Monterey Bay Salmon and Trout Project Facts

About the MBSTP : The Monterey Bay Salmon & Trout Project ( MBSTP ) is a membership-based nonprofit 501c3 organization , the governance structure of which is very grass-roots democracy . Dues-paying members elect Directors to two-year terms by popular vote .

Each year , approximately half of the Board of Directors is elected . It is an open election , in that any member may appeal to the Board to be included on the ballot . Any MBSTP member of record is an eligible candidate through the ‘ write-in ’ option .

Annual hatchery activity reports are available HERE Annual financial reports for the organization are available HERE

The Board of Directors serves without compensation , but each Board member finds the position extremely rewarding through their support of MBSTP programs , which make great fisheries conservation accomplishments possible . For more information , go to : https :// mbstp . org / about-us / project-history

The Beginning : The Monterey Bay Salmon and Trout Project was founded in 1976 by Dr . Tom Thompson of the University of California , Santa Cruz to address the problems of declining anadromous fish populations of the Monterey Bay area .

The Project is made up of concerned individuals , landowners , businesses , angling clubs and community groups from the greater Monterey Bay area and extending into San Mateo , San Benito and Santa Clara County . While our agency is based in Santa Cruz County , our support and membership range throughout the South San Francisco Bay area and Central California .

The Project ’ s first facilities were located at the City of Salinas wastewater percolation ponds . Rearing facilities were then moved to a private pond in Salinas . Salmon were raised to parr size and then transferred to holding pens at Moss Landing and Monterey where they were fed and acclimated until they reached the size and maturity for natural migration to the ocean , at which time they were released .

Organizational sponsorships grew from 4-H clubs , Rotary , Lions and Kiwanis clubs , county fish and game advisory committees , to rod and gun clubs , fly fishing groups , commercial fishing associations and corporate foundations . MBSTP became more expert in the production difficulties of relatively large-scale fish rearing , and started to develop formal operating procedures and accumulate the necessary equipment for rigorous water quality monitoring and fish rearing .

During the first five years of Project operation , through 1980 , the California Department of Fish and Game gave MBSTP 21,500 coho salmon fingerlings of which almost 20,000 were raised in Elkhorn Slough and Monterey Harbor to enhance the sport and commercial fisheries of Monterey Bay . In 1980 , the Project received 20,000 steelhead trout fingerlings of which 17,040 were released into the Pajaro River in March , 1981 .

Año Nuevo Point ( New Years Island )

To San Francisco Año Nuevo State Reserve

Natural Bridges State Park

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Fishing Notes

Davenport

Santa Cruz Wharf

• Barred Perch are found mainly off the beaches and at the end of piers near the surf line . Among the top places to pursue them are Natural Bridges , Twin Lakes , Capitola , New Brighton , Seacliff , Manresa , Sunset , Zmudowski , Moss Landing , Salinas River , Marina and Monterey state beaches . Redtail and Silver Perch also show occasionally in the catches off the beaches . Fishing plastic grubs such as the Berkley Gulp saltwater products on light 6 to 10 pound test spinning gear has become increasingly popular in recent years . Pileworms , bloodworms , mussels , grass shrimp and sand crabs are the top baits .

• Rubberlip , Black , Rainbow , Striped , Splittail , Walleye , Pile and Shiner Perch are caught around pilings around wharves and around rocky stretches of shoreline . Among the many good areas to try include the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf , Cement Ship at Seacliff State Beach , Elkhorn Slough and Monterey Fisherman ’ s Wharf # 2 .

• Brown , blue , grass and kelp rockfish , cabezon and lingcod are also taken by shore-based anglers pursuing the perch , particularly in rocky areas with kelp .

• Make sure that you check the CDFW ’ s Ocean Sport Fishing regulations on the web ( https :// wildlife . ca . gov / Fishing / Ocean ) before going fishing to review the latest seasons , bag limits and other regulations .

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Santa Cruz Small Craft Harbor

Twin Lakes St . Beach

Santa

Cruz Capitola

San Lorenzo R .

Cypress Point

17

Soquel Point

To San Jose

Capitola Pier

Manresa St . Beach

Fisherman ‘ s Fisherman ‘ s

Wharf # 2

Wharf Point Piños

Carmel River St . Beach

Capitola St . Beach New Brighton St . Beach

Aptos

Seacliff St . Beach

Sunset 1

St . Beach

Zmudowski

St . Beach Moss Landing Pier & St . Beach

Presidio of Monterey

Annex

Monterey Seaside

Pebble Pacific Grove

Beach Carmel Highway

Carmel

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Salinas River St . Beach

Marina St . Beach

Moss Landing

Marina

Salinas

17 Mile Drive Carmel River

To San Luis Obispo

Pajaro R .

