by Russel Barsh

Director of KWIAHT

Kwiaht’s community beach seine at Indian Island on Friday afternoon caught a record number of Shiner Perch: a total of more than ten thousand, with 8,336 of these small silvery fish in a single net set on the east side of the island! This is the largest number of surfperch we have seen in Fishing Bay since our Indian Island stewardship project began in 2009.

Shiner Perch, one the island’s four surfperch species, migrate to warm, shallow water in early summer to give live birth to their offspring, which emerge fully formed, brightly silvered and about the size of a dime. These fish are a favorite prey of seals, herons, and gulls. Since Shiner Perch are adapted to warm seas, they have not been adversely affect by climate change, and are one of the few marine fish species that continues to thrive in upper East Sound.

Our next public beach seine will be on Sunday, May 26 at noon!