State law provides for the initiation of a fishery for 

Pacific sardines, Sardinops sagax caeruleus, when the spawning biomass of sardines reaches 20,000 short tons. Data from ichthyoplankton surveys, sea survey cruises, the mackerel fishery sampling program, and the live-bait fishery monitoring program are discussed with regard to an increase in population size. It appears that the spawning biomass of the northern stock of Pacific sardines remains below 20,000 tons. Legislation passed in 1983 which affects the incidental take and commercial use of sardines is also discussed.  (9pp.

Klingbeil, Richard A.

Wolf, Patricia

English

Aquatic Commons

S t a t e  of Gal-ifornia 
The Resources Agency 
DEPARTMXNT OF FISH AND GAME 
STATUS OF THE SPAWNING BIOMASS 
OF THE PACIFIC SARDINE, 1983-84 
by 
Richard A. K l ingbe i l  
and 
P a t r i c i a  Wolf 
MARINE RESOURCES 
Adminis t ra t ive  Report No. 84-1 
1984 
STATUS OF THE SPAWNING BIOMASS 1 /OF THE PACIFIC SARDINE, 1983-84 - 
2 / Richard A. Kl ingbe i l  - 
and 
2 / P a t r i c i a  Wolf - 
ABSTRACT 
S t a t e  l a w  provides  f o r  t h e  i n i t i a t i o n  of a f i s h e r y  f o r  P a c i f i c  
s a rd ines ,  Sar&nops sagm caeruZeus, when t h e  spawning biomass 
of s a r d i n e s  reaches 20,000 s h o r t  tons .  Data from ichthyoplank- 
ton  surveys,  s e a  survey c r u i s e s ,  t he  mackerel f i s h e r y  sampling 
program, and t h e  l i v e - b a i t  f i s h e r y  monitoring program a r e  d i s -  
cussed wi th  regard  t o  an  inc rease  i n  popula t ion  s i z e .  It ap- 
pea r s  t h a t  t h e  spawning biomass of the  no r the rn  s t o c k  of P a c i f i c  
. s a r d i n e s  remains below 20,000 tons .  L e g i s l a t i o n  passed i n  1983 
which a f f e c t s  t he  i n c i d e n t a l  t ake  and commercial u s e  of s a r d i n e s  
is a l s o  discussed.  
11 Marine Resources Administrat ive Report No. 84-1. 
- 
21  Marine Resources Region, 245 West Broadway, S u i t e  350, 
- 
Long Beach, C a l i f o r n i a  90802. 
RECOMMENDATIONS 
As of January, 1984, the  spawning biomass of the northern stock of 
Pacif ic  sardines, Surdinopo s a g a  caemZeus remains below the 20,000 short  
tons required by law before a directed harvest may be in i t i a t ed .  The Depart- 
ment recommends tha t  current r e s t r i c t i ons  concerning marketing and incidental  
catches be continued and that no directed f ishing f o r  sardines be i n i t i a t e d  
during 1984. 
INTRODUCTION 
This is the 10th in a series of reports  concerning the s t a t u s  of the 
sardine spawning biomass. It is s imilar  t o  previous repor t s  i n  t h a t  no 
attempt is made t o  estimate the spawning biomass of Pac i f ic  sardines. Rather, 
several independent sources of information which r e f l e c t  on the abundance of 
sardines in 1983 r e l a t i ve  t o  t he i r  abundance i n  previous years a r e  discussed. 
ICHTHYOPLANKTON DATA 
Klingbeil (1982) reported t h a t  the 1981 California Cooperative Oceanic 
Fisheries Investigations (CalCOFI) egg and l a r v a l  survey showed a moderate in- 
crease in number and geographic range of posi t ive  s ta t ions  f o r  Pac i f ic  sardine 
eggs and indicated the best  spawn since 1964 i n  the southern California bight. 
It has a l so  been suggested (Klingbeil 1983) tha t  i f  survival  from the 1981 
spawn was good, a moderate increase i n  the s i z e  of the spawning portion of the 
sardine resource might be expected t o  occur during 1983-84, when these f i s h  
produced i n  1981 become mature, As  yet ,  no egg and l a r v a l  da ta  a r e  avai lable  t o  
confirm any increase i n  production tha t  might have resulted from such circumstances. 
