Interagency Ecological Program and US Fish and Wildlife Service: Juvenile/Larval Fish and Zooplankton collections at Liberty Island, California 2002-2005 & 2013-2019

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Lodi Fish and Wildlife Office (LFWO) Delta Juvenile Fish Monitoring Program (DJFMP) has intermittently sampled Liberty Island with various equipment since 2002. Liberty Island was a reclaimed agricultural island until it flooded in 1997-1998 and we subsequently left to passively restore as a tidally influenced wetland. Larval trawls and beach were the only sampling methods used during both early (2002-2005) and late (2009-2019) sampling periods. The main purpose of the sampling was to gather information about fish presence and abundance in Liberty Island during the passive restoration, with an emphasis on reproductive and early life-stages of native species. Larval trawls, or tow nets, were used to catch larval fish in 2004-2005 and again from 2013-2019. Zooplankton nets were used 2013-2019. Water quality measurements were collected alongside each tow.