Marine Recreation and Safety

Home > Publications > Previous Publications > Marine Recreation and Safety

• The Aquarium Hobby Industry and Invasive Species: Has Anything Changed?

  Author(s): Linda Walters, Rachel Odom and Susan Zaleski
  USCSG-R-05-2011
  Between 2000 and 2006, the marine macroalgal genus Caulerpa was in the forefront of invasion biology conversations resulting from introductions of C taxifolia in the Mediterranean Sea and coastal waters of California and Australia; C racemosa in the Mediterranean Sea and Canary Islands waters; and C brachypus in Florida waters. In California, eradication of two infestations of C taxifolia required 6 years and over US$7 million, with "success" declared in 2006 (Walters 2009). In the paper titled "E-commerce and Caulerpa: unregulated dispersal of invasive species" (Front Ecol Environ 2006; 4[2]: 75–79), Walters et al. hypothesized that species within the Caulerpa genus were being dispersed by professional aquarists and amateur hobbyists. By investigating local and internet retail purchases (including transactions on eBay), my colleagues and I determined that the aquarium hobbyist industry readily transported members of this genus throughout the US. The seller listed the correct genus and species of the material they offered only 10.6% of the time, and fewer than 1% of sellers provided information on the dangers of releasing unwanted aquarium organisms into coastal waters.

• The Impact of Intense Recreational Fishing Pressure on Spawning Aggregations of Barred San Bass (Paralabrax Nebulifer) off the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area

  Author(s): Larry G. Allen, Ph.D.
  USCSG-TR-05-2010 - PDF
  The barred sand bass (Paralabrax nebulifer) has become one of the staples of the near shore recreational fishing fleet of southern California, an area that is populated by more than 20 million people. Since the late 1970s, the barred sand bass (commonly referred to simply as "sand bass") has consistently ranked among the top five species in the southern California marine recreational fish catch. From 2000-2003 sand bass ranked first or second in the recreational fishery off southern California only being supplanted once by Pacific (=chub) mackerel during that time.
  
  However, since the year 2004 catches of barred sand bass have fallen off precipitously. This valuable marine resource is the target of a highly directed fishery on spawning aggregations, mostly by lower income urban fishers who can afford a modest price for a boat ticket. The impact of the intensive fishing on this critically important species off the heavily urbanized coasts of Los Angeles and Orange counties is totally unknown.
  
  The major sand bass fishing sites in the Southern California Bight include the Silver Strand, Del Mar, San Onofre, the Huntington Flats, the inshore portion of northern Santa Monica Bay off Pacific Palisades, Santa Monica, and the Ventura Flats. Estimates of annual barred sand bass landings from all sport fishing activities (shore, pier, private boat, and Commercial Passenger Fishing Vessels, CPFVs) from 1980 to 2006 averaged 822,000 fish and ranged as high as 2,122,000 in 1988. Between 1988 and 2002 catches remained relatively stable with peaks in 1989 (1,296,000), 2000 (1,130,000), and 2002 (1,062,000). By 2008 and 2009, annual catches in southern California waters had fallen off to 130,000 and 106,000 fish (Figure 1). From 1980 on, CPFVs and private boats have taken the vast majority of sand bass while fishing the summer spawning aggregations (Figure 2). As fishing effort targeting barred sand bass has increased, concern has been voiced that the stock is becoming over-exploited. The recent decline in catches in this major recreational fishery is cause for great concern.

• Microbiological water quality at non-human influenced reference beaches in southern California during wet weather

  John F. Griffith, Kenneth C. Schiff, Gregory S. Lyon, Jed A. Fuhrman
  ©2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved - PDF
  Although urban wet weather discharges may have elevated concentrations of fecal indicator bacteria impacting water quality at swimming beaches, not all of these bacteria may arise from human sources. In this study, the contribution of non-human fecal indicator bacteria was quantified by sampling coastal reference beaches in southern California. Samples were collected at beaches near stormwater discharges from undeveloped watersheds and analyzed for total coliform, Escherichia coli, and enterococci. Surfzone samples exceeded water quality thresholds >10 times more frequently during wet weather than dry weather. Exceedences were greatest <24 h following rainfall, then steadily declined on successive days. Early season storms exceeded thresholds more frequently, and by greater magnitude, compared to late season storms. Large storms exceeded thresholds more frequently than smaller-sized storms, partly due to the breaching of sand berms. When discharges did reach the surf zone, bacterial concentrations in the wave wash were correlated with watershed bacterial flux.

• Beach Recreation, Cultural Diversity and Attitudes toward Nature

  Jennifer Wolch and Jin Zhang
  USCSG-R-03-2004 - ($2.00)

• Tiered Approach For Identification Of A Human Fecal Pollution Source At A Recreational Beach: Case Study At Avalon Bay, Catalina Island, California

  Alexandria B. Boehm, Jed A. Fuhrman, Robert D. Mr_e and Stanley B. Grant
  USCSG-R-10-2003 ($2.00)

• Executive Summary, Review Panel Report: Huntington Beach Phase III Final Draft Report, March 21, 2003

  USCSG-TR-02-2003 - PDF
  Phase III of the Huntington Beach Shoreline Contamination Investigation re-focused attention on the OCSD sewage outfall, with specific hypotheses concerning onshore transport of the sewage plume.

• Generation of Enterococci Bacteria in a Coastal Saltwater Marsh and Its Impact on Surf Zone Quality

  S.B. Grant, et al.
  USCSG-R-01-2001 ($2.00)

• Huntington Beach Closure Investigation:
  Technical Review

  USCSG-TR-01-2000 ($5.00) - PDF
  This report is the result of a technical review of the source investigation studies conducted during the closure of Huntington Beach in the summer of 1999.