324 



Abstract— In August and September 

 of 1997 and 1998, we used SCUBA 

 techniques to surgically implant Vemco 

 V16 series acoustic transmitters in 6 

 greenspotted rockfish iSehastes chlo- 

 rostictus) and 16 bocaccio (S. paucitipi- 

 nis) on the flank of Soquel Canyon in 

 Monterey Bay, California. Fish were 

 captured at depths of 100-200 m and 

 reeled up to a depth of approximately 

 20 m, where a team of SCUBA divers 

 anesthetized and surgically implanted 

 acoustic transmitters in them. Tagged 

 fish were released on the seafloor at the 

 location of catch. An array of recording 

 receivers on the seafloor enabled the 

 tracking of horizontal and vertical fish 

 movements for a three-month period. 

 Greenspotted rockfish tagged in 1997 

 exhibited almost no vertical movement 

 and showed limited horizontal move- 

 ment. Two of these tagged fish spent 

 more than 90'^r of the time in a 0.58-km'- 

 area. Three other tagged greenspotted 

 rockfish spent more than 60'^t of the 

 time in a 1.6-km- area but displayed 

 frequent horizontal movements of at 

 least 3 km. Bocaccio exhibited some- 

 what greater movements. Of the 16 

 bocaccio tagged in 1998, 10 spent less 

 than lO^'r of the time in the approx- 

 imately 12-km- study area. One fish 

 stayed in the study area for about 50'/{ 

 of the study time. Signals from the 

 remaining 5 fish were recorded in the 

 study area the entire time. Bocaccio fre- 

 quently moved vertically 10-20 m and 

 occasionally displayed vertical move- 

 ments of 100 m or greater 



Movements of bocaccio (Sebastes paucispinis) 

 and greenspotted (S. chlorostictus) rockfishes 

 in a Monterey submarine canyon: 

 implications for the design of marine reserves 



Richard M. Starr 



University of California Sea Grant Extension Program 

 8272 Moss Landing Road 

 Moss Landing, Calilornia 95039 

 E-mail address: Starnaimlml calstateedu 



John N. Heine 

 Jason M. Felton 

 Gregor M. Cailliet 



Moss Landing Manne Laboratones 

 8272 Moss Landing Road 

 Moss Landing, California 95039 



Manuscript accepted 19 September 2001. 

 Fish. Bull, 100:324-337 (2002), 



Rockfishes (Sebastes spp, ) are an impor- 

 tant component of the commercial and 

 recreational fisheries on the U,S. west 

 coast. Recent stock assessments con- 

 ducted by the Pacific Fishery Manage- 

 ment Council (PFMC) have indicated 

 large population declines for several 

 species of rockfishes (PFMC), For 

 example, bocaccio (Sebastes paucispi- 

 nis) abundance was estimated by Mac- 

 Call et al.- to be 2-A^7c of pre-harvest 

 levels, causing bocaccio to be formally 

 designated as overfished by the U.S. Na- 

 tional Marine Fisheries Sei-vice. This 

 severe population decline prompted con- 

 servation organizations such as the 

 World Conservation Union to consider 

 bocaccio to be at high risk of extinction 

 (lUCN, 1996). Even as management reg- 

 ulations have become more stringent, 

 however, bocaccio populations continue 

 to decline (MacCall et al.-'). 



As a result of these population de- 

 clines, new management techniques, 

 such as marine reserves, have been 

 contemplated for west coast rockfishes 

 (Yoklavich, 1998). Marine reserves cur- 

 rently are being considered as supple- 

 ments to traditional fishery manage- 

 ment schemes in many places aroimd 

 the world ( Agardy, 1997; Allison et al,, 

 1998), Marine reserves can serve as 

 undisturbed areas for research, as re- 

 gions designated for limited harvest, or 

 as fishery exclusion zones where fishes 



can take refuge from exploitation (Mur- 

 ray et al., 1999). They also can serve as 

 a buffer for management trials and as 

 sources for recruits to fisheries (John- 

 son et al., 1999; Nowlis and Roberts, 

 1999). The effectiveness of marine re- 

 serves for conservation of heavily fished 

 species, however, is dependent upon the 

 size, shape, and location of reserves 

 and on rates of movement of the pro- 

 tected species (Polacheck, 1990; DeMar- 

 tini, 1993; Lauck et al.. 1998). In this 

 respect, an understanding of the rates 

 and directions of daily movements of 

 rockfishes is vital to understanding the 

 value of marine reserves for these spe- 

 cies (Can- et al,, 1998; Starr. 1998). 



' PFMC ( Pacific Fishery Management Coun- 

 cil). 1999. Status of the Pacific coast 

 gi-oundfish fishery through 1999 and rec- 

 ommended acceptable biological catches 

 for 2000: stock assessment and fishery 

 evaluation. Pacific Fishery Management 

 Council, 2130 SW Fifth Avenue, Suite 224. 

 Portland, OR. 



- MacCall, A. D.. S. Ralston, D. Pearson, and 

 E.Williams. 1999. Status of bocaccio off 

 California in 1999 and outlook for the next 

 millenium. In Appendix: status of the 

 Pacific coast groundfish fishery through 

 1999 and recommended acceptable biologi- 

 cal catches for 2000: stock assessment and 

 fishery evaluation. Pacific Fishery Man- 

 agement Council. 2130 SW Fifth Avenue, 

 Suite 224. Portland. OR. 



