MARINE REGION 2016 YEAR IN REVIEW Cavanaugh Gulch, near Elk in northern California photo by K. Joe A Message From Craig Shuman, Marine Region Manager Most of us have experienced déjà vu – that strong feeling on the beach by the hundreds of thousands and reports of familiarity with an experience or event, as though we of sea turtles more at home off the Galapagos. State have already experienced it in the past. For Marine Region record-sized tuna continued to be logged into the books staff, many of the events in 2016 had that same strong by anglers and spear fishermen, besting old records by as feeling of familiarity. much as 80 pounds or more. Elevated levels of domoic acid As the offshore environment continued to impact California’s continued to experience rapid wildlife and fisheries, keeping Marine Region Mission: change, Marine Region staff were commercial crabbers tied to the To protect, maintain, enhance, there monitoring, meeting with the dock for part of the season and public, and developing strategies recreational razor clammers off the and restore California’s to help better understand how beaches of northern California for marine ecosystems for their the changes would affect the much of the year. The commercial ecological values and their marine environment and our sardine fishery remained closed fisheries. Statewide, our biologists for its second year and the use and enjoyment by the and analysts were busy studying, combined effects of drought and public through good science monitoring, and assessing fish and poor ocean conditions impacted and effective communication. shellfish populations, including recreational and commercial abalone, halibut (California and salmon catches. Pacific), Dungeness crab, bluefin The “perfect storm” of large-scale tuna, market squid, rockfish, ecological impacts continued to inflict ecosystem-wide salmon, sardine, sea cucumbers, shrimp, surfperch, and changes throughout much of California’s northern waters. urchins, among many others. Staff also studied, monitored With an exploding population of purple sea urchins and assessed environmental changes off the California devouring every frond of kelp they could find, abalone coast; for example, joining an effort to develop better tools and other creatures that depend on kelp for food began for measuring the buffering action of eelgrass against to starve. This prompted the Fish and Game Commission ocean acidification in Humboldt Bay. to enact emergency regulations to curtail the recreational In 2016, Marine Region staff continued to develop take of red abalone for the 2017 season and had dramatic new reporting tools for recreational and commercial impacts on the commercial red urchin fishery. catch data that will help to inform fishery management The warm waters that were causing problems in the north decisions. Staff continued work on the electronic kept the run of great fishing going off Southern California, log system, developing, implementing and testing replete with odd events such as red crabs washing up continued on pg. 2 1 Table of Contents State-Managed Marine Species Programs........................................................ 3 State/Federal Marine Species Program............................................................ 11 Resource Assessment Program........................................................................... 15 Habitat Conservation Program........................................................................... 17 Administration.......................................................................................................... 21 2016 Region-Wide Accomplishments, By The Numbers... Processed over 19,800 Completed 1 new fishery management commercial passenger fishing plan for California spiny lobster vessel e-log submissions on the new electronic log system Flew over 3,200 miles during aerial sardine and anchovy surveys Contacted over 98,000 saltwater anglers. Observed and identified vero 186,000 Reviewed over 600 environmental fish and invertebrates, and measured documents, and attended over 60 over 99,000 fish and invertebrates pre-project review meetings Entered over 55,000 commercial Registered 4 new state record landing receipts tuna diving and angling records Surveyed almost 60 miles of rocky seafloor habitat with a Sampled 26,200 salmon in the sport remotely operated vehicle and commercial ocean salmon fisheries and collected 6,000 tags to determine Reviewed and approved 140 the age and origin of hatchery fish aquaculture registration permits Message from Craig Shuman, cont. new improvements. Through a partnership with the The underpinning of a fantastic administrative team Sportfishing Association of California, close to 20,000 made all this, and more, possible. Without their expertise, Commercial