MARTIN, KL*; JOHNSON, PB; MORAVEK, C; ASHLEY, R; MATSUMOTO, J; Pepperdine Univ.; Pepperdine Univ.; Pepperdine Univ.; Pepperdine Univ.; Pepperdine Univ.: Citizen scientists assess populations of an elusive, charismatic fish

For the past four years, California citizens have volunteered to monitor the spawning runs of the grunion in an effort to understand more about the species and the strength of its populations along the coast. The grunion, a small silver marine fish that spawns by moonlight on sandy beaches, eludes capture by standard fisheries methods. Prior to this study, the most recent range-wide assessment had been done in 1947. This fish supports a recreational fishery, and grunion runs are part of the culture and lore of southern California beaches. Starting in San Diego in 2002, our citizen science effort has now expanded statewide with more than 400 trained volunteers observing from over 50 beaches in 2005. From San Diego to the San Francisco area, volunteer Grunion Greeters report their data via a web questionnaire so that it is instantaneously available. Results are provided to beach workers and policy makers for use in management decision. This year Grunion Greeters identified previously unknown locations for grunion spawning runs, including a new northward range extension and a resident population in San Francisco Bay. They provided consistent, reliable observations on heavily used urban beaches across southern California for 10 nights during the peak of the spawning season, enumerating the number and density of grunion, the time of the run, any predators or human anglers, and weather features. Contributions from trained non-scientists have increased our understanding of the way that grunion use sandy beaches and have helped to mitigate human impacts on their critical spawning habitat. In addition, these observations have greatly enhanced our scientific understanding of the biology of this unique, elusive, charismatic fish. Funded by NOAA, Calif. Sea Grant College, and NFWF.