June 25, 2010
Russel and Madrona arrived at Cowlitz with a zillion interns. It was 13:30, W wind at 15 knots, the water temperature 8º C at 18" deep, the air temperature 14ºC, the sky 60% clear. Bill Cook took notes. If you double click on an image, it should enlarge.
Net set at 16:25
As before, David took the net out to the end of the dock and waited 5 minutes, then motored around to close it. There were lots of fish! Bill sat on the beach while interns counted fish and Julie ran back and forth between them relaying numbers. Some fish may have gone uncounted, but we're sure of what we have:
Greenling, White-spotted: 6
Gunnel, spp: 1
Gunnel, Crescent, 8
Gunnel, Saddleback: 2
Herring: 22
Perch spp: 58
Perch, Shiner: 16
Perch, Striped: 23
Rockfish, spp: 37
Rockfish, Copper: 5
Pink Salmon: 4751
Chinook Salmon: 233
Coho Salmon: 3
Snakeback Stickleback, 1
Striped shrimp, helmet crabs, moon jellies, ctenophores.
Greenling, White-spotted: 6
Gunnel, spp: 1
Gunnel, Crescent, 8
Gunnel, Saddleback: 2
Herring: 22
Perch spp: 58
Perch, Shiner: 16
Perch, Striped: 23
Rockfish, spp: 37
Rockfish, Copper: 5
Pink Salmon: 4751
Chinook Salmon: 233
Coho Salmon: 3
Snakeback Stickleback, 1
Striped shrimp, helmet crabs, moon jellies, ctenophores.
Salmon Lavage
We measured and lavaged 50 Chinook and 6 other salmon. 23 had parasitic lice, 3 were hatchery fish, 1 had bite marks on it. After that, we lavaged about 10 salmonids and separated out the stomach contents into type (mostly sand lance and small shrimpy things) so that isotope studies could be run on them. Once all possible prey items are done, it should be possible to take a tissue sample and tell what a fish has been eating from its isotopic composition. Sample chinook lengths, in millimeters, were:
113, 88, 107, 118, 77, 115, 74, 101, 103, 98, 107, 97, 102, 100, 104, 118, 83, 72, 50, 97, 115, 125, 104, 107, 105, 114, etc.
113, 88, 107, 118, 77, 115, 74, 101, 103, 98, 107, 97, 102, 100, 104, 118, 83, 72, 50, 97, 115, 125, 104, 107, 105, 114, etc.
Herring DNA
Glen R. and others collected fin samples from the herring for DNA studies. It should be possible to tell where they came from. They ranged in size from 100 to 120 mm.