Passenger Fishing Vessel (CPFV) e-logs were commitment and dedication, we would not have been submitted through the system, representing almost 60 able to achieve our region-wide objectives. percent of all CPFV logs submitted in 2016. Developing It is often said that change is inevitable. While we are improved tools for assessing fisheries is an important hopeful that positive change will come sooner rather part of the Marine Life Management Act Master Plan than later, Marine Region staff will remain vigilant, amendment process, which also continued to make continuing to protect and maintain California’s marine 2 progress this year. ecosystems and fisheries during these challenging times. State-Managed Marine Species Programs These programs are responsible for fisheries managed by the State alone. Abalone – Dramatic changes in ocean conditions over Cherr, G.N., 2016. Implementing a restoration program the last few years resulted in very poor habitat conditions for the endangered white abalone (Haliotis sorenseni) in and population parameters in the northern red abalone California. J. Shell. Res. 35:611-618). fishery in 2016. At the end of the year, the Marine Region requested emergency changes to the regulations for 2017 As part of this work, staff have been modeling restoration through an emergency action, to address the situation. options to help determine how many years until the wild population becomes extinct (trajectory of the Progress on drafting the Red Abalone Fishery wild population), as well as what might be the most Management Plan continued along with numerous useful strategies for restoration including numbers, public listening sessions. sizes and locations for restoration actions (see Catton, C.A., Stierhoff, K., Rogers-Bennett, L., 2016. Modeling Staff ompletedc a number of papers that were published restoration of endangered California white abalone (Haliotis in the scientific literature. One area of work involved sorenseni) populations. J. Shell. Res. 35:593-600). Visit the tracking reproduction of red abalone in the northern CDFW website at wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Marine/ California recreational fishery. The team developed and Invertebrates/Abalone for more information about implemented the capacity to capture larval and newly abalone. settled red abalone (see Rogers-Bennett, L., Dondanville, R.F., Catton, C.A., Juhasz, C.I., Horii, T., Hamaguchi, M., 2016. Aquaculture (Marine) – Staff processed, reviewed, Detecting larval, newly settled and juvenile red abalone and approved 50 Live Importation Permits, reviewed (Haliotis rufescens) recruitment in northern California. J. and approved 140 Aquaculture Registrations, prepared Shell. Res. 35:601-610). three Wild Broodstock Collecting Permits, four Letters of Authorization, and reviewed and approved 10 Restricted The team worked with a non-governmental organization Species Permits. Staff participated in several meetings to estimate the economic value of the recreational with Fish and Game Commission staff and Department red abalone fishery in northern California. The work staff ot discuss the process of lease assignments and confirmed just how economically important this large transfers, best management practices, and rulemaking fishery is to the region, with estimates of the value of options for state water bottom aquaculture leases. the fishery to the fishermen of up to $44 million dollars Staff onductedc various state water bottom lease per year (see Reid, J., Rogers-Bennett, L., Pace, M., Eyler, R., inspections in Tomales Bay which informed preparation Vasquez, F., Bruner, A., Catton, C.A., Kashiwada, J.V. and I.K. of subsequent recommendations to the Fish and Game Taniguchi, 2016. The economic value of the recreational red abalone fishery in northern California. California Fish and Game 102:121-133). White abalone is an endangered species. Staff are developing a broad partnership called the White Abalone Restoration Consortium that has as its goal the restoration of white abalone populations through a captive breeding and stocking program. Staff are working closely with university, federal, and aquarium scientists to grow and then eventually stock abalone in the wild to restore the population (see Rogers-Bennett, L., Aquilino, K.M., Catton, C.A., Kawana, S.K., Walker, B.J., Ashlock, L.W., Marshman, B.C., Moore, J.D., Taniguchi, I.K., Gilardi, K.V., Red abalone surrounded by purple sea urchins in an urchin barren 3 CDFW photo by A. Maguire been implicated in the decline of native clam and crab species in areas of central California. Monitoring suggests the abundance of green crab in the bay has remained relatively low; however, this species continues to be a cause for concern. Staff ontinuedc long term monitoring of eelgrass