David Rudders

Summary
I'm an Assistant Research Professor in the Department of Fisheries Science where I also serve as Associate Director of the Marine Advisory Program. As Associate Director, I provide leadership for a portfolio of extension activities that include marine education, coastal communities, aquaculture, and fisheries. My work focuses on applied fisheries research in systems from the near coastal to the outer continental shelf with a specific interest in the sea scallop fishery of the Northwest Atlantic Ocean. For a complete list of projects, grants, and publications, please download my full CV.

Education
Ph.D. College of William and Mary, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, Fisheries Science (2010)
M.S.  College of William and Mary, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, Fisheries Science (1999)
B.S.  University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Zoology (1994)

Program Website
VIMS Sea Scallop Research 

Current Projects

• Fishery Independent Resource Surveys     
• Commercial Sea Scallop Dredge Modifications
• Sea Scallop Dredge Efficiency
• Sea Scallop Growth, Yield, and Reproduction
• Disease Presence and Prevalence
• Incidental and Discard Scallop Mortality

Selected Publications

B.N. Anderson, Weissman, A.M., Mandleman, J.M., Rudders, D.B., and Sulikowski, J.A. 2020. The effects of scallop dredge fishing practices on the physical, behavioral, and physiological stress in discarded yellowtail, windowpane, and fourspot flounder. Marine and Coastal Fisheries.

D.R. Hart, Munroe, D.M., Caracappa, J.C., Haidvogel, D., Shank, B.V., Rudders D.B., Klink, J.M., Hofmann, E.E., and Powell, E.N.  2020. Spillover of Sea Scallops from rotational closures in the mid-Atlantic Bight (USA). ICES Journal of Marine Science. ICES Journal of Marine Science 77:5 1992-2002. 

Borsetti, S.B., D. Munroe, D.B. Rudders, and J-H. Chang.  2020. Timing of the reproductive cycle of waved whelk, Buccinum undatum, on the U.S. Mid-Atlantic Bight. Helgoland Marine Research. 74:5.

N. Anderson, A. M. Weissman, B. Sweezey, J. Mandelman², D. B. Rudders, J. A. Sulikowski.2020. Bycatch in a commercial lobster fishery – impacts on two benthic predators, Sea Raven and Longhorn Sculpin. 2020. Marine and Coastal Fisheries. 12:2. 

Roman, S.A. and D.B. Rudders.  2019.  Selectivity of Two Commercial Dredges Fished in the Northwest Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery.  Journal of Shellfish Research 38(3): 573-580.   

A.M. Weissman, J.W. Mandleman, D.B. Rudders and J.A. Sulikowski.  2018. The effect of handling and capture stress in Lophius americanus in the scallop dredge fishery with observations of delayed mortality. Conservation Physiology. 6(1). 

R.J. Knotek^, D. B. Rudders, J.W. Mandelman, H. P. Benoît and J. A. Sulikowski.  2018.  The survival of rajids discarded in the New England scallop dredge fisheries.  Fisheries Research, 198:50-62.

Borsetti, Munroe, D., Bochenek, E, Rudders D.B. and Dobson, C. 2018. Spatial variation in life history characteristics of waved whelk (Buccinum undatum L.) on the U.S. Mid-Atlantic continental shelf. Fisheries Research, 198 129-137.

A. Sulikowski^, Hugues P. Benoît, Connor W. Capizzano, Ryan J. Knotek, JohnW., Mandelman, Ted Platz, D. B. Rudders. 2018. Evaluating the condition and discard mortality of winter skate, Leucoraja ocellata, following capture and handling in the sink gillnet fishery. Fisheries Research 198, 159-164.

D.M. Ferraro, A.C. Trembanis, D.C. Miller and D.B. Rudders.  2017.  Estimates of Sea Scallop (Placopecten magellanicus) Incidental Mortality from Photographic Multiple Before-After Control-Impact Surveys.  Journal of Shellfish Research, 36(3), 615-626.

R.J. Fisher and D.B. Rudders. 2017. Population and reproductive biology of the channeled whelk, Busycotypus canaliculatus, in the US Mid-Atlantic.  Journal of Shellfish Research, 36(2), 427-444. 

Winton, C. Huntsberger, D. Rudders, G. DeCelles, K. Thompson, K. Goetting, and R. Smolowitz. 2017. Spatiotemporal patterns of flatfish bycatch in two scallop access areas on Georges Bank. J. Northw. Atl. Fish. Sci., 49: 23–37.

Rudders, D. B., and Ward, J. M. 2015. Own-price elasticity of open access supply as a long-run measure of fish stock abundance. Marine Policy, 53, 215-226.

R.J. Knotek, Gill, S. M., Rudders, D. B., Mandelman, J. W., Benoît, H. P., & Sulikowski, J. A. 2015. The development of a low cost refrigerated flow-through seawater system for at-sea estimation of post-release mortality. Fisheries Research, 170, 152-157.

Benoit, H.P., C.W. Capizzano, R.J. Knotek, D.B. Rudders, J.A. Sulikowski, M.J. Dean, B. Hoffman, D.R. Zemeckis and J.W. Mandleman.  2015. A generalized model for longitudinal short- and long-term mortality data for commercial fishery discards and recreational fishery catch-and-release.  ICES Journal of Marine Science: Journal du Conseil, fsv039.

Coutré, T. Gedamke, D. B. Rudders, W. B. Driggers III, D. M. Koester and J. A. Sulikowski. 2013. Indication of density-dependent changes in growth and maturity of the Barndoor Skate on Georges Bank. Marine and Coastal Fisheries: Dynamics, Management, and Ecosystem Science. 5:1, 260-269.

Rudders, D.B, W.D. DuPaul and J.E. Kirkley. 2000. A comparison of size selectivity and relative efficiency of sea scallop trawls and dredges. Journal of Shellfish Research 19(2) 757‐764.