CALIFORNIA COLLABORATIVE FISHERIES RESEARCH PROGRAM
Providing scientific data for fisheries management and the evaluation of MPA performance
2022 Sampling Season Totals
The California Collaborative Fisheries Research Program (CCFRP) successfully completed their 15th season of monitoring California MPAs. Over the course of this season, we conducted 71 sampling trips where volunteer anglers helped us catch and release close to 18,000 fishes from 57 different species statewide! See the table below for a breakdown by area and region.
Volunteer anglers are fundamental to our programs success and we can't thank you enough for another great year of sampling! As we transition towards data entry mode, stay tuned for updates regarding our angler newsletter and angler appreciation events.
CCFRP Long-Term Monitoring Report
The California Collaborative Fisheries Research Program (CCFRP) along with 6 other long-term monitoring projects submitted reports to the Ocean Protection Council (OPC) and California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) synthesizing monitoring data collected through 2020. These reports will inform the evaluation of California's Marine Protected Area (MPA) network and contribute to the 2022 Decadal Management Review of the network. Below is a summary of the CCFRP report. Visit the California Sea Grant website to read the full CCFRP report as well as the reports provided by the 6 other long-term monitoring groups.
Summary Figures from the CCFRP Report:
Key Findings from the CCFRP Report:
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Fish are larger in size inside the MPAs across the state compared to Reference areas open to fishing; 79% of species were larger inside MPAs.
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Fish are more abundant (higher CPUE) inside MPAs in all regions; 71% of species were more abundant inside MPAs.
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Fish biomass is higher inside MPAs throughout the state; 73% of species had greater biomass (BPUE) inside MPAs.
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Fish abundance and biomass increased more rapidly inside MPAs over 14 years on the Central coast, where long-term data exists starting the year MPAs were first implemented.
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The strength of the MPA response on the Central coast depended on the amount of external fishing effort in the Reference sites. In locations with higher fishing pressure, populations increased inside the MPAs but not at Reference sites. In contrast, at locations with low fishing pressure, populations increased both inside and outside of the MPAs.
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The strength of the MPA response statewide depended on the size of the MPAs; larger MPAs experienced greater increases in abundance and biomass than smaller MPAs across the state.
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The strength of the MPA response statewide depended on geography; MPAs in southern latitudes exhibited stronger biomass responses than MPAs in northern latitudes.
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Fish communities changed in response to the 2014-2015 marine heatwave. Diversity (which increased inside MPAs before the heatwave) declined both inside and outside MPAs; however, MPAs appeared more resilient and diversity recovered more quickly following the heatwave.
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Tag-recapture data demonstrated high site fidelity, with 61% of recaptures (250 out of 408) occurring 0.25 km or less from the release location. While uncertainty remains due to a limited number of recaptures, for fishes caught and released inside MPAs, we detected a spillover rate of up to 20% (36 out of 180 recaptures), indicating some cross-boundary movements.
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Angler opinions of MPAs became significantly more positive after participating with CCFRP, with anglers reporting that they catch more fish, bigger fish, a higher diversity of fishes inside MPAs on CCFRP sampling trips. More positive responses occurred in anglers that participated more frequently in MPA monitoring.