Bottom Fish Tagging
Would you like to volunteer for a free charter boat outing to help catch rock fish for tagging and tracking data?
WDFW had sent out a request to various chapters of PSA along with other prospective volunteer sources to help in their annual research effort to monitor the Washington rockfish population from Westport to Neah Bay as they have been doing since 1981. Rockfish are targeted by local anglers with enough frequency that it is estimated to produce between 10 and 11 million of revenue to the state. Additionally rockfish presence adds value to the people of the State including commercial and Tribal fisheries. Sports fishermen seem to relish the likely prospect of catching fish on their outings and the desirable dining quality of the fish that makes their effort worthwhile. Because of the interest shown by fishermen in catching rockfish, the state attempts to monitor the population health of the fish. Data extracted from the fish tagging is used to compare populations at specific locations annually. Growth rate of fish can be noted and even the possibility of migration by some fish, although most seem to live out their lives without moving too far from where they were born. A few tagged fish from the north coast have recently been recovered as far away as Depot Bay in Oregon. Once a good fishing hole is located, it can be used over and over with good success.
Typically each outing will be eight hours duration from a charter boat, have 8-10 anglers plus 3-4 WDFW personnel, captain and crew. Fishing times will vary as boat travel can vary from under half an hour to over two hours each direction. WDFW has identified 17 areas to monitor annually and they are selected with an eye to the wind and weather. When seas are calm, sites are targeted that are the furthest from the home port. Various trips depart from Westport, LaPush or Neah Bay.
Fishing gear is provided for the anglers and generally includes a flexible rod with level wind reel, six ounce weight and two shrimp flies. At some locations, usually where rock fish are in shallow water, reasonably light spinning rods are equipped with rubber swimmer baits and provide very sporty fishing. Volunteer anglers usually don’t even need to remove fish from their hooks. Crew and WDFW personnel attend to fish removal and help get your line back into the water quickly.
Each fish caught is identified by species, measured for size, checked for coded wire tags, and then released. Fish that are stressed from rapid pressure change and not able to dive below the surface on their own are assisted by attaching them to a weighted device called a Seaqualizer. The fish is then lowered rapidly before the programmed device detects water pressure that should allow the fish’s bladder to regain its accustomed pressure and then releases it. It seems to work on most fish. Fish that don’t make it are kept and later filleted and given to the local food bank. Usually only about 8% of the fish tagged do not survive being caught. During each trip it is likely a few previously tagged fish are noted, but most of the tag data is acquired from getting carcasses from the charter boats, scanning them for tags and their data. Each year roughly x pounds of carcasses are so inspected with information from the tags discovered added to the data bank.
During the 2013 tagging season I was able to participate in 3 volunteer outings with the tagging team. The first outing left from Westport and caught nearly 450 fish. Two trips to LaPush netted roughly 150 and 230 fish respectfully. I had the good fortune to have decent weather during all 3 outings, but occasional spring wind will force cancellation of a trip. Trips are usually scheduled from March x to April x.
Did we have fun- You bet we did. We also had the satisfaction of helping to preserve a valuable fishery.
I can’t wait for my next chance to help out catching lots of fish. Personal totals 56, 27, and 48.
