Sardine count on Central Coast: Science, business mix
Money on the line for county fishermen in aerial photo project
By MIKE HORNICK, The Californian
October 2, 2010
Moss Landing-based fisherman Andy Russo is a skipper, not a scientist. But he’d swap a line and net for a test tube and white lab coat if it put more sardines in his next catch.
It just might.
Russo is helping scientists with a project that could help his bottom line.
Since August, the California Wetfish Producers Association, a nonprofit industry group, has been flying aerial photography missions on the Pacific coast from Canada to Mexico, capturing images of massive sardine schools below the water’s surface. Russo and other fishermen take occasional hauls from the schools to establish density and weight.
The fishing purse seiner Eileen approaches schools of sardines, which appear as black masses on this enhanced photo.
Read the rest of the story from the Salinas Californian here.