Calling All Divers!

The Vancouver Aquarium invites you to take part in the 16th Annual Lingcod Egg Mass Survey

Lingcod, photo credits: Ken Wong

By taking part in the Annual Lingcod Egg Mass Survey, you are helping to gather important information about a valuable local resource. We ought to be very concerned when a stock has reached 3-5% of what it was a century ago. Divers participating in this annual survey collect information on the number, size, condition, and position of egg masses, as well as whether or not a guarding male is present. Data such as these help us determine the health of local lingcod populations.

The 2009 Survey will take place February 7 through March 8, 2009. During this time please dive as much as possible and gather data on lingcod egg masses. Data can then be submit data online. This survey is volunteer based so we need your help!

The lingcod is a bottom dwelling fish that inhabits the local waters of B.C.'s coast. Lingcod can grow up to five feet in length and weigh up to one hundred pounds. They are popular with both divers and fishermen.

The lingcod projects at the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre, including the Lingcod Egg Mass Survey and lingcod rearing in the