El Niño bringing changes to Northern California ocean conditions and marine life

By Kenny Choi

Massive bluefin tuna are being reeled in off Northern California in numbers local fishermen say they rarely see. 

Dustin Barbane, who runs D&D Fishing Company out of Richmond, said crews are seeing bluefin feeding aggressively near the surface.

“We’re seeing them foaming, or busting up on anchovies,” Barbane said. “They’re eating bait on the surface.”

Bluefin tuna generally favor warmer water, and fishermen say this year’s catches have been unusually strong. 

“We’ve seen guys catch up to eight tuna in a day, which is pretty unheard of up here,” he said.

The unusual activity is not limited to tuna. Commercial fisherman Dick Ogg, based in Bodega Bay, said fishermen have noticed rapid shifts in water temperature, unusual concentrations of anchovies and even large numbers of giant octopus.

“It’s kind of a weird thing,” Ogg said. “All of a sudden guys were seeing 20, 25 octopus in their pots all of a sudden up and down the coast.”

“That warmer water transports things here that are normally not found here,” said Gary Griggs, an oceanographer and geologist at the University of California, Santa Cruz. 

Scientists at the UC Davis Bodega Marine Laboratory are closely monitoring changes in ocean conditions and marine life as El Niño develops.

Anthony Rogers, a natural resource economist with Ocean Conservancy, said strong El Niño conditions can have both ecological and economic consequences for California fisheries.

“Ten years ago we lost a lot of our kelp forest because of the heated water, and because of that, the purple urchin bloom happened as a result,” Rogers said.

The 2015-16 period brought a powerful El Niño that overlapped with a prolonged marine heat wave known as “the Blob.” Those warm water conditions coincided with a massive harmful algal bloom that produced domoic acid, forcing major delays and closures in California’s Dungeness crab fishery.

The disruption caused significant losses for commercial fishermen and coastal communities that depend on the crab season.

Fishermen are also watching what El Niño could mean for winter weather. 

At Spud Point Marina in Bodega Bay, a statue honors fishermen who have lost their lives at sea. Ogg said severe winter storms can increase the risks for crews trying to make a living during crab season.

“Things break, an individual can’t get help soon enough,” Ogg said. “It happens.”

For now, fishing guides such as Barbane are taking advantage of the chance to keep catching one of the ocean’s most-prized fish. Barbane said his charter crew plans to continue targeting bluefin tuna as long as the fish remain in Northern California waters, potentially into late this year.

If that happens, he said, it would be the longest bluefin season he has ever seen in the region.