North Central Coast: citizen-science surveys of surfzone fishes

This metadata record documents data on surfzone fishes for the North Central Coast MPA baseline surveys of sandy beaches. A citizen science sampling protocol was developed in consultation with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and anglers recruited from local fishing clubs. Data were collected at beaches in collaboration with citizen scientists at 2 pairs of MPAs and neighboring reference sites from late summer through fall in 2011 and 2012: Bodega Head Marine Reserve and Drakes Bay Marine Reserve. During each trip, we sampled for four consecutive hours centered around daytime low slack tides when tidal height was less than 0.3 m. Sampling teams consisted of 5 to 14 anglers and one or two scientists, depending on the number of anglers. Baited hook-and-line and flyfishing was used to sample the rough surfzone of the region and increase participation by the angler community. Biological data recorded included tackle used to catch the fish, time the fish was caught, species, sex, fork length and weight. Physical data recorded included air and water temperature, average and maximum wind speed, wind chill, wind direction, beach slope, estimated maximum wave height and weather conditions. Six species of surfperches were caught and released without a single mortality. This dataset was originally uploaded to Oceanspaces (http://oceanspaces.org/) in 2013 as part of the North Central Coast baseline monitoring program. In 2020 the baseline data and reports were uploaded to the California Ocean Protection Council Data Repository by Mike Esgro ([e-mail]) and Rani Gaddam ([e-mail]). Every attempt has been made to include all of the original data, metadata, and reports submitted in 2013, but please contact the Data Set Contacts with any questions. The long-term California MPA boundary and project info tables referenced in this dataset can be found as a separate dataset here: https://opc.dataone.org/view/doi:10.25494/P64S3W