California Collaborative Fisheries Research Project:
Surveys of Nearshore Fishes in and near Central California
Marine Protected Areas
Principal Investigator(s)
Richard Starr (California Sea Grant)
Dean Wendt (California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo)
Start Date 2007-07-01
Funding --
Overview
California's Central Coast Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) took effect Sept. 21, 2007. From Pigeon Point (San Mateo County) south to Point Conception (Santa Barbara County), the series of 29 marine protected areas represent approximately 204 square miles (or approximately 18 percent) of state waters (intertidal to 3 nautical miles offshore) in the Central Coast Study Region. The 29 sites include:
15 State Marine Conservation Areas (SMCA), which limits recreational and commercial fishing;
13 State Marine Reserves (SMR), also called "no-take" areas; a total of 85-square miles;
1 State Marine Recreational Managed Area (SMRMA); Morro Bay State Marine Recreational Management Area, where recreational fishing is limited or restricted.
This new network effectively launches the Marine Life Protection Act Program, which was designed to better conserve marine resources for their long-term sustainable use while also enhancing outdoor recreation and ocean research opportunities along the coast.
We worked with the fishing communities of Half Moon Bay, Monterey Bay, Morro Bay, and Port San Luis, California to develop monitoring protocols for the use of hook and line fishing gear, and to collect baseline information for three Marine Protected Areas that were established in September 2007. We completed a total of 34 fishing trips in the Fall of 2007 in the Año Nuevo, Point Lobos, and Point Buchon State Marine Reserves, and in corresponding reference sites. Within these areas, we used a stratified random sampling design to determine sampling locations. At each location, experienced volunteer anglers fished with standardized gear for a specified amount of time. We worked with a total of five Commercial Passenger Fishing Vessels (CPFV) and 174 volunteer anglers, and caught a total of 7,928 fishes, comprised of 27 species. Caught fishes were identified, measured, tagged with external T-bar anchor tags, and released at location of capture.
Summary to Date
In the Spring of 2007, we conducted workshops with fisheries scientists and the fishing communities of Half Moon Bay, Monterey Bay, Morro Bay, and Port San Luis, California to develop protocols for monitoring MPAs (Marine Protected Areas) using hook and line fishing gear. Our goal was to develop protocols for collaborative fishing research that could be used to monitor MPAs and also provide valuable information for fisheries management. In the Summer and Fall of 2007, we implemented the protocols developed at those meetings with scientists and fishermen to collect information about species composition, catch rates, and length-frequency of nearshore fishes in the Año Nuevo, Point Lobos, and Point Buchon State Marine Reserves (SMR), and corresponding reference sites.
A key component of our project is that it was conducted collaboratively, incorporating fishermen knowledge and expertise in the development and application of the study protocols. In addition, non-governmental organizations, resource managers, and academic scientists were involved in the development of this study and in the evaluation of the sampling design.
Note: In the Summer and Fall of 2008, this hook and line fishing survey was replicated. An additional 48 survey days were completed in the Año Nuevo, Point Lobos, Piedras Blancas, and Point Buchon State Marine Reserves (SMR), and corresponding reference sites. In addition, 44 days were spent on the water, using commercial fish traps to survey the Año Nuevo, Point Lobos, Piedras Blancas, and Cambria Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). These projects were conducted in order to collect additional baseline and monitoring information for central California MPAs as part of the CA Collaborative Fisheries Research Program created by Drs. Rick Starr and Dean Wendt.
Monitoring Trends
Catch information:
During the course of this study, 27 different species of fishes from 10 genera were caught. The majority (97%) of the caught fishes were rockfishes, from the Genus Sebastes. For all areas combined, blue rockfish were the most frequently caught (38% of the total catch), followed by gopher rockfish (27%), black rockfish (11%), and olive rockfish (10%). The Shannon diversity index (H) value was 1.80 for all areas and sites combined and for the individual sites values ranged from 1.35 to 1.82.
In Año Nuevo, 19 species of fish were caught, the majority being black rockfish (43%), blue rockfish (33%), and gopher rockfish (11%).
In Point Lobos, 20 species of fish were caught. Blue rockfish (48%), gopher rockfish (19%), and olive rockfish (17%) dominated catches from this area.
In Point Buchon, 21 species of fish were caught, primarily gopher rockfish (48%) and blue rockfish (24%).
Length Analyses:
Total lengths (measured to the nearest cm) of caught fishes ranged from 8 – 87 cm. Of the ten most frequently caught species (those species that were greater than or equal to 1.5% of the total catch in any area), mean lengths of six species were significantly different (p<0.05) among areas. Mean lengths of the fishes in Point Lobos (all sites combined) were larger than both of the other areas, with the exception of gopher rockfish, which were largest in Año Nuevo. Average lengths of these species also showed variation between the MPA and reference sites.
