When scientists and citizen activists want to implement regulations to protect the shoreline, one of the things that they are attempting to protect is spawning habitat for a critical piece of our ecosystem, such as sand lance. These fish spawn on the shore, and nearshore, and supply food for salmon, and most other species of fish that we eat. So the inconvenience of protecting some shorelines is off set by the food resource all of us get from it.
While much attention is paid to herring spawning, kelp habitats are critical for a number of forage fish species and life history stages, including young of the year sand lance. Here’s a glimpse of this captivating and beautiful component of our marine ecosystem. (Coastal Watershed Institute)
Nearshore Spring 2015 https://vimeo.com/126381367
Filed under: Puget Sound | Tagged: kelp, Puget Sound, sand lance |
How does your organization respond to the long time practice of the shellfish industry dumping tonnes of pesticides into the Puget Sound to eradicate pests like burrowing shrimp and eelgrass that is vital to the marine food chain and that the industry successfully lobbied the State of Washington to have removed from the protected species list. Silence only supports dumping more toxins into the Puget Sound. This practice highlights an industry that puts profit and increasing productivity ahead of either health or preserving and protecting a fragile marine ecosystem.
Al, here is another look at forage fish. This video a good complement to the video you posted, and rounds out the story by showing various facets of how their eggs are monitored.
http://pugetsoundblogs.com/trails-and-tides/2015/02/17/video-the-search-for-eggs-in-the-sand/