WSB OREHP meeting with DFW

[Oolie]

Nothing comes easy and as noted in the article, research data should be considered the primary goal, as it can improve any future effort.

In particular, the knowledge gained could benefit a similar project to revive stocks of more rare species including the closely related totuava.

I wonder if they have considered a project for our black seabass, as it seems to be at even greater risk than whites. On that note maybe promoting the use of fish descenders should be considered as beneficial to fish stocks.

Either way, I'm not in the country, so I won't be able to attend. Kudos to all of you who do.

[YakDout]

Originally Posted by Oolie

Nothing comes easy and as noted in the article, research data should be considered the primary goal, as it can improve any future effort.

In particular, the knowledge gained could benefit a similar project to revive stocks of more rare species including the closely related totuava.

I wonder if they have considered a project for our black seabass, as it seems to be at even greater risk than whites. On that note maybe promoting the use of fish descenders should be considered as beneficial to fish stocks.

Either way, I'm not in the country, so I won't be able to attend. Kudos to all of you who do.

Not sure if BSB are still at risk. Could be. But I catch way more BSB than WSB. Like 10:1 actually.

[WestFork]

A couple points may have been overlooked since Jim/Saba Slayer's original post. First, thanks to Jim for sitting through what may be less than exciting meetings and posting detailed notes on what transpired. That's a service for both WSB and fishermen.
Next, the NPR article sheds light on this important work. It omits details, though, like how WSB survival to reproducing adults has been measured and misrepresents others. It implies that 2 million WSB released is a lot. It would be if they were all going into an impoundment rather than the open ocean. One federal hatchery aims to releases 12 million salmon every year into the Sacramento River drainage. There are a lot of hatcheries between California and Japan bolstering salmon stocks. 2 mm WSB over 20 years may not be enough to see an effect even if there is one.
There's no mention in the article of how genetic diversity, disease resistance, wild characteristics are assured with the WSB egg source. Egg to fry survival in a hatchery should be much better than in the wild. A question about whether the right eggs, over time, are being hatched is not trivial. Hatchery selection of brood stock, btw, always selects away from at least as many desirable (survival) traits as it selects for.
Rearing any fish for release to the wild is NOT like farming fish. Wild traits necessary for survival in the wild are difficult if not impossible to retain in a controlled environment. That's why scientific research may, in the long run, be a more important part of the WSB project than the absolute number of returns in any time period.
Just my opinions. Yours may differ. :-)
Dave

[Oolie]

Originally Posted by YakDout

Not sure if BSB are still at risk. Could be. But I catch way more BSB than WSB. Like 10:1 actually.

Interesting, I've seen a BSB once in person (juvinile in south bay), but I've landed two adult whites and several dozen juveniles.

In my experience the groupers are far less common, but there are a number of factors that have to do with this, time and place being the two most important.

Additionally your experience is an additional reason why I believe that more can be done on the angler's side by promoting the use of descenders.

BSB are much more likely to be encountered in certain fishing styles, so it's not unexpected that some fisherman come into contact with them with great frequency, while others not at all, same for WSB. Each is target-able.

If the accuracy of any gill-netting fish survey is to be accepted as reasonable (difficult to compare due to the mobile nature of one species versus another) then it would seem like BSB are still far more rare. That being said, different fish move through different areas and some seldom move at all, which makes it difficult to gauge stocks. Gaging stocks through personal experience should be approached with caution as well due to the nature of fisherman using a limited set of techniques to target fish.