Beach seine nets new fish information for researchers Posted by Kimberly Jacobson | Jun 20, 2012 | 530 views

Skagit County Beach Watchers Kathleen McDanold and Judy Bown aren’t 100 percent sure what kind of fish they’re looking at.

Dr. Jude Apple comes over to take a look.

“I think that’s a saddleback,” said the Shannon Point Marine Center marine scientist, pointing out the little saddle-like markings.

The fish, measuring 11.5 centimeters, is put back in a bucket as Bown pulls out another fish.

“Sculpin, 4.”

“Here’s one teeny baby,” McDanold says.

“This is 2 1/2,” Bown says.

The volunteers were part of a Community Beach Seine sampling event Thursday afternoon at Ship Harbor. It was co-sponsored by the Skagit County Marine Resources Committee and Shannon Point Marine Center.

A net was stretched out 100 feet and left for four minutes to collect a sampling of fish, which is standard practice. Volunteers then identified, measured and counted what was pulled in. They found fish like starry flounders, soles, sockeye salmon and smelt.

Paul Dinnel, one of the organizers, will compile the data by the end of the month.

He said there were two reasons for the event.

First was community outreach and education. Second was the data, which will be summarized and sent to the Skagit River System Cooperative, a regional database for fish.

Dinnel expects to find about 20 different species of fish along with Dungeness crabs and other invertebrates. He noted they found a lot of juvenile pink salmon, which means the salmon spawned last year.

Volunteers included 2012 Beach Watchers graduates as well as about a dozen Anacortes High School AP environmental science students.

“They’re learning. They’re going to be experts shortly,” Dinnel said.

Victor Garcia, the AP class teacher, said the seine was a good experience for the students, who volunteered to come.

“It’s real neat to get them out here doing this,” he said.