May 31, 2015 Cowlitz Bay 16:30 Beach Seine
At 4: 30 it was cloudy, around 65º F (18 º C), with maybe a 5 mph wind. The shallow water temperature was 13.6º C (55º F)
The only locals who showed up were Gretchen and Julie, and later Laurie. The rest of the people came from KWIAHT on Lopez, plus the boat dude Mitch from Deer Harbor. We did one seine, which caught a sufficiency of chinook. We were done by around 8:00, including, this time, the plankton tow for a piggyback study. I asked why the plankton tow was not done near where the fish were caught. We know from our Baseline Plankton Study that nearby areas almost never have the same suite of plankton, so a tow made nearby but not exactly on the spot would be unlikely to shed light on the relationship between juvenile salmon and available prey. Answer? "That's the protocol." Now you know.
A few years ago I got a Panasonic Lumix camera, small enough to fit into my pocket, with 20X zoom and good-enough picture quality. I take it on beach walks and abuse it roundly. Lately it hasn't wanted to open or close the lens cover fully. I think this problem may have something to do with the sand I regularly, if inadvertently, sprinkle on it. Sorry.
The only locals who showed up were Gretchen and Julie, and later Laurie. The rest of the people came from KWIAHT on Lopez, plus the boat dude Mitch from Deer Harbor. We did one seine, which caught a sufficiency of chinook. We were done by around 8:00, including, this time, the plankton tow for a piggyback study. I asked why the plankton tow was not done near where the fish were caught. We know from our Baseline Plankton Study that nearby areas almost never have the same suite of plankton, so a tow made nearby but not exactly on the spot would be unlikely to shed light on the relationship between juvenile salmon and available prey. Answer? "That's the protocol." Now you know.
A few years ago I got a Panasonic Lumix camera, small enough to fit into my pocket, with 20X zoom and good-enough picture quality. I take it on beach walks and abuse it roundly. Lately it hasn't wanted to open or close the lens cover fully. I think this problem may have something to do with the sand I regularly, if inadvertently, sprinkle on it. Sorry.
The most remarkable thing about the seine results this evening was the number of gooseberry jellies and another kind I haven't noticed before, solid-feeling crystal jellies.
Here is the count, recorded by Gretchen:
1 Anchovy
1 Starry Flounder
6 Penpoint Gunnels, including some honkin' big ones
3 Saddleback Gunnels
1 Herring
4 Striped Perch
4 Bay Pipefish: 2 female, 1 male, visibly "pregnant" with eggs, and 1 indeterminate
106 Chum Salmon
88 Chinook Salmon
11 Pink Salmon
14 Staghorn Sculpins
1 English Sole
52 Crystal Jellies
144 Gooseberry Jellies
Madrona later found a modest little sandfish, which I don't remember showing up before today.
May 17, 2015 (Norwegian Constitution Day!) Cowlitz Bay 16:30 Beach Seine
At 4:30 it was sunny, around 60-65º F, with no wind. At 7:00 the water temperature was 13ºC.
This is the first beach seine of the season. Russel and Madrona from KWIAHT on Lopez Island came over in a boat piloted by Mitch from Deer Harbor. The setup was pretty much like in previous years. We saw little fish jumping right where we were going to set the net, and sure enough, caught a bunch of chum, plus other fish.
This is the first beach seine of the season. Russel and Madrona from KWIAHT on Lopez Island came over in a boat piloted by Mitch from Deer Harbor. The setup was pretty much like in previous years. We saw little fish jumping right where we were going to set the net, and sure enough, caught a bunch of chum, plus other fish.
Gretchen W took notes as people netted fish out of the seine net, identified them, and tossed them back into the bay. Here is the count. All fish that are listed actually exist, plus there were doubtless some that didn't get recorded. Remember that most of these are juvenile fish. The adults tend not to live in shallow water, or get caught. Also, the fish we catch tend to be larger near the end of summer than they are now.
