"View from the Water" Blog

Update on the activities of the IEP Trammel Net Survey and the Fall Midwater Trawl

IEP Trammel Net Survey

The Trammel Net Survey caught a 181 cm (~6 ft) White Sturgeon in Suisun Bay on October 4. According to the Von Bertalanffy growth curves for White Sturgeon in the Sacramento/San Joaquin, Columbia, and Fraser river basins (L.R. Hidebrand et al., 2016), this fish is more than 25 years old, making its birth year in the late 1990s.

Back in September (Sep. 21), the survey caught 25 white sturgeon, tagging 19 with $150 angler reward tags and recapturing 2 fish from 2020 and 2021.

IEP Fall Midwater Trawl

For the Fall Midwater Trawl, they were out in San Francisco estuary on October 4. They caught 1,705 Plainfin Midshipman at station 307 in San Pablo Bay. This singing toadfish (a native of the bay) keeps residents of Richardson's Bay up all night during the breeding season. The fish makes a loud hum to attract mates.

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The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) Sturgeon Tagging Team were out in San Pablo Bay on September 14, 2022. Good News! The Sturgeon Trammel Net study is seeing live sturgeon in San Pablo Bay again. They did not see as many as they would hope, but it seems at least some fish avoided the August-September Harmful Algal Bloom in the San Francisco Bay.

Also, the CDFW Sturgeon crew were showcased in an upcoming episode of the Angler West TV show. Checkout a short clip from the upcoming episode called "CA Delta Sturgeon (Plus Trammel Netting with the CDFW) (Video)" to hear more from Dylan Stompe and James Hobbs on the CDFW Sturgeon Tagging efforts.

Fall Midwater Trawl - 2022 Survey Year

The Fall Midwater Trawl is out on San Pablo Bay today conducting day 1 of the 2022 Survey Year.

First tow resulted in lots of lively Northern Anchovy. This is a good sign as the San Francisco Bay is (hopefully) recovering from a pretty significant fish kill.

Figure: CDFW staff working up the catch from the first trawl of the Fall Midwater Trawl 2022 Survey Year. CDFW photo - Click on image to enlarge.

On Wednesday, August 9, the CDFW Trammel Net Survey was back in San Pablo Bay.

They caught 2 more Green Sturgeon. One received an acoustic tag for tracking. They also caught 4 White Sturgeon and 59 Bat Rays.

CDFW staff Kevin Juranek holding a sturgeon (first image); a second sturgeon gets ready to receive an acoustic tag (second image). CDFW photos. Click on images to enlarge.

On August 11, they caught 2 more Green Sturgeon and a Thornback Ray. So far this season, they've caught 7 Green Sturgeon, three of which received acoustic tags.

CDFW staff Bradyn O'Connor holding a Thornback ray. CDFW photos. Click on image to enlarge.

Are you curious to know how many Green and White Sturgeon have been caught so far this season? Check out a new Sturgeon Tagging app that allows you to plot simple catch information.

Happy Monday IEP Community! 

The CDFW Enhanced Sturgeon Life Cycle Monitoring Program is back out in San Pablo Bay today (08/08/2022) conducting their trammel net survey.

This morning they caught several sportfish in the Bay - a nice Bat Ray, Broadnose Sevengill Shark, and a Starry Flounder. These are all native sport fishes to the San Francisco Estuary.

  
CDFW staff Dylan Stompe holding Bat Ray (first image), a Broadnose Sevengill Shark (second image), and Starry Flounder (third image). CDFW photos.

Later in the day, the team was on a roll and captured two Green Sturgeon bringing their total to three for the season so far. One of the fish was outfitted with an acoustic tag that will allow the program to follow it for the next year or two.

  
CDFW environmental scientist and sturgeon expert, Marc Beccio, placing an acoustic tag in one sturgeon (first image) and showing off the second green sturgeon (second image) from the day's catch. CDFW photos.

Look at what the IEP Project Element #5 - The Enhanced Sturgeon Life Cycle Monitoring Program caught in their net on Wednesday!

IEP's trammel net survey was on the water in San Pablo Bay August 3, 2022 and caught the first sturgeon of the season - a juvenile green!

California Department of Fish and Wildlife Environmental Scientist, Dylan Stompe, holding a juvenile green sturgeon caught in San Pablo Bay. CDFW photo.

During the survey, a leopard shark was also captured.

California Department of Fish and Wildlife Environmental Scientist, Dylan Stompe, holding a leopard shark captured in San Pablo Bay. CDFW photo.