Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Vims Visualization Tool topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
VMRC staff: Baywide harvest stable near long-term average; VIMS tool to make survey data public
Summary
VMRC staff presented preliminary 2025 harvest data showing public harvest near 250,000 bushels (long-term average) and previewed an interactive oyster visualization tool developed with VIMS to display survey results and buried-shell inventories.
VMRC staff told the Shellfish Management Advisory Committee that preliminary fall 2025 survey data and harvest reports show public harvests near the long-term average of roughly 250,000 bushels. "This year's public harvest was down from our historic high ... right down to that approximately 250,000 bushels," Andrew said while reviewing a packet of survey results and time-series charts.
Staff explained that the replenishment and management plan is informed by an annual PATENTON/VIMS survey (about 1,600 stations) and that a new oyster visualization/GIS tool—developed in collaboration with VIMS and led by Ellen Rowe—will make reef-level time series and buried-shell layers available to managers and the public. Roger Mann of VIMS described the tool as a way to "take a data pool that has over 2,500,000, nearly 3,000,000 data points in it and turn it into a GIS tool" and urged SMAC members to test the interface so staff can refine it for management and marketing uses.
The tool will, staff said, allow the committee to view survey history for individual reefs and layer buried-shell inventory and cost-return analyses to inform extraction and planting decisions. Staff committed to provide access and to solicit committee feedback ahead of the Commission presentation.
