Tina Wyllie-Echeverria
Collaboration with Eric Beamer and Kurt Fresh (tows), and many students/volunteers
1950-2006, about 50 sites around the San Juans have been sampled and have found juvenile salmon. Of 656km of SJI shoreline, 430km is rocky beach. Tow nets (164 tows at 37 sites, monthly from Apr-Sep) caught juveniles of 5 species and 785k fish overall; 657 beach seins at 27 sites caught juveniles of 5 species and~100k fish overall.
% of catch (seine, tow): sculpins (29%,0%); smelt, sand lance, herring (17%, 98%); salmon (16%, 0%?); surf perch (16%, 0%); gadids (7%, <1%); hexagrammids (lingcod, kelp greenling 2%, <1%).
Chinook mostly present apr-sept (mostly august), about 2 months later than in Skagit estuary. Juvenile salmon are common Mar-Sept and were present year-round in all environments at all sites.
Along west side, catch was ~10x higher near Eagle Point than near Henry Island, but Rosario side was generally dominant (especially herring).