The next CalCOFI survey, scheduled t o  take place i n  1984, w i l l  provide addit ional 
information on the abundance of eggs and larvae and could be correla ted with 
h i s to r i ca l  spawning biomass estimates (MacCall 1979; Murphy 1966), i f  necessary, 
- 2 -  
SEA SURVEY CRUISES 
Each f a l l  the Department conducts nearshore midwater-trawl surveys off  
California and Mexico t o  assess  recruitment of Pac i f ic  sardine; northern 
anchovy, Engrmr Zis morrkcc; Paci f ic  mackerel, Scunber japonicus; and jack 
mackerel, Tmchurus syraetricus. During the 1976, 1977, and 1979 cruises ,  Pacif ic  
sardines occurred in 2.8, 2.5, and 2.3% of the trawls, respectively,  However, 
t h i s  represented only e ight  f i s h  taken i n  7 of 283 trawls over 3 yr.  During 
comparable surveys in 1980 and 1981, no sardines were observed i n  282 trawls. 
Over the l a s t  2 yr, the number of sardines occurring i n  the f a l l  young-fish 
surveys has increased considerably. I n  the 1982 survey, which was conducted 
en t i re ly  off  California i n  nearshore and offshore waters, 145 Pac i f ic  sardines 
w e r e  captured i n  14 of 352 or  9% of the  trawls. Young-of-the-year sardines 
(those less than 125 nm SL' { 5  in.) f o r  the purpose of t h i s  report)  were observed I 
i n  9 of I32 o r  5% of the trawls, Although t h i s  catch r a t e  was unprecedented 
in 20 y r  of our m i d w a t e r  trawl operations, sardines were by f a r  the most poorly 
represented of the four species surveyed. 
During the 1983 f a l l  survey, which was conducted in  nearshore waters off 
California and Mexico, 1,600 sardines were captured i n  37 of 133 o r  28% of the 
t r a w l s .  This represents a subs tan t ia l  increase over previous years i n  both 
number of f i s h  and ntrmber of t r a w l s  i n  which sardines were captured. Young-of- 
the-year f i s h  ( less  than 5 in. i n  length) occurred i n  25 of 133 o r  19% of the 
trawls, and comprised the majority of the catch by number. During an addi t ional  
survey conducted offshore i n  southern California waters i n  November of 1983, 230 
sardines ranging in size from 40 t o  233 TUUI SL (1.5 t o  9.2 in.) w e r e  captured i n  
9 of 99 o r  9% of the trawls. One catch of small sardines 40 t o  70 m SL (1.5 
t o  2.8 in.) made at Santa Catallna Island indicated a f a l l  spawning, According 
t o  Ahlstrom (1967), sardine l a r v a l  abundance i n  the 1950's t h a t  occurred during the 
second half  of the year was r e s t r i c t ed  to  waters off Baja California and 
represented spawning of a southern population. A f a l l  spawning might 
indicate the presence of a southern population of sardines t h a t  had moved 
lK9ra .  
MACKEREL FISHERY 
During 1983, an estimated 388 tons of sardines were landed with Pac i f ic  
andlack, mackerel (Table 1). This represents a three-fold and twelve-fold increase 
over t he  incidental  catches of sardines i n  1982 and 1981, respectively.  I n  dock- 
stde interviews, fishermen described increasing occurrences of sardines mixed with 
mackerel; several instances of dumping pure schools of sardines o r  schools with a 
Ugh percentage of sardines  have been reported, but a r e  unverified. Sardines 
observed by Department personnel i n  mackerel landings during a l l  months of 
the gear, and landings of 10 tons o r  more occurred i n  a l l  but 3 months of the 
gear, The frequency of occurrence of observed mackerel landings which contained 
- * 
sardines climbed to  30% i n  1983, almost double t ha t  of 1982. Length frequencies 
af -led sardines showed a f a i r l y  d i s t i n c t  biomodal dis t r ibut ion.  The smaller 
arorte, rangfng between 115 and 145 mm SL (4.5 and 5.7 in.) represents f i s h  landed 
