaculture gear (Mercaldo-Allen 2021, 2025, Farrell et al. 2023, Ambrose and Munroe 2025). Two off bottom designs of eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) aquaculture gear were compared using underwater video census to assess community composition and fish abundance at farms located in Milford, Norwalk and Westport, CT from June to September 2019. Recordings on the shelf and bag design, in Milford only from 2017 to 2022 were also included.