G17

1 CSUS Monterey

Watsonville Sl .

Watsonville

Castroville

183

156

Salinas

The Santa Crab Classic was a family-oriented event , with many parents and their children participating in the perch tournament .

Photo by Dan Bacher

second with a 10 inch rubberlip perch weighing 12 ounces . The “ most exotic ” division winners were : ( 1 ) Nick Brenson with a 20 inch , 5 lb . cabezon ; ( 2 ) Callen Olsen with a leopard shark ; and ( 3 ) Jake D . with a leopard shark . The winners all received trophies . As usual , the Sand Crab Classic in Santa Cruz was a fun grassroots community event featuring many raffle prizes , delicious food and lots of good times . Information : https :// www . sandcrabclassic . com / index . php . I still remember the first day the Sand Crab classic was held in January 2005 , On that first day , a big Pacific storm hit the coast , with lots of rain and wind . Yet anglers still caught numerous quality perch all around Monterey Bay . While I was on the Santa Cruz Wharf that inaugural day alone , I witnessed anglers catch seven varieties of surfperch , including barred , black , rainbow , striped , shiner , walleye and rubberlip perch . The money raised in the event goes to fund the following programs and others of the Monterey Bay Salmon and Trout Project :

Coho - MBSTP works in partnership with the NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center and CDFW to support coho salmon restoration through a captive broodstock program . As part of collaborative intra-agency efforts to recover coho salmon on California ’ s central coast , thousands of smolts are released every spring through the MBSTP coho salmon Cooperative Rearing Program . To provide these smolts , adult spawning pairs are selected from specific and diverse relationships within gene pools local to central California , ensuring that every fish released is as well-suited to the local environment as possible . The Cooperative Rearing Program also assists with research addressing limiting factors of fish in the wild , such as the prevention of diseases endemic to the habitat , and best recovery practices for endangered salmon of the Monterey Bay region . Steelhead - MBSTP is currently in the application process for federal permits to continue collection of steelhead broodstock to facilitate recovery of local populations . As part of the MBSTP Integrated Steelhead Recovery Program ( ISRP ), fish will be partially spawned and released back in to the wild to complete their natural upstream migration . Since unlike other salmon , steelhead repeatedly spawn throughout their lives , this partial spawning enables adult steelhead to reproduce naturally while still supporting a conservation program . Propagation of the eggs in a hatchery ensures maximum survival of genetically-local steelhead to the adult stage . These fish will then be released as smolts into area streams and rivers , namely the San Lorenzo River and Scott Creek watersheds . To support the recovery of wild steelhead , MBSTP also engages in stranding rescues on a number of streams throughout the greater Monterey Bay area . Local tributaries often run dry towards the end of summer due both to natural conditions and human water diversions . When this happens , juvenile steelhead can become stranded and trapped in the drying streams , eventually dying due to asphyxiation .

Dave Ressa of Los Gatos , the first place winner of the men ’ s barred perch division of the San Crab Classic in Santa Cruz , holds up the two largest perch that he caught in Monterey Bay on March 9 .

Photo by Dan Bacher

In a stranding rescue , MBSTP works in partnership with CDFW and Santa Cruz County to facilitate the capture and transport of these fish to more suitable habitats . Last summer , MBSTP and our partners rescued over 1,000 juvenile steelhead from area streams ! Chinook - MBSTP has released millions of juvenile chinook salmon to Monterey Bay over the past 20 years . Chinook salmon smolts are obtained from the CDFW-operated Mokelumne Hatchery and transported to the coast for release into the ocean environment . This is done as part of a CDFW effort to mitigate losses of chinook salmon sustained during outmigration from river systems throughout central California . This program directly and measurably supports commercial and sport fisheries of the Monterey Bay area . As of 2014 , MBSTP has released over 4 million chinook salmon smolts into Monterey Bay . Ongoing Coded Wire Tag ( CWT ) studies are being conducted by CDFW to track the recovery of fish from these releases . Preliminary results from the tags recovered by anglers indicate that about 3 % of the fish MBSTP releases are caught by anglers . That adds up to thousands of salmon every year !