This is the longest-lasting warmwater event I can remember, and bear in mind that I’m 200 or 300 years old. Well, maybe not, but sometimes I feel that way.
One way fishing captains monitor a warm-water event is by the unusual catches we see of fish that should be hundreds of miles to the south. Recent catches are raising eyebrows.
A few days ago, on my charter boat WaveWalker, a customer caught a 4-pound triggerfish. That would be an odd catch even during the summer in the Santa Barbara Channel, but for mid-November it signals an impressive warm-water event.
I talked to other fishing skippers and learned some of them have been encountering trigger fish.
There have been catches of these southern fish that I can remember, and they are all associated with El Niño events. This is about the third year for this current warmwater event, so it is the longest I can remember.
In the long-term give and take of oceanic conditions, experience tells me this warm-water event will ultimately be answered with an equal or greater reaction or cold-water event. Each has its place and function in the health of the ocean and the natural-management of various species of critters.
During this warm-water period, we’ve been enjoying better than usual populations and recruitment of calico bass and sand bass. We’ve still got some bonito around. There are current rumors of bluefin tuna off the south side of the Channel Islands. And, we have triggerfish.
When the trend reverses in the cyclic manner that the ocean behaves, we’ll likely have a period when the warm-water species seem less abundant or at least less active, and they may not have as many babies as when the water is warm, their metabolism is high, they are feeding aggressively and able to turn that food energy into spawning productivity.
We’ll have a period when cold-water species like rockfish and lingcod and other members of the benthic community will flourish. There will be great recruitment years for some of these species.
That is how Ma Nature balances things out and keeps the ocean a place of life. Meanwhile, I must admit, it is fun catching triggerfish.
— Capt. David Bacon operates WaveWalker Charters and is president of SOFTIN Inc., a nonprofit organization providing seafaring opportunities for those in need. Visit softininc.blogspot.com to learn more about the organization and how you can help. Click here to read previous columns. The opinions expressed are his own.
