PRESENTER:

Caselle, Jennifer

ADDRESS:

Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology;

University of California, Santa Barbara;

Santa Barbara CA 93106 USA

INFORMATION:

Phone: (805) 893-3217 FAX: (805) 893-4724

E-MAIL:

caselle@lifesci.lscf.ucsb.edu

PAPER TYPE:

oral presentation

contibuted

ASIH presentation

ASIH Stoye award, general ichthyology

AUTHORS:

Caselle, Jennifer,

Love, Milton,

Schroeder, Donna,

Van Buskirk, Wade

AFFILIATIONS:

(JEC,ML,DS) Department of Ecol., Evol. and Mar. Biol. and Mar. Sci. Institute; University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara CA 93106 USA, (WVB) PSMFC, 45 SE 82nd Dr, Suite 100, Gladstone, OR, 97027 USA

TITLE:

Declines in rockfish (genus Sebastes) abundance in the southern California Bight over the past two decades: evidence from two independent long-term datasets.

ABSTRACT:

Abundances of many species of rockfish (genus Sebastes) have declined dramatically over the past two decades in the southern California Bight. We present evidence from two independent datasets which document changes in rockfish abundances. Fish impingement rates from Southern California Edison coastal electric generating stations from 1977-1993 indicate that at least four species (olive, brown, and blue rockfish and bocaccio) have declined over the period of monitoring. Data on rockfish catches in the southern California Bight, compiled from the Marine Recreational Fisheries Statistics Survey (MRFSS), also show declines in CPUE (catch per unit effort) for the same four species as well as numerous others (including cow, swordspine, flag, yellowtail, chilipepper, and widow rockfish). We attempt to correlate some of these changes in abundance with changes in environmental features over the same period (e.g. temperature, ENSO events and upwelling).

KEYWORDS:

rockfish, Sebastes spp., southern California, declining populations