A two-sample t-test indicated that mean lengths of black, blue, and yellowtail rockfish at Año Nuevo were significantly larger (p < 0.001) in the MPA than in the reference site, and vermilion rockfish were significantly larger (p < 0.05) in the reference site.
A two-sample t-test indicated that mean lengths of black, copper, kelp, and vermilion rockfish at Point Lobos were significantly larger (p < 0.05) in the MPA than in the reference site, as were blue and china rockfish (p < 0.001).
A two-sample t-test indicated that mean lengths of lingcod and vermilion rockfish at Point Buchon were significantly (p < 0.05) larger in the MPA than in the reference site; olive rockfish also were significantly (p < 0.001) larger in the reference site.
Catch Rates:
Catch rates are reported as the average catch per angler hour and were calculated by dividing the total number of fishes caught by the total number of angler hours fished in a grid cell in a day. Catch rates varied among areas and sites. The highest catch per angler hour was in the Point Lobos MPA (19.2 total fish per angler hour) and the lowest was in the Año Nuevo MPA (4.3 total fish per angler hour). Within each site, catch rates also varied by species. The highest overall catch per angler hour values were for black, blue, gopher, and olive rockfishes.
Comparisons with Other Data:
We compared catches from the trips completed in Año Nuevo to CPFV (Commercial Passenger Fishing Vessel) landings on the same day from the same general area. The catches were similar in species composition and abundance, indicating that our survey is representative of what is being caught by other recreational anglers. Likewise, for Point Buchon, catch rates, sizes, and species composition were similar to that reported by Stephens et al. (2006) in their analysis of catch on CPFVs for the south central coast from 1988-2006.
For several species, we compared average fish lengths from this study to historic average lengths of fishes caught near our study areas. These values were obtained by compiling unpublished California Department of Fish and Game onboard central California CPFV observer data from 1987 to 1998 (Data courtesy of Deborah Wilson-Vandenberg). For most species that were evaluated, the average lengths from this study fell within the range of historic values.
Discussion
The California Resources Agency and California Department of Fish and Game have partnered with the Resources Legacy Fund Foundation in an initiative to achieve the goals of the 1999 Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA). The MLPA directs the state to design and manage a network of marine protected areas in order to, among other things, protect marine life and habitats, marine ecosystems, and marine natural heritage, as well as improve recreational, educational and study opportunities provided by marine ecosystems. Scientists, resource managers, experts, stakeholders and members of the public all play important roles in guiding the outcomes of this public-private partnership. Marine protected areas include state marine reserves, state marine parks and state marine conservation areas.
Implementation of the act will occur in five study regions, in the following order:
Central Coast (Pigeon Point to Point Conception)
North Central Coast (Alder Creek near Point Arena to Pigeon Point)
South Coast (Point Conception to the California/Mexico border)
North Coast (California/Oregon border to Alder Creek near Point Arena)
San Francisco Bay (waters within San Francisco Bay, from the Golden Gate Bridge northeast to Carquinez Bridge)
The central coast study region planning process was completed when the California Fish and Game Commission adopted 29 central coast marine managed areas in April 2007, which was followed with formal implementation in September 2007.
Study Parameters Click here to view the parameters measured in this study.
Study Methods Click here to view the methods and materials used in this study.
Images and Documents Figure 1. Average total lengths (cm, with standard error bars) for the ten most frequently caught species by site (Marine Protected Area (MPA) and Reference (REF)) in a) Año Nuevo (AN), b) Point Lobos (PL), and c) Point Buchon (PB). Significant differences between sites were determined using a two-sample t-test. Significance is indicated with asterisks (*).
Figure 2. A brown rockfish (Sebastes auriculatus), recently caught by a volunteer angler. The captain and deckhand of the boat are also pictured.
Figure 3. Moss Landing Marine Lab Researcher Noëlle Yochum tagging a lingcod (Ophiodon elongatus) prior to releasing it back into the ocean.
Figure 4. Volunteer anglers fish, while Moss Landing Marine Lab Researcher Kristin Hunter-Thomson tags and releases fishes.
Figure 5. A tagged vermilion rockfish (Sebastes miniatus) on the measuring board.
Figure 6. The F/V Huli Cat, one of the Commercial Passenger Fishing Vessels (CPFVs) on which the surveys were
conducted.
Figure 7. A tagged black rockfish (Sebastes melanops) just before being released back into the water.
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