POORT -- port sampling

December 7, 2008: The last trip of the year was made during a wonderful break in the windy weather on a beautifully calm ocean. The fish, however, were not as cooperative as only 67 fish were caught (breakdown in figure 8 below). Be sure to check out the final report when it is posted in the coming months!

Figure 8

November 2008

November 24, 2008: The Monday before Thanksgiving was perfect weather for a day on the sea. And a perfect day for Alicia to catch a huge 10 pound Vermillion Rockfish. Unfortunately, she forgot her digital camera, so the evidence is left on real film. I swear...it was huge!

Figure 7

October 2008

September was a very hectic month around the POORT office. That, coupled with the abnormally erractic weather (read: normal for Port Orford), lead to us missing the month of sampling.

No fear, however, as we were back out on the sea for October 16th! Two sets caught a total of 92 fish, breakdown in figure 6 below.

Figure 6

August 2008

August 18, 2008. Alicia Billings returned to the project just in time for some choppy seas. Many a fish were fed as the team caught a total of 89 (see figure 5 below for breakdown) from two sets.

Figure 5

July 2008

On July 30, 2008, ODFW employee Skylar Bieraugal went out with the Top Gun for the charter. The water was thick with anchovy, so the fish were not biting. Only 58 fish were caught (see figure 4 below for breakdown) from 2 sets. Sampling took place on July 31 in the PPS building.

Figure 4

June 2008

On June 30, 2008, we were finally able to make our trip for the month of June. The weather was a bit messy for most of June, and we were lucky to make it out at all this month. Everything aligned perfectly for us to get out on the last day, and we were able to come away with another 99 fish (see figure 3 below for breakdown).

By now, the method for keeping fish separated by set has been perfected, both on the boat and during the offloading process at the dock. On the boat, different totes indicate different sets. Easy enough, but how to transfer those to a tote on land, while maintaining the separate sets? We found that the best method is to put down a thick layer of ice in between the sets, along with a waterproof paper detailing the haul number. That way, when we are taking biological information the following day, each set is clearly defined in the ice.

Figure 3

May 2008

The second charter of the season went out on May 27, 2008. A total of 107 fish were collected from two "sets", one longline event and one jig event (see figure 2 below for breakdown).

Once again, ODFW came to help out with the sample extraction the next day.

The Data Crew	Cabezon Otolith Collection

Figure 2

April 2008

On April 15, 2008, we went out for our first charter of the season. After 8 hours of fishing, a total of 82 fish were collected and put on ice (see figure 1 for breakdown). POORT Project Director, Alicia Billings, went out with the F/V Top Gun to collect the location information for the beginning and ending of each of the three "sets". A set is determined by three factors:

gear type
distance apart and area captured
time gear was set

We dropped the longline tubs into the water around 7am, leaving it to soak for three-four hours while we moved and jigged. After the longline gear was picked up, we jigged for another hour before turning the bow toward the gate and home.

The key once we get back to dock is to keep the fish from each "set" separate so the data gathered can be attributed back to the gear type used to catch the fish and the location, time, and depth where it was caught.

Oregon Department Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) Marine Resource Management employees travelled to Port Orford on April 16th to lend a hand in the extraction of the otoliths, gonads, livers and fin clips. The length, total weight, gonad weight, sex and visual maturity are also collected.

This data will paint a picture of the life history of the nearshore fish in the Port Orford Community Stewardship Area. Once the biological samples are analyzed, important data such as:

age at maturity
fecunity
length at maturity
GSI: a measure of reproductive effort
liver toxicology
genetic structure

Figure 1: