Our Impact

Shedding light on seafood borne bacteria

A water bacterium called Shewanella can infect fish, shellfish, and humans. The more destructive strains can be resistant to antibiotics, making infections difficult to treat. Never heard of it? That’s because Shewanella isn’t officially tracked by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, so many infections fly under the radar.

Tahirah Johnson is a recent Ph.D. graduate and NOAA Living Marine Resources Cooperate Science Center (LMRCSC) fellow at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. Under the mentorship of Dr. Salina Parveen, Johnson centered her graduate research around Shewanella, examining its prevalence, its antibiotic resistance, and how to control its spread.

“Understanding the abundance of a flesh-eating bacteria is very important,” Johnson said. Notably, some of her research showed 16% of oyster isolates and 19% of seawater isolates were resistant to one or more antibiotics.

Johnson’s work, funded by the NOAA LMRCSC, put a loudspeaker on the need for continued surveillance of antimicrobial resistance in marine ecosystems and the development of mitigation strategies to address antibiotic-resistant Shewanella species.

Protecting commercial seafood availability

Kayland Huckaby is a fourth year Ph.D. student at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) and a NOAA LMRCSC fellow. She studies the diets of four different fish species: Atlantic croaker, Pinfish, rough scad, and inshore lizardfish. To do this, Huckaby hops on a research vessel and collects samples throughout the Gulf, from off the coast of Texas to Florida.

Specifically, Huckaby looks at what these fish eat, and the effect environmental change has on their diets. Rising water temperatures, lower oxygen levels, and oil spills will change the food that’s available. If the fish’s diet changes or if the fish moves out of the affected area, it can change the entire region’s food web. Worst case scenario: The fish will die off, leading to changes in abundance.

Huckaby’s findings will help scientists better understand how to respond to changes in the Gulf in order to protect the seafood humans count on eating.

Her data is fed into scientific models that help determine catch limits and opening and closing dates for fishing season. Accurate and up-to-date data allow scientists and policymakers to work with commercial fishers to balance the economic needs of the fishing industry with protecting the fish populations so those industries can continue to thrive well into the future.