Point Lobos is an attraction to residents and tourists of Monterey County for a number of reasons. It is home to an easy-to-walk trail system and an amazing array of marine fauna beneath the waves; it's in the migration path of whales and white sharks. It is also a scientific study site for the California Collaborative Fisheries Research Program (CCFRP).
Point Lobos' abundance of marine life can be attributed to its classification as a marine protected area (MPA) eight years ago. The Marine Life Protection Act, established in 1999, requires scientific monitoring of MPAs to evaluate their effectiveness as tools for conservation and fisheries management.
The CCFRP's function is to acquire the scientific evidence used later to determine the real-world value of the MPA. The CCFRP monitors four sites in Central California: Año Nuevo State Marine Conservation Area, Point Lobos State Marine Reserve, Piedras Blancas State Marine Reserve and Point Buchon State Marine Reserve. It is a collaborative effort between fishermen and scientists.
For fishermen, the program utilizes local charter boats and volunteer anglers to help acquire the data. Fishermen go out with the researchers to catch, tag and release fish within the MPA and the adjoining areas (to compare catch data, fish size and other metrics).
On the scientist/researcher side, the effort is shared by the California Sea Grant at Moss Landing Marine Laboratories and the Center for Coastal Marine Sciences at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. The researchers are on each fishing trip ensuring data is collected and that fish are tagged according to standardized scientific methods.
The team of researchers from Moss Landing Marine Laboratories is in Point Lobos through tomorrow (Aug. 13). According to the CCFRP Facebook page, on August 10 aboard the fishing vessel Caroline, they tagged a record 712 fish from 15 different species including northern blue rockfish (Sebastes mystinus), lingcod (Ophiodon elongatus), gopher rockfish (Sebastes carnatus), a few hearty copper rockfish (Sebastes caurinus), one lone cabezon (Scorpaenichthys marmoratus) and even a señorita (Oxyjulis californica).
Two volunteers tied for the most number of fishes caught, 110 each, earning themselves a free charter with Chris' Fishing Trips.
To sign up as a volunteer angler for next year, send an email to seagrant@mlml.calstate.edu.