2 Starry Flounders
22 gunnel spp
2 Saddleback Gunnels
36 Shiner Perch
17 Striped Perch
3,216 Chum Salmon
50 Chinook Salmon, ranging in size from about 65 mm to 142 mm
1 Great Sculpin
1 Silverspot Sculpin
12 Staghorn Sculpin
1 isopod
4 Helmet Crabs
2 Kelp Crabs
1 Rock Crab
2 Coonstripe Shrimp
2 Starry Flounders
22 gunnel spp
2 Saddleback Gunnels
36 Shiner Perch
17 Striped Perch
3,216 Chum Salmon
50 Chinook Salmon, ranging in size from about 65 mm to 142 mm
1 Great Sculpin
1 Silverspot Sculpin
12 Staghorn Sculpin
1 isopod
4 Helmet Crabs
2 Kelp Crabs
1 Rock Crab
2 Coonstripe Shrimp
Once the fish were identified and released, we had about 50 Chinook salmon in the holding pen. Since Chinook are an endangered species, special care is taken with them. We are listed on two separate permits. I have ALREADY forgotten which government organizations the permits are issued from, but I did get that one of the permits specifies that we can harass the fish. We are allowed about 600 Chinook this summer, and we expect about a 1% mortality rate, or less. In contrast, more "professional" organizations expect about a 5% mortality rate. We're pretty proud of our low kill rate!
This is not an accident. Madrona is the official Fish Wrangler. She checks on them in the holding tank and when they are being processed, making sure that they are not in distress and Taking Steps if they are. The holding pen is anchored away from shore (which is why Madrona is usually soaking wet) where the water is cooler, which is what Chinook like. She collects about 20 at a time for processing and they go into an insulated bucket with a bubbler.
Here is where the "harass" part comes in. Either Julia or Laurie collects one fish at a time from the aerated bucket and puts them into an anesthesia bath. Once they slow down, we measure them. Russel clips a tail fin (it grows back) to get DNA for stream-of-origin identification. Julia or Laurie squirts water into their stomach until they vomit out what they've recently eaten (this session, it was mostly larval fish such as gunnels and even a larval flounder). We put them into a recovery bath, where Madrona monitors them closely, pulling them backwards through the water to oxygenate their gills if they don't seem to be swimming vigorously. In the mean time, Russel dabs an index card on our palms to collect the few scales that have rubbed off, which go to NOAA and their age and growth study. We would like to point out, pointedly, that we do not need to scrape the fish to gather any of their scales.
Next, a highly trained team springs into action, using small clean paintbrushes to collect the stomach contents, pack them into numbered vials, and top off the vials with ethanol. These will be examined later on, and the various half-digested items carefully identified and listed. At some nebulous point in the future, this might be made unnecessary because we might then be able to do isotope studies on the fish to work out what they must have eaten to make that composition of chemicals in their bodies. Now, however, we have to look inside their tummies.
This is not an accident. Madrona is the official Fish Wrangler. She checks on them in the holding tank and when they are being processed, making sure that they are not in distress and Taking Steps if they are. The holding pen is anchored away from shore (which is why Madrona is usually soaking wet) where the water is cooler, which is what Chinook like. She collects about 20 at a time for processing and they go into an insulated bucket with a bubbler.
Here is where the "harass" part comes in. Either Julia or Laurie collects one fish at a time from the aerated bucket and puts them into an anesthesia bath. Once they slow down, we measure them. Russel clips a tail fin (it grows back) to get DNA for stream-of-origin identification. Julia or Laurie squirts water into their stomach until they vomit out what they've recently eaten (this session, it was mostly larval fish such as gunnels and even a larval flounder). We put them into a recovery bath, where Madrona monitors them closely, pulling them backwards through the water to oxygenate their gills if they don't seem to be swimming vigorously. In the mean time, Russel dabs an index card on our palms to collect the few scales that have rubbed off, which go to NOAA and their age and growth study. We would like to point out, pointedly, that we do not need to scrape the fish to gather any of their scales.
Next, a highly trained team springs into action, using small clean paintbrushes to collect the stomach contents, pack them into numbered vials, and top off the vials with ethanol. These will be examined later on, and the various half-digested items carefully identified and listed. At some nebulous point in the future, this might be made unnecessary because we might then be able to do isotope studies on the fish to work out what they must have eaten to make that composition of chemicals in their bodies. Now, however, we have to look inside their tummies.