Sardine Research Update – Northern California Report

Weather continued to play a confounding role in Northern California, but we managed to find enough reasonably clear days to complete one full set of 66 aerial transects coast-wide, from Cape Flattery WA south past Catalina Island in S.CA,. and nearly finished set #2 by the last weekend in August.

Three planes participated, with pilots flying at 4,000 feet altitude along predetermined straight line transects from shore out 35 miles. Transects were spaced at 15 mile intervals along the coast. Cameras mounted in the planes continuously photographed a swath of ocean approximately one mile wide along each transect path. Photo analysts will later examine the thousands of photos to identify sardine schools.

Three (replicates) is the charm that will help lower the coefficient of variation fraction applied to the estimate of biomass derived from photo analysis. Remember, last year’s survey completed only 41 of the scheduled 52 transects — with only one replicate.

This year, our target is 66 transects times 3 replicates. We’re nearly two-thirds of the way done with two weeks remaining. Finishing the third replicate should be doable.

The next challenge is landing acceptable point sets, and we’re making steady headway on that front as well.

In Monterey, while planes have been able to conduct aerial transects in the north, the combo of fish location (all piled up on the beach) and persistent marine layer offshore have precluded starting point sets in Monterey — until now.

Anthony and Andy Russo, Frank Aliotti, and now Neil Guglielmo, one of our southern research boats, who ventured up to Monterey, are standing at the ready to help initiate point sets in the northern region. One of our northern pilots, Geno Zandona, spotted fish at Soquel Hole, which means sardines may now be returning to the bay, as the abundance typically increases in September.

We’re hopeful the fish schools will spread out so we can conduct point sets in a broad area, as recommended by scientists.

Doyle Hanan advised the boats to prepare to go fishing on Tuesday, Aug. 31. Geno prepared to set the boats while the second pilot, and Allen Hewitt flies the twin engine Seminole to Crescent City to begin the third set of transects.

Although fog did not lift sufficiently in the Bay to fish on Aug. 31, we’re expecting a fair weather break for the next several days, and we should be able to make “hay” while the sun shines. Keep your fingers crossed!

This research project is likely to go down to the wire. We have until September 14 to wrap up the summer project. Then we’ll jump-start planning for our fall pilot project in Southern California, where we’ll evaluate three different techniques for measuring fish, all deployed at a time when sardines are abundant in California.
•  Daylight vs. night time photography
•  LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging): an optical remote sensing technology that measures properties of scattered light to find range and/or other information of a distant target, which can “see” 50 meters underwater
•  Hydroacoustics: utilizing SONAR technology, hydroacoustics is most commonly used for detection, assessment, and monitoring of underwater physical and biological characteristics

Sardine study assisted by local scientists, pilots, fishermen

Comprehensive count will help determine fishing season

By TODD GUILD, Watsonville Register-Pajaronian
Aug. 24, 2010

In an effort to give scientists and the fishing industry a comprehensive picture of sardine populations along the West Coast, two fishing boats from Moss Landing and one small plane from Watsonville are taking part in a large-scale study of the small fish that once powered the Monterey Bay’s economy.

Since July, a team of scientists has been plying the waters along the West Coast to study the sardine schools, a project intended to give researchers a better picture of the populations of sardines and allow the fisheries industry to better regulate sardine fishing seasons.

The sardine season, which is loosely scheduled from January through August but is largely determined by tonnage caught, has closed for the year, however. The West Coast sardine survey will include fishermen with special permits and spotter planes that will fly and photograph transects at 15-mile intervals from Cape Flattery in Washington to San Diego.

The study was launched when government reports of sharply-declining populations over the past three years contrasted with sardine harvesters’ reports of huge schools.

According to Dr. Doyle Hanan, a retired senior marine biologist from the California Department of Fish and Game who is heading up the California portion of the study, the sardine fishery is considered one of the more sustainable ones. Few other species are accidentally caught and the population of sardines is so high that there is little chance of overfishing, he said.

Still, the study, which is estimated to cost more than $5 million and is funded by the California Wetfish Producers Association and the Pacific Fisheries Management Council, is an important one that will give scientists and the sardine industry the most detailed picture to date of the populations extending from Canada to Southern California, Hanan said.

“We want to ensure that we know how many fish are out there, and that we’re harvesting them at a sustainable level,” Hanan said.

During the study, a fleet of small planes mounted with high-resolution cameras will fly over the ocean along the length of the West Coast and as far out as 76 miles to look for telltale signs of large schools of sardines.

Researchers will then estimate the total surface areas of the schools, then boats to take samples of the fish, which will be measured and weighed.

Allen Hewett of Aptos is the pilot helping with the Central Coast portion of the study. As he flies 4,000 feet above the water, he said he looks for signs of the sardines, such as huge flocks of birds and pods of whales feasting on the little fish.

“When you see 80 tons of sardines from the air, it’s something to see,” he said.

The two boats participating in the study have been given special permission to catch and sell the sardines, but profits from the sales will help fund the study, Hanan said.

Another team of boats and planes are helping with the Southern California study, while an additional team works the area north of the Oregon border.

“The scientific goal of our groundbreaking project is to photo-document and measure the schools of sardines extending the length of the Pacific coast, and ultimately to understand their migration patterns to ensure sustainability,” said Diane Pleschner-Steele, executive director of CWPA. “This aerial survey will dramatically increase our knowledge of the Pacific Coast sardine population and could also improve future fishing opportunities, which have suffered greatly in recent years.”

Results will be compiled and presented at a sardine stock assessment review panel in September and may be used to help determine the estimated abundance of the Pacific sardine resource and help fisheries management officials determine the 2011 harvest guideline.

Sardine Research Update

Boats, planes and our stalwart research team have been standing at the ready since the close of the directed fishery in July, waiting for Mother Nature to cooperate. And so far the weather gods have been less then helpful in the Northwest and Northern California down to Point Conception.

But the southland has seen clear skies, and we’ve taken advantage of that, as Jeff Luboff and Devin Reed – our southern pilot team – have spotted fish, set boats and photographed 10 successful point sets so far with our southern Experimental Fishing Permit (EFP) vessels: Nick Jurlin on the FV Eileen, Robert Terzoli on the FV Maria T, and Neil Guglielmo on the FV Trionfo.

Schools ranged from five to about 45 tons and represented a nice range of sizes and maturities as well, for a total of nearly 200 mt sardines captured of the approximately 1,050 mt allocated to the Southern CA survey area.

Good job guys!

Grateful thanks also to our southern research team — including Dr. Doyle Hanan, field coordinator for the entire CA project, his son Zach who is overseeing southern operations and the San Pedro markets processing the fish, Tri-Marine and State Fish Co. and their sampling crews.

Monterey EFP vessels King Philip, Sea Wave and El Dorado and their captains, Anthony and Andy Russo and Frank Aliotti, as well as Monterey Fish Company – which will process the northern CA fish – are standing by patiently, waiting for the high sign to conduct point sets. We’re hoping and praying for a weather break soon!

We’ve learned that the coast cleared in the Northwest and pilots resumed transects in WA and OR on Thursday Aug. 18. Our pilot Geno Zandona also completed about 4.5 transects in far Northern CA. And if even part of the northern coast clears, our pilots will continue transects on down the coast over the weekend.

Additionally, we can continue this research project right up to September 15 – the beginning of the fall directed fishery – which allows another three full weeks plus a few days. The weather is typically better and fish are more abundant in Monterey in September; so we still have hope!!

We’ll be filing weekly updates on this blog, along with video and photos to illustrate the action.

Please stay tuned.