Lopezians assembled at the The Community Center on January 15 to celebrate and learn more about Kwiaht's ongoing research into the diets of the juvenile chinook salmon who spend their summers around our islands. With wonderful live guitar and mandolin music in the background and several tables full of yummy home-made food, residents spent the evening exchanging information about the environmental activities they are involved with, and then heard a presentation by Russel Barsh about the 2010 salmon-seining season. With more charts and statistics than we have room to quote here, Russel noted that the chinook diets include large quantities of insects and larval crab and other crustaceans, as well as sand lance when they are available. The percentages consumed vary according to timing and availability. The forage fish provide more "bang for the buck" in terms of nutritional value, but the insects and crustaceans are often more abundant.
Shann Weston spoke during the evening to let people know about the 2011 Beach Watchers class, and Charlie, Kay, Beverly, Susan and Ann were among the Lopez Beach Watchers who attended.
The salmon-seining will continue at Watmough bight in the summer of 2011, with Beach Watcher and other community volunteers always welcome.
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