Presented at the South Sound Science Symposium, September 2016

2. • WCC
• Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium
• USGS
• DNR
• DFW Marine Fish Unit
• Point No Point Treaty Council
• Suquamish Tribe
• Friday Harbor Labs
• NW Straits Commission
• County MRCs
• Nisqually Nature Center
• Squaxin Island Tribe
• NOAA
• FOSJ
• Audubon Society
• Lummi Tribe
• Evergreen College
• PSEMP
• And many more…

3. ©2013 The PEW Charitable Trusts
What are
Forage Fish?

4. Surf Smelt are Forage Fish

5. Surf Smelt
spawn on the beach

6. Surf Smelt
spawn throughout Puget Sound
Winter
spawning
peak
Summer
spawning
peak

7. Study Inspiration

8. Study Questions
+
?
1.) Can we mark Surf Smelt
without killing them?
- Holding Trial

9. Tag Selection
+
?
• Selected Visible
Implant Elastomer
(VIE) tags
• Low cost
• Minimally invasive
• Easy to use
• Non-toxic
Visible Implant Elastomer
(VIE) Tag

10. Holding Trial
 Captured smelt with beach
seine
 119 marked smelt held for
3 weeks
 Results:
 Tag Retention: 100%
 Survival: 92%

11. Study Questions
+
?
1.) Can we mark Surf Smelt
without killing them?
- Holding Trial
2.) Can we mark and
recapture Surf Smelt in the
wild?
- Field Trial

12. You are here
Capture Sites
1 2
Field Trial

13. Field Trial
Step 1: Catch Smelt

14. 4 Tag locations
Field Trial
Step 2: Tag with site & date specific marks

15. Step 3: Record biological data
Field Trial

16. Field Trial
Step 4: Release marked smelt

17. Field Trial
Step 5: Repeat monthly 1.
2.
3.
4.

18. 0
2000
4000
6000
8000
10000
12000
TaggedSmeltatLarge
Unknown
Female
Male
Average Male to Female Ratio 4:1
Results: Tagged Smelt at Large
Smelt Tagged
Total: 9,997

19. Results: Recaptures
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
NumberofSmeltRecaptured
Months After Tagging
Female
Male

20. Study Questions
+
?
1.) Can we mark Surf Smelt
without killing them?
- Holding Trial
2.) Can we mark and
recapture Surf Smelt in the
wild?
- Field Trial
3.)What can we learn about
their movements and biology
using these methods?

21. What did we learn?
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
NumberofSmeltRecaptured
Months After Tagging
Female
Male
Ø

22. What we learned
 Surf Smelt are hardy enough to mark with VIE tags
 Adult Surf Smelt retain VIE tags up to 9 months
 Individual Surf Smelt will spawn multiple times on
multiple beaches in the same region
 Differential spawning frequency may explain the male
biased sex ratios observed

23. What’s next?:
 What happened to the other 9,927 smelt?
 If they left the region, where did they go?
 If they stay in the region, should we manage them regionally?
 Can we enhance smelt creel surveys by combining
with tagging efforts?
 Can we learn more about other Puget Sound species
using similar methods?
January
FebruaryMarch
April
August 17, 2015
More Questions!

24. Questions?