Event Title
Streaming Media
Presentation Abstract
As part of the forage fish complex, Northern Anchovy (Engraulis mordax) is recognized as a critical prey species for many fish, birds and mammals. Recent observations of large schools of anchovy and increased encounters in research studies suggest anchovy have become more abundant in Puget Sound since 2014 while most stocks of another important forage fish, Pacific Herring, have been declining. Research by Duguid et al. (2018) showed anchovy contribute to the Puget Sound ecosystem in periodic spikes, but there is currently no monitoring program to document anchovy abundance trends over time and only limited information on spawn timing and distribution. In 2020 the Department of Fish and Wildlife began a pilot study to document anchovy egg density using plankton sampling techniques throughout the Puget Sound in an effort to assess spatio-temporal patterns of anchovy spawning. Water temperature and salinity are thought to be influential factors in the location and timing of anchovy spawn; spawn timing appears to differ between Puget Sound (late-April to September) and coastal populations (peak February to April). In Puget Sound, anchovy are thought to spawn pelagically every 7-10 days, with eggs hatching in 2-4 days. In the second year of the study, sampling was limited to central and southern Puget Sound due to complications from the Covid-19 pandemic. Sampling effort in 2022 will focus on capturing the entirety of the spawning season to better understand what factors, such as water temperature and salinity are influencing anchovy spawn timing, distribution and abundance.
Session Title
Poster Session 4: People Working Together to Protect the Salish Sea
Conference Track
SSE14: Posters
Conference Name
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference (2022 : Online)
Document Type
Event
SSEC Identifier
SSE-posters-320
Start Date
27-4-2022 4:30 PM
End Date
27-4-2022 5:00 PM
Rights
Copying of this document in whole or in part is allowable only for scholarly purposes. It is understood, however, that any copying or publication of this document for commercial purposes, or for financial gain, shall not be allowed without the author's written permission.
Type
Text
Language
English
Establishing a baseline for Northern Anchovy populations by ichthyoplankton sampling in Puget Sound, WA.
As part of the forage fish complex, Northern Anchovy (Engraulis mordax) is recognized as a critical prey species for many fish, birds and mammals. Recent observations of large schools of anchovy and increased encounters in research studies suggest anchovy have become more abundant in Puget Sound since 2014 while most stocks of another important forage fish, Pacific Herring, have been declining. Research by Duguid et al. (2018) showed anchovy contribute to the Puget Sound ecosystem in periodic spikes, but there is currently no monitoring program to document anchovy abundance trends over time and only limited information on spawn timing and distribution. In 2020 the Department of Fish and Wildlife began a pilot study to document anchovy egg density using plankton sampling techniques throughout the Puget Sound in an effort to assess spatio-temporal patterns of anchovy spawning. Water temperature and salinity are thought to be influential factors in the location and timing of anchovy spawn; spawn timing appears to differ between Puget Sound (late-April to September) and coastal populations (peak February to April). In Puget Sound, anchovy are thought to spawn pelagically every 7-10 days, with eggs hatching in 2-4 days. In the second year of the study, sampling was limited to central and southern Puget Sound due to complications from the Covid-19 pandemic. Sampling effort in 2022 will focus on capturing the entirety of the spawning season to better understand what factors, such as water temperature and salinity are influencing anchovy spawn timing, distribution and abundance.
