Southern California partyboat sampling study Quarterly Report no. 11

Abstract

From January 1 through March 31, 1978, Departmental personnel sampled catches from 141 trips while aboard commercial passenger fishing vessels operating in southern California. A total of 25,339 fishes belonging to 88 species were identified and measured. Otoliths for age determination studies were removed from 247 rockfish carcasses representing 22 species. Additionally, nine long-range trips originating in San Diego and fishing in Mexican waters were sampled. A total of 1,518 fishes representing 24 species was identified and measured at dockside from these vessels. The 10 most commonly taken species during the quarter accounted for 68.1% of the southern California catch. The most frequently sampled species of bocaccio, Sebastes paucispinis (21.1%); chilipepper, S. goodei (16.5%); Pacific mackerel, Scomber japonicus (8.7%); blue rockfish, Sebastes mystinus (6.0%); kelp bass, Paralabrax clathratus ( 5.2%); vermilion rockfish, S. miniatus (3.7%); squarespot rockfish, S. hopkinsi (3.2%); greenspotted rockfish, S. chlorostictus (2.9%); olive rockfish, S. serranoides (2.8%); and white croaker, Genyonemus lineatus (2.6%). Samples gathered from long-range trips showed the top five species accounted for 83.8% of the fish sampled. The most frequently sampled species were wahoo, Acanthocybium solanderi (28.6%); yellowfin tuna, Thunnus albacares (23.7%); yellowtail, Seriola dorsalis (18.6%); leopard grouper, Mycteroperca rosacea (6.2%); and gulf grouper, M. jordani (3.8%). (55pp.)