Phil Dionne, Beach spawning, forage fish monitoring

• WCC • Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium • USGS • DNR • DFW Marine Fish Unit • Point No Point Treaty Council • Suquamish Tribe • Friday Harbor Labs • NW Straits Commission • County MRCs • Nisqually Nature Center • Squaxin Island Tribe • NOAA • FOSJ • Audubon Society • Lummi Tribe • Evergreen College • PSEMP • And many more…

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What are Forage Fish?

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Surf Smelt are Forage Fish

Surf Smelt spawn on the beach

Surf Smelt spawn throughout Puget Sound

Winter spawning

peak

Summer spawning

peak

Study Inspiration

Study Questions

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?

1.) Can we mark Surf Smelt

without killing them?

- Holding Trial

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Tag Selection

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?

• Selected Visible

Implant Elastomer

(VIE) tags

• Low cost

• Minimally invasive

• Easy to use

• Non-toxic

Visible Implant Elastomer (VIE) Tag


Holding Trial

Captured smelt with beach seine

119 marked smelt held for 3 weeks

Results:

Tag Retention: 100%

Survival: 92%

Study Questions

+

?



- Holding Trial

2.) Can we mark and

recapture Surf Smelt in the

wild? - Field Trial


You are here

Capture Sites

1 2

Field Trial

Field Trial

Step 1: Catch Smelt

4 Tag locations

Field Trial

Step 2: Tag with site & date specific marks

Step 3: Record biological data

Field Trial

Field Trial

Step 4: Release marked smelt

Field Trial

Step 5: Repeat monthly 1.

2.

3.

4.

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

Tagg

ed

Sm

elt

at

Larg

e

Unknown

Female

MaleAverage Male to Female Ratio 4:1

Results: Tagged Smelt at Large

Smelt Tagged

Total: 9,997

Results: Recaptures

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

Nu

mb

er

of

Sme

lt R

eca

ptu

red

Months After Tagging

Female

Male

Study Questions

+

?



- Holding Trial

2.) Can we mark and

recapture Surf Smelt in the

wild? - Field Trial

3.)What can we learn about

their movements and biology

using these methods?


What did we learn?

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

Nu

mb

er

of

Sme

lt R

eca

ptu

red

Months After Tagging

Female

Male

Ø

What we learned

Surf Smelt are hardy enough to mark with VIE tags

Adult Surf Smelt retain VIE tags up to 9 months

Individual Surf Smelt will spawn multiple times on multiple beaches in the same region

Differential spawning frequency may explain the male biased sex ratios observed

What’s next?:

What happened to the other 9,927 smelt?

If they left the region, where did they go?

If they stay in the region, should we manage them regionally?

Can we enhance smelt creel surveys by combining with tagging efforts?

Can we learn more about other Puget Sound species using similar methods?

January

February March

April

August 17, 2015

More Questions!

Questions?

Phil Dionne, Beach spawning, forage fish monitoring

Environment

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