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Whale Museum helping bottomfish

posted 10/22/00
Eight Bottomfish Recovery Zones in the San Juans, areas once highly productive but now "fished out," will be monitored by The Whale Museum. The contract for oversight of the Bottomfish Recovery Program was awarded to the Whale Musuem by the county's Marine Resources Committee.

The program began in 1996 with the goal of rebuilding diminishing bottomfish stocks in the San Juan Islands. Fishers are asked, but not required by law, to avoid these marine reserves. The most common types of bottomfish found in the islands include Lingcod, Cabezon and several species of rockfish. Bottomfish are a long-lived fish. The larger, older females produce 200 times more eggs than smaller, younger fish. According to The Whale Museum, the program will also benefit fished areas when larvae and juvenile fish move outside the protected reserve areas.

The work of monitoring the zones and encouraging compliance from fishers will be done by Kari Koski. She will also be responsible for public outreach and education; and training and managing volunteers. Mike Kaill of the county Marine Resources Committee will continue to collect fisheries population data.

A successful example of this kind of program is the Edmonds Underwater Preserve near Seattle. In the past 25 years it has changed from an underwater desert to a destination diving site, where divers go to see large fish. In San Juan County the population of some species has increased after just five years of protection in a University of Washington reserve.

Soundwatch tallies boats, and whales and more

posted 10/00
More than a thousand boaters received educational pamphlets about whale-watching guidelines from the crew of the Soundwatch boat, Raydiance, during the 2000 whale-watching season. The Whale Museum's Soundwatch Boater Education Program, funded by $78,000 in donations, does not have any enforcement authority.

The Raydiancewas on the water for 84 days. Its crew conducted 592 boat count sessions, 296 hours of commercial boat monitoring, marine bird and refuge site surveys, and Bottomfish Recovery Program tracking according to a report released Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2000.