Ten volunteer fishermen spent Wednesday test fishing in the Cape Perpetua Marine Reserve and then Thursday in a non-reserve area off Seal Rock. All anglers use the same fishing tackle and techniques during 15-minute drifts through designated research cells to compare the number and size of fish in each area. (Roy W. Lowe photo)

This was a fishing trip of a different kind.

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife took 10 volunteers out twice this week – Wednesday and Thursday – to catch rockfish inside and outside the Cape Perpetua Marine Reserve as part of a decades-long study of the impact of prohibiting recreational and commercial fishing in the reserve. ODFW is also fish-testing waters this year in the Cascade Head reserve, one of five off the Oregon coast.

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife biologists measure a canary rockfish during a fish testing trip in the Cape Perpetua Marine Reserves. Any fish caught are measured, sex determined when possible, some are tagged, and all are released alive. (Roy W. Lowe photo)

Under the instruction of ODFW staff, the volunteer anglers all use the same gear, fishing for 15 minutes then stopping for 15 minutes, then fishing again for 15 minutes for eight hours as the charter boat drifts through a grid to test fishing in areas used in previous research. The fish are measured, weighed and tagged when possible and then returned to the ocean.

The volunteers fished the Cape Perpetua reserve on Wednesday and then fished off Seal Rock on Thursday, which is outside the reserve and a popular spot for recreational fishers. There’s one more trip scheduled this spring and then the testing will return for three days in the two reserves in the late summer or early fall.

When compared to data from nearly identical fishing efforts dating back as far as 2010, ODFW researchers are able to track changes in catch rates, species caught and their sizes from before and after marine-reserve protections went into place.