Current Status of Accomplishment or Milestone: On October 20 - 23 Jerry Norton participated as an invited speaker in a workshop on the biology and fishery of dolphin, held at the Universitat de les Illes Balears, Palma de Mallorca, Spain. He gave presentations on oceanographic factors important in the global distribution of dolphin and on the availability of dolphin to southern California Commercial Passenger Fishing Vessel (CPFV) anglers. A manuscript is in preparation for the workshop proceedings which will be published as a monograph of the journal, Scientia Marina. Norton serves on the proceedings editorial board.
Background: Distribution of dolphin in the eastern Pacific extends from northern Chile to southern California. Anglers taking fishing excursions on CPFV from San Diego and Oceanside have found good dolphin angling in four of the last seven years. During these recent good years the CPFV catch exceeded all previous annual catch totals by two to three fold.
Purpose of Activity/Goal of Project: The purpose of the project is to describe the distribution of dolphin and other medium sized pelagic gamefish in the eastern Pacific. Dolphin are a significant component of long-line purse seine catch. They are a valuable commercial product, but little is know of their life history and vulnerability to over fishing.
Description of Accomplishment and Significant Results: The analysis of catch data in the context of climate shifts has brought insight into possible process antecedents of dolphin availability to southern California CPFV anglers; the analysis is of particular value in an El Niño year.
Significance of Accomplishment (e.g., to the Center, to Management, and to NMFS Strategic plan Goals): Several species of migratory game fish contribute significantly to a multi-million dollar sport fishing industry of southern California. The target species include yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares), Skipjack (Euthynnus pelamis) and yellowtail (Seriola lalandi) as well as dolphin. Each species occurs in different proportions depending on environmental conditions. Profit and maintenance of vessel ownership will depend on CPFV success. If dolphin become consistently available off southern California, it is likely that commercial fisheries will develop. In this case conflicts are likely to arise between sport and commercial fishers, as they have in Hawaii. Ability to predict availability may aid in regulation for sustainable fisheries.
Problems: Technical and legal problems in reporting the distribution of fish and exact location of catch in the log-book data continues.
Key Contact: Jerry Norton, 831-648-9031