Tag Archives: seine

Juvenile Salmon Use of Nearshore Habitats in San Juan County

Tina Wyllie-Echeverria

Collaboration with Eric Beamer and Kurt Fresh (tows), and many students/volunteers

1950-2006, about 50 sites around the San Juans have been sampled and have found juvenile salmon.  Of 656km of SJI shoreline, 430km is rocky beach.  Tow nets (164 tows at 37 sites, monthly from Apr-Sep) caught juveniles of 5 species and 785k fish overall; 657 beach seins at 27 sites caught juveniles of 5 species and~100k fish overall.

% of catch (seine, tow): sculpins (29%,0%); smelt, sand lance, herring (17%, 98%); salmon (16%, 0%?); surf perch (16%, 0%); gadids (7%, <1%); hexagrammids (lingcod, kelp greenling 2%, <1%).

Chinook mostly present apr-sept (mostly august), about 2 months later than in Skagit estuary.  Juvenile salmon  are common Mar-Sept and were present year-round in all environments at all sites.

Along west side, catch was ~10x higher near Eagle Point than near Henry Island, but Rosario side was generally dominant (especially herring).

North Kitsap Nearshore Fish

Paul Dorn, Preliminary Results of Beach Seine Sampling in 2007 and 2008.

Unmarked coho dominated our seines, particularly in may/june.  Coho size about 120-140cm, larger if from hatchery.  Lots of juvenile chum in apr/may/june (many more in 2007 than in 2008, probably due to Dec 07 floods).  2008 pink salmon (may/june) show this is part of the pink highway for fish leaving Puget Sound.  Shiner perch in 07, 08.

Large vessel wakes are like winter storm events during the summer on the calmest of days.