2021 Annual Report Infographic

Young-of-the-Year Rockfish Survey Program
2021 Year in Review
We spent a lot of time underwater in 2021.

Partners have a huge impact!
2021 was a record year in
many ways for the program.
Time spent underwater
searching for YOYs increased,
with citizen partners
substantially outpacing
professional researchers.

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We visited new and more distant sites …

We spent more time
surveying in nearly all
basins in the San Juan
Islands and South Salish
Sea in 2021 than the first
five years of the program
combined.

2021 saw the biggest
increase in coverage in
five key habitat types,
particularly natural and
artificial reefs, where
effort was nearly threeand four-times greater
than in 2020.

…. Increasing effort in key habitats.
We collected data at 10 and 18 more
sites within kelp forests and natural
reefs, respectively, than in the next
greatest year.
Increased coverage among all habitat
types is critical for understanding how
habitat plays a role in YOY recruitment.

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YOY Encounter Rates
In 2021, we encountered 0.25 YOY per minute of survey time for all
observers, sites, and habitats combined. Encounter rates within
Admiralty Inlet basin were remarkably high, though variability was
also high among sites and seasons.
Error bars are standard error and
indicate variability in encounter rate
within basins, which is linked to
fluctuations in YOY density over space
and time.

While the combined encounter rate is higher than all prior years
except 2015 and 2017 (0.26 and 0.34 YOY/min, respectively), there
was one big difference in 2021; we encountered two groups of YOY
more frequently than expected …

... those with elongate bodies
and a dark dorsal spot (like the
yellowtail rockfish pictured left)
and elongate with no dorsal spot
(such as the Puget Sound
rockfish pictured below).

We encountered these two
types most frequently in
northern Puget Sound, closer
to the Strait of Juan de Fuca,
notably within the Admiralty
Inlet and Whidbey basins.
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Was 2021 a ‘Boom’ Recruitment Year?
The higher counts of these two YOY groups led us to question
whether 2021 was an extraordinary, or “boom,” recruitment year.

F1,380 = 7.99
p < 0.01

We compared 2021 to
a baseline survey
period of all prior
survey years (20152020) combined.

F1,380 = 3.6
p = 0.06

F1,380 = 2.2
p = 0.14

DEEP BODY

DEEP BODY

ELONGATE BODY

ELONGATE BODY

Key Results
1. From 2015 to 2020, the vast majority of YOY recorded were deep
body/no dorsal spot, comprising 66-100% of encounters. This group
includes copper, quillback, and brown rockfish.
2. In 2021, this group represented only 27% of YOY encountered, whereas
nearly 50% were elongate body/dorsal spot.
3. While we saw a very strong trend for higher encounters in both elongate
body types, the results were not statistically significant. We might call this a
high recruitment but not a ‘boom’ year.
4. Conversely, we encountered significantly fewer deep-body/no spot YOY
than expected, which may indicate a low recruitment, or ‘bust,’ year.

Photo: Dave Witting

Elongate body/dorsal
spot

Deep body/no dorsal
spot

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YOY Encounter Rates – Elongate/Dorsal Spot
Encounter Rate for Elongate Body with Dorsal Spot
2015-2020

2021

Mean Encounter Rate

San Juan Islands
San Juan Islands

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Strait o

f Juan

Whidbey
Basin

de Fuca

Strait o

f Juan

Whidbey
Basin

de Fuca

let

y In
iralt

y In
iralt

Adm

Adm

let

an
al

Seattle

Ho
od
C

an
al
Ho
od
C

WASHINGTON

Puget Soun
d

Puget Soun
d

WASHINGTON

Seattle

Encounter rates of elongate/dorsal spot YOY were highly variable among sites,
particularly in 2021 compared to the baseline period and within the Admiralty Inlet
basin, where we saw a substantial increase in this YOY group in 2021.
•

•

Though there are a lot of ‘zero’
counts, increased survey effort
over time and space has
allowed us to measure and
identify important recruitment
events!
Long-term monitoring is vital to
understanding the magnitude
and timing of YOY recruitment
in the South Salish Sea.

Yellowtail and black rockfish
juveniles and adults observed in
Fall 2021 at Point Hudson, WA in
the Admiralty Inlet basin, where
the highest counts of the same
YOY species were recorded in
April 2021

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Thank you to our partners!
We cannot do this without you.

This program is generously
funded through the National
Marine Fisheries Service West
Coast Region Education and
Outreach Program.

Photo: Canary rockfish (Sebastes pinniger) YOY
and juveniles at Salt Creek in the Strait of Juan de
Fuca in April 2021.

Partners: Bottom Dwellers Dive Club, Everett Community College, Emerald Sea Dive
Club, Harbor WildWatch, NOAA Affiliates, Tacoma SCUBA, Surfrider Foundation, Point
Defiance Zoo and Aquarium, JenJay Consulting, Pacific Marine Research, Lighthouse
Diving, Northwest Dive Adventures, Puget Sound Restoration Foundation, SeaDoc
Society, Rosario Beach Marine Laboratory, and Western Washington University.

Learn More & Get In Touch with Us!
To learn more, you can mosey on over to PMRG’s website where you will find a
variety of rockfish-related resources: www.pauamarineresearch.com
If you want to participate or simply have questions and want to talk to a human,
reach out to us at Adam@pauamarineresearch.com or RockfishID@noaa.gov.
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