The California Collaborative Fisheries Research Program (CCFRP) is a statewide effort to collect robust fisheries-independent data through catch and release fishing in marine protected areas and reference sites in collaboration with volunteer anglers and commercial fishing vessels. Fishes were randomly sampled in each MPA and comparable reference site containing rocky reef habitat and similar depth range, and fishing time was recorded in each grid cell to measure effort. Standardized fishing methods allowed for comparisons of ground fish populations throughout the state and over time. We report results from two pairs of marine reserves and reference sites that we surveyed since 2017 along the northcentral coast, including mean length, and catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE). We addressed two questions: 1) Does reserve designation impact fish populations? 2) Which species’-specific responses were strongest?
Results/Conclusions
After just three years, fish CPUE was generally greater in the Bodega Head and Stewarts Point State Marine Reserves than in paired reference sites, though abundance and gains varied by species, site, and year. When species were separated by ecological guild into, water column fish (frequently schooling species, with shorter lifespans, that occupy a range of depths) and bottom fish (demersal, longer-lived, solitary species), the groups varied in their responses to marine protected areas depending on location. At Bodega Head, bottom fish had higher CPUE in the MPA than reference sites, while water column fish had higher CPUE in reference sites than MPA. The Bodega Head MPA may be more effective at protecting bottom fish than water column fish. Categorizing species based on ecological guilds helps one better understand MPA effectiveness based on ecological characteristics of groundfish.