EXTENT OF FISHING AND FISH CONSUMPTON BY FISHERS IN VENTURA AND LOS ANGELES COUNTY WATERSHEDS IN 2005 M. James Allen Erica T. Jarvis Valerie Raco-Rands Greg Lyon Jesus A. Reyes Dawn M. Petschauer Technical Report 574 - September 2008 EXTENT OF FISHING AND FISH CONSUMPTION BY FISHERS IN VENTURA AND LOS ANGELES COUNTY WATERSHEDS IN 2005 M. James Allen, Erica T. Jarvis, Valerie Raco-Rands, Greg Lyon, Jesus A. Reyes and Dawn M. Petschauer Southern California Coastal Water Research Project 3535 Harbor Blvd., Ste. 110 Costa Mesa, CA 92626 www.sccwrp.org September 15, 2008 Cover Images (Clockwise from the Lower Left): San Gabriel River Estuary, Upper Calleguas Creek (Coastal Terrace Stream), Lake Casitas (Mountain Reservoir), Big Tujunga Creek (Mountain Stream), Peck Road Park Lake (Urban Lake), and Lower San Gabriel River (Coastal Terrace Stream). Technical Report 574 Table of Contents Abstract.............................................................................................................................. vi Introduction......................................................................................................................... 1 Methods............................................................................................................................... 3 Field Survey....................................................................................................................3 Overview of Study ...................................................................................................... 3 Data Needs.................................................................................................................. 3 Type of Survey............................................................................................................ 4 Study Area ......................................................................................................................6 Watersheds.................................................................................................................. 6 Generalized Fishing Areas.......................................................................................... 7 River Mouth and Estuaries.......................................................................................... 9 Coastal Terrace Rivers and Creeks........................................................................... 10 Urban Lakes.............................................................................................................. 11 Mountain Reservoirs................................................................................................. 12 Mountain Streams ..................................................................................................... 13 Sampling Methods ........................................................................................................ 14 Survey Design........................................................................................................... 14 Strata ......................................................................................................................... 15 Field Survey Preparation............................................................................................... 17 Composition of the Survey Team ............................................................................. 17 Survey Equipment..................................................................................................... 18 Notification of Authorities........................................................................................ 19 Safety Measures........................................................................................................ 19 Conduct of the Survey .................................................................................................. 19 Respondents .............................................................................................................. 19 Roving Census .......................................................................................................... 19 Fish Consumption Interviews ................................................................................... 20 Fish Identification ..................................................................................................... 21 Data Analysis................................................................................................................ 22 Database Development ............................................................................................. 22 Data Summarization and Analysis............................................................................ 22 Results............................................................................................................................... 23 Survey Success.............................................................................................................. 23 Number of Site Visits................................................................................................ 23 Observed Fishers....................................................................................................... 23 Consumers Interviewed ............................................................................................ 26 Survey Success by Sites within Watersheds............................................................. 28 Sites with Highest Mean Number of Consumers...................................................... 32 Characteristics of Fishers and Fish Consumers Interviewed ........................................ 33 Characteristics of Fishers.......................................................................................... 33 Characteristics of Fish Consumers............................................................................ 36 Fish Species Caught and Consumed............................................................................. 38 Consumption Rates ....................................................................................................... 41 i Overall and by Watersheds and Fishing Areas......................................................... 41 Consumption Rates by Ethnic Group ....................................................................... 42 Consumption Rates by Fish Species......................................................................... 43 Consumption Rates by Fish Species at Sampling Sites............................................ 44 Most Frequently Consumed Fish Species by Watershed and Fishing Area ............. 48 Discussion......................................................................................................................... 50 Overview and Objectives.............................................................................................. 50 Survey Instrument..................................................................................................... 50 Extent of Fishing and Fish Consumption in the Watersheds.................................... 52 Factors Affecting Survey Success ............................................................................ 52 Characteristics of Fishers.......................................................................................... 55 Fish Consumption Rates ........................................................................................... 56 Concluding Thoughts................................................................................................ 57 Conclusions....................................................................................................................... 58 Acknowledgements........................................................................................................... 59 Literature Cited ................................................................................................................. 61 APPENDIX A: Census Forms and Questionnaires ....................................................... A-1 APPENDIX B: Sampling Site Information and Maps................................................... B-1 APPENDIX C: Fish Species in Study Area................................................................... C-1 APPENDIX D: Information and Protocol for Survey Teams........................................ D-1 APPENDIX E: Database Data Entry Guidelines............................................................E-1 APPENDIX F: Survey Success ......................................................................................F-1 ii List of Tables Table 1. Information collected by field survey team on a census form (Appendix A-1) for each site visit during the 2005 freshwater fish consumption survey of Ventura and Los Angeles County watersheds................................................................................................ 5 Table 2. Information collected by a questionnaire (Appendix A-2) administered to fishers during the 2005 freshwater fish consumption survey of Ventura and Los Angeles County watersheds.............................................................................................................. 6 Table 3. Number of sites targeted by watershed and fishing area in the 2005 Fish Consumption Survey of Watersheds of Ventura and Los Angeles Counties. .................. 14 Table 4. Number of site visits by watershed and fishing area in the 2005 Fish Consumption Survey of Watersheds of Ventura and Los Angeles Counties. .................. 23 Table 5. Number of