Shelter‐oriented temperate reef fish species are known to utilize oyster aquaculture cages as habitat. To determine whether differences in the structural design of cages affects fish association with aquaculture gear, underwater video census was used to compare fish abundance, and community composition on two off‐bottom cage designs (shelf and bag vs. stacked tray) for aquaculture of eastern oysters ( Crassostrea virginica ) at farms located in Milford, Norwalk, and Westport, Connecticut (CT) on seven occasions between June and September 2019. Recording on shelf and bag cages was also conducted intermittently at Milford only from 2017 to 2022. Black sea bass, cunner, scup, and tautog were observed throughout all study periods, at all locations, and on both cage designs. During 2019, abundance of black sea bass, tautog, and total fish abundance varied across farms. There were no statistically significant differences in individual species abundance or in overall fish community composition between cage designs. The shelf and bag cages provided a greater volume of accessible interior space to fish with more epifaunal growth on surfaces as compared to stacked tray cages. Seasonally, fish abundance was highest from July to September, declined in November, remained low through winter, and increased in late April. While the maximum abundance of the most common fish varied among years, these species were consistently present during all study years. Our results suggest that shelf and bag and stacked tray cages provided equivalent habitats for temperate reef fish, and that oyster farms in Long Island Sound consistently provided habitat to these species from late spring through fall over 6 years of observations.
Mercaldo‐Allen et al. (Thu,) studied this question.