Pacific Sand Lance Research
The Northwest Straits Commission played an important role in helping Marine Resources Committees collect information on surf smelt and Pacific sand lance. These forage fishes, along with Pacific herring, are demonstrated drivers of the region's marine food web. Yet surprisingly little is known, particularly about Pacific sand lance. Toward better understanding the life history characteristics of this species, the Commission brought together scientific experts for a workshop in September 2009. A summary is available online.
Based on key outcomes of the Pacific sand lance workshop, the Commission outlined steps for funding research that will answer basic questions such as where sand lance go at what age classes. The Commission is now working to:
1. Analyze historical datasets and determine when and where sand lance have been caught, and the limitations and benefits of a regional beach seining project;
2. Conduct a sub-tidal research project on sand lance, with the goal of uncovering new information about sub-tidal life history parameters in the Northwest Straits; and
3. Use results of the above studies to inform further research in 2010-2011.
Click here to go to an online bibliography with links to research about Pacific sand lance.
Habitat Suitability Model
The Northwest Straits Initiative has been instrumental in helping to identify and protect beaches where there is evidence of spawning by Pacific sand lance and surf smelt, key forage fish for some Puget Sound fish, birds and mammals. In this effort, many beaches were sampled where no evidence of spawning was found, and there are potential spawning beaches that have never been surveyed. The current Washington Hydraulic Code rules offer some protection to beaches where forage fish spawn, so mapping these areas is an important step in protecting the habitat these species need to reproduce.
To help focus inventory efforts in areas of highest need for protection, we have dusted off a 2002 Northwest Straits forage fish Habitat Suitability Index, produced by Anchor Environmental. The Habitat Suitability Index estimates how suitable each shoreline segment is to support forage fish spawning. Forage fish survey data, made available by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, collected by Dan Penttila of WDFW, the Marine Resources Committees and others between 1973 and 2007, is overlaid on the color-coded Habitat Suitability Index shoreline to assess the accuracy of the model and to identify areas that indicate good habitat quality but where no spawn or no survey data were collected, in each of the seven Northwest Straits counties.
The objectives of the forage fish mapping project were: 1) to identify the full set of habitats currently suitable for forage fish spawning, and 2) to identify changes in habitat availability that are likely to accompany sea level rise. The results provide the Northwest Straits Commission and seven County MRCs with data on what is being protected and what important potential habitat is not being protected, but should be if we want to increase potential spawning biomass.
Forage Fish Habitat Suitability Model - Maps
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Click here to view or download forage fish maps