The Eastern Pacific is just now coming out of the latest La Nińa and is growing effect-neutral.
Pacific weather and ocean temps and patterns have brought a lot of changes to this area of the southern part of the SOC
• This winter was a banner yellowtail bite – all time high numbers
• Barracuda and green jacks began to show for the first time in decades
• Macerella numbers were too low to count
• I heard it was and still is a banner year for roosterfish
• Dorado was low to average but the wholesale capture of illegal fish by fish pirates in San Carlos, Sonora certainly had an effect.
• The pelagic red crabs (longostina) appeared in great numbers here for the first time (with a significant beach dieoff)
• Mature but small Olive Ridley turtles used Southern Baja beaches to nest – in the last 15 years I have seen just a few nests but our local beach
nursery safely released 13,000 eggs this last October.
• Serious green pompano numbers here, perhaps more than ever before.
According to William Gilly, a Professor of Biology at Stanford University based at Hopkins Marine Station, Pacific Grove, California, "We have been
studying the effects of El Nino on the squid for over a year now, and it has turned out to be extremely interesting. Small squid only 8 inches long
were mature and spawning in the Guaymas Basin in June -- totally abnormal. Big squid were in the midriff islands in the summer and off northern Sonora
this winter. Now they are nowhere to be found -- we were just all over the Guaymas Basin up midriff islands area and found very few squid. Commercial
boats have also been searching without success."
In addition, Gilly observed that from February through March this year the mixed surface layer of the ocean has gotten steadily thinner – from about
300 feet in February to almost nothing by mid-March. Along with this change has come an abnormally steep fall in oxygen level – down to levels too
low to support pelagic at unusually shallow depths. Yellowfin tuna and billfish probably would have a really hard time under these conditions,
because -- they would be compressed into the top 60 feet or so. If the bait in that surface zone is bountiful, you would think it might be good for
the species. But if a fish can only breathe properly very close to the surface due to this habitat compression, this hypoxic stress might well affect
its eagerness to feed regardless of the availability of prey.
In 2009 and 2010 a similar trend developed during the spring, but it was much less severe. This year is definitely unusual -- these are features
normally associated with tropical eastern Pacific water much farther to the south.
Jorge’s footnote today:
The Yaqui valley fertilizer runoff shows vast areas of increase in phytoplankton from time to time causing oxygen dead zones. The Terrafin site offers
access to the SOC phyto maps just like it does the temp maps. Also the shrimp farm effluents do the same thing a little farther north.woody with a view - 5-19-2011 at 06:10 PM
Quote:
• The pelagic red crabs (longostina) appeared in great numbers here for the first time (with a significant beach dieoff)
seriously? i've seen them as far north as SD twice in 30 years. here's San Q in '85. my beer choice has since evolved.....
Iflyfish - 5-20-2011 at 06:40 AM
Very interesting indeed. Lots of weather change going on. Very rainy spring here in Oregon. May rain all summer. Glaciers receding faster than
predicted. Climate change is happening rapidly. Very stormy winter. Lots of severe weather patterns. Thanks for this post. Very interesting look at
the big picture.baitcast - 5-20-2011 at 07:55 AM
More on the big picture,hit a small lake near Williams AZ. last week 27* and snow
RobElCap - 5-20-2011 at 08:09 AM
The 'dead zone' in the Gulf of Mexico will be bigger than ever this year with the historic level of outflow from the Mississippi washing out all those
nutrients. And the low oxygen area offshore of the Oregon/Washington coasts is getting bigger every year too. Get used to change . . . sometimes it
might mean a better fishing year for some species in some years, but probably won't always be a good thing overall. Oh yeah, and don't forget about
sea level rise too.woody with a view - 5-20-2011 at 10:56 AM
and the sky will be falling.
c'mon, folks. your memory is the great equalizer......
it WAS always better yesterday!Bajamatic - 5-20-2011 at 06:01 PM
Cue Skeet with a story about complete disregard for the environment;
'This one time, in loreto, I stuck my rattless snake up my ying-yang.'Cardon Man - 5-21-2011 at 03:13 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by Osprey
•Barracuda and green jacks began to show for the first time in decades
•Serious green pompano numbers here, perhaps more than ever before
Green jacks..Carangoides caballus, for the first time in decades? This specie is very common at the East Cape. Are we talking about the same fish?
Aka...cocinero?
Also...what is a green pompano?Osprey - 5-21-2011 at 04:03 PM
Cardon, when I fish inside for sierra I catch a lot of cravelle, roosters but this year the green jacks showed up at our new jetties. We are talking
about cocinero and they just have not been inside with the others in years that I know of. As for pompano, I think they are talking about permit
because they are big hogs and when I questioned all the charter guys they said they were not Africans.Cardon Man - 5-22-2011 at 12:44 PM
Hola Osprey... Interesting observation on the cocineros.
Regarding the big pompano...I wasn't aware that there were permit, or even indo-pacific permit in Baja. The only fish I can think of that is
permit-like and could be large enough to cause any confusion is the blackblotch pompano, Trachinotus kennedyi. I've not seen one at East Cape. Though
I believe the lower gulf is within their range. The Paloma Pompano, Trachinotus paitensis, has the look of a permit also. But they don't get
particularly big. I wonder what specie they are catching if they say they aren't Africans.
