Counting Fish

This weekend we once more journeyed to the Searsport area to get familiar with the machinations of seining. We gathered quite a crowd of interested onlookers young and old as we set up on a private beach and learned how best to deploy our beach seining nets. We were not interested in fishing for anything to keep or eat, but were there instead to begin to gather scientific information as to the density and diversity of fish that use the shallow waters around Searsport as refuge and haven.
Not surprisingly, it being fall and the shores being heavily forested, our most abundant catch was leaves! Shyly hidden among the harvest of  colorful foliage were a dozen small (1.25" to  2.5") almost transparent fry of (as yet) undetermined species and several krill. Each seining we caught more of the same and those wielding the nets became more proficient at controlling them. It was a beautiful day, though a bit chilly and the men in the water were thankful for the protection of their waders and neoprene wetsuits!

Several in the audience became involved as the nets moved through the shallows to the shore. Both small children and adults who rushed in to see what was in the nets were thrilled by the tiny fish and krill we landed, and just as happy to see them all returned  to the ocean once they'd been counted.
The real counts will begin later this fall when volunteers come together to help deploy the larger 60' net off the beaches around Sears Island. It is exciting to have such fun while doing something we believe will prove helpful to protecting the future of these vital coastal estuaries!