dmhg July only, and nos t  l i k e l y  is 1982 year-class f i s h  ( f i s h  produced from 
spaaa~iags in 1982). The l a rger  mode, ranging from 160 t o  250 mm SL (6.3 t o  9.8 in.) ,  
rep~e5ents fish 2 y r  o l d  and older. 
LIVE BAIT FISHERY 
Infomat ion  f rom the l ive-bait  monitoring program has been used a s  a 
m i v e  indicat ion of abundance of sardines since 1975. Fishermen voluntar i ly  
s d w d t   monthly logs to the Department on which they indicate  the occurrence by 
day of inc idea ta l  spedes,  including sardines, The percent occurrence by day 
be used to assess the ava i l ab i l i t y  of sardines r e l a t i ve  t o  previous years. 
?n San Diego, sardines  occurred i n  l i v e  ba i t  ha& on approximately 3% of the 
daps f ished i n  1979, This jumped t o  48% i n  1980, 31% i n  1981, and 48% i n  
1982. In 1983, however, sardines  w e r e  reported only i n  trace amounts during 
- 4 - 
Apri l ,  June, and July,  and on 84% of the days in  August. A t  o ther  por ts ,  
catches were wideppread i n  t race  amounts i n  1978, but ra re ly  reported i n  1979. 
During the  next 2 y r  sardines were reported a t  increasing but low levels :  
,-. .they occurred i n  the catch on l e s s  than 2% of the days fished i n  1980, and less 
than 10% of the days i n  1981. I n  1982, however, Dana Point and Newport Beach 
live b a i t  fishermen reported sardines on 24% and 41% of the days fished, 
respectively. I n  1983, Dana Point fishermen logged sardines on 59% of the days 
fished, but  did  not  report  from January through May. No 1983 logs  a r e  available 
from Hewport Beach. Althaugh the percent occurrence by day of sardines from 
live b a i t  logs  did not increase s ign i f ican t ly  from 1982 (24%) to  1983 (27%), 
reparts of "firecracker" (juvenile) sardines i n  l i v e  b a i t  catches were frequent. 
LEGISLATION 
As a r e s u l t  of concern about the  increased ava i l ab i l i t y  and incidental  take 
of sardines,  two pieces of l eg i s l a t i on  were enacted i n  1983. Assembly B i l l  394, 
passed i n  April and enacted a s  urgency leg is la t ion ,  requires  the Department t o  
m i t o r  the inc identa l  catch of sardines and allows the percentage of sardines 
wtiich may be taken incidental ly  t o  be increased o r  decreased i n  accordance with 
a specified fonnula. This is an attempt t o  lessen the impact of a presumed 
recovery of the sardine population on other f i sher ies .  
The second b i l l ,  AB 457, goes i n to  e f f ec t  i n  January, 1984 for 1 yr.  It 
a l l o w s  the f i rs t  250 tons per year of incidental ly  landed sardines t o  be used 
for any purpose, not  just f o r  canning and reduction as required by previous 
regulatioms. After the f i r s t  250 tons a r e  landed, the allowable uses of in- 
cidentally taken sardines a re  r e s t r i c t ed  to  canning, reduction and l i v e  b a i t  
for the remainder of the calendar year. This b i l l  allows f resh  f i s h  dealers  
without camxery or  reduction f a c i l i t i e s  t o  u t i l i z e  incidental  catches of sardines 
during a portion of the year, It a lso  eliminates the need fo r  market fisher- 
men t o  dump loads containing sardines for  a portion of theyear, and legal izes  
the use of incidentally caught sardines a s  l i v e  bai t .  
DISGUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS 
All sources of information pertaining t o  the re la t ive  abundance of Pacific 
sardines continue t o  indicate a moderate increase i n  the biomass has occurred. 
The 1981 CalCOFI egg and l a rva l  survey suggested a small increase i n  spawning 
biomass tha t  year, and the 11981 y r  c l a s s  produced by tha t  spawn primarily 
