On board sampling of the rockfish and lingcod commerical passenger fishing vessel industry in northern and central California, May 1987 to December 1991

Abstract

From May 1987 to June 1990 and from August to December 1991 Fishery Technicians sampled catches on board 690 Commercial Passenger Fishing Vessel (CPFV) trips targeting rockfish and lingcod from the general port areas of Fort Bragg, Bodega Bay, San Francisco, Monterey, and Morro Bay. Data are presented for species composition by port area, year, and month, for catch-per-unit-effort, mean length, and length frequency of lingcod and the 18 most frequently observed rockfish species, and for trends in fishing effort related to fishing time, depth, and distance from port. Total catch estimates are presented based on unadjusted logbook records, logbook records adjusted by sampling data and compliance rates, and effort data from a marine recreational fishing statistics survey. Average catch of kept fish per angler day was 11.8 and average catch of kept fish per angler hour was 3.7. A trend of an increasing frequency of trips to deep (>40 fm) locations was observed in the Bodega Bay, San Francisco, and Monterey areas from 1988 to 1990-91. No trend was evident relative to trip frequency and distance from port. A total of 74 species was observed caught during the study. Rockfishes comprised 88.5% to 97.9% by number of the observed catch by port area. The five most frequently observed species were chilipepper, blue, yellowtail, and widow rockfishes, and bocaccio, with lingcod ranking seventh. In general, mean length and catch-per-angler-hour of sport fishes caught by CPFV anglers varied considerably and did not show steady declines during the study period. However, port-specific areas of major concern were identified for chilipepper, lingcod, and black rockfish, and to a lesser extent brown, canary, vermilion, yelloweye, olive, and widow rockfish. These areas of concern included steadily declining catch rate, steadily declining mean length, and a high percentage of sexually immature fish in the sampled-catch. Recent sampling of the commercial hook-and-line fishery in northern and central California indicated that most species of rockfishes taken by CPFV anglers are also harvested commercially. (261pp.