Eat, Prey, Love: WDFW’s Forage Fish Research And Beach Spawn Surveys

Forage fish, or small schooling fish species that serve as important prey for larger fish, marine mammals, and sea birds are vitally important to supporting a thriving marine ecosystem. On this episode, Phillip Dionne, Washington State Forage Fish Research and Management Lead at WDFW, discusses forage fish research WDFW is involved in the southern Salish Sea, including annual macrovegetation ("rake") surveys for herring eggs and beach spawn surveys for smelt and sand lance eggs. We’ll also discuss how citizen scientists are a big part of the beach spawn survey effort.