accounted f o r  increases i n  occurrences of sardines i n  1982 (Klingbeil 1983). 
Most 1981 yr c la s s  sardines should become mature by 1984 and, therefore, should 
be fu l ly  recruited t o  the spawning biomass i n  1984. However, it is unlikely that  
'this addition w i l l  increase the spawning biomass above 20,000 tons. The 1982 
yr c lass  of sardines has been sampled only scant i ly  dqring the l a s t  year and 
is presumed t o  be very weak, The 1983 yr c lass  f i s h  seen t h i s  year w i l l  only 
reach 1 y r  of age i n  1984, Since sardines h is tor ica l ly  mature at  2 yr  of age 
(Ahlstrom 1960), it is unlikely t h i s  year c lass  w i l l  contribute to  the spawning 
biomass before 1985. 
While signs of an k r e a s e d  biomass of sardines a re  evident, we continue 
t o  believe tha t  the spawning biomass is l e s s  than 20,000 tons. A f u l l  recovery 
of the Pacif ic  sardine population w i l l  require tha t  the current catch res t r ic -  
tions, including tolerance leve ls  f o r  incidental  catches and some marketing 
restr ic t ions,  continue to be s t r i c t l y  observed while the resource remains a t  
low biomass levels. 
1960, Synopsis on the biology of the Pacif ic  sardine 
(Sard5mps caeruZea), Proc. World Sci,  Meeting on the Biology of 
Sardfnes and Related Species, 35: 246-254. 
. 1967. Co-occurrences of sardine and anchovy larvae i n  the Cali- 
fornia Current Region off W o r n i a  and Baja California. Calif. 
Coop, Oceanic Fish. Invest-  Rep- 11: 117-135. 
Klingbeil, a3shard A, 1982. Status of the spawning biomass of the Pacif ic  
sardine, 1981-82, Mi£. Dept, Fish and Game, Mar. Resour. Admin. 
Rep. 82-1: 1-5. 
, 1983. Status of the spawdng b h n a s s  of the Pacif ic  sardine, 
1982-83. Calif ,  Dept. Fish and Game, Mar. Resour, Admin. Rep. 83-1: 
1-5, 
MacCall, Alec D, 1979. Population estimates for  the waning years of the 
Pacif ic  sardine fishery, 194545, Calif. Coop, Oceanic Fish, Invest. 
Rep. 20: 72-82, 
firptrj, Garth I. 1966, Population biology of the Pacif ic  sardine 
(S&?wps caeruha), froc,  Calif. Acad, Sci, 34(1): 1-84. 
TABLE 1. Estimated Species Composition by Weight (Short Tons) of Cal i fornia  "Mackerel" Landings, 1983 y* 
Tota l  Proportion of tonnage 
tonnage sampled f o r  3 / Estimated landings - 
Month landed species  composition - Jack mackerel Pac i f i c  mackerel Pac i f i c  sardines 
January 2702.0. 
February 995.4. 
March 543.8. 0.60 376.3 166.0 1.5 
Apri l  7821.3. 0.58 4988.4 2713.9 119.0 
May 9178.2. 0.61 4816.3 4259.4 102.5 
June 7406.3 0.71 2228.1 5153.3 24.9 
Ju ly  5714.8. 0.54 2564.8 3150.0 5 / t r a c e  - 
August 6614.0 0.55 1184.5 5408.5 21.0 
September 4565.2 0.62 455.7 4077.3 32.2 
October 5778.9 0.60 173.9 5604.1 0.9 
4 / November - 2964.1 0.62 771,6 2152.8 39.7 
4 / December - 2258.9 0.79 1115.9 1138.6 4.4 
4 / Totals  - 56 542.9 20.272.1 35 882.4 388.4 
1/ Includes landings a t  Terminal Is land,  San Pedro, Port  Hueneme, and Monterey. 
- 
2/ The majority of sampling consisted of taking "bucket" samples during the off-loading process. A port ion of t he  
-
tonnage includes "eyeball" est imates  of species  composition. 
3/ Estimated landings r e s u l t  from applying simple monthly proportions of the  species  composition of sampled landings 
-
t o  the t o t a l  tonnage. 
41 - Preliminary. 
- 
31 Trace - sardines observed, but only i n  quan t i t i e s  estimated t o  be l e s s  than 0.5% by weight of a load. - 


Status of the spawning biomass of the Pacific sardine, 1983-84

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Status of the spawning biomass of the Pacific sardine, 1983-84

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