Piecing together the food web puzzle

A tray at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) holds the remnants of some of the unique organisms found in the stomach contents of fish. Depending on the species, a fish’s diet may include smaller fish like bay anchovy and menhaden, or underwater invertebrates like mysid shrimp, worms and bivalves.

Fisheries in the Chesapeake Bay are an important part of the region’s culture, economy and ecosystem. As key species in the food web, larger fish like striped bass and bluefish rely on “forage”—the smaller fish, shellfish and invertebrates that underwater predators feed on. But despite their importance, uncertainty remains about the species that make up the forage base and how they interact with their environment.

Programs like the Chesapeake Bay Multispecies Monitoring and Assessment Program (ChesMMAP) and the Northeast Area Monitoring and Assessment Program (NEAMAP), which collected the samples above, help scientists understand which forage species predators rely on by looking directly at the source: the fishes’ stomachs.

"The main objectives of the survey are primarily to get a handle on the abundances of all the different fishes and invertebrates that are inhabiting the Bay," said Jim Gartland, an Assistant Research Scientist at VIMS, one of the many organizations who partner to conduct the surveys. With a better understanding of the interactions between predators and forage species, experts can work to better support both predator species and the Bay ecosystem as a whole.

Learn more about forage in the Chesapeake Bay by watching our Bay 101: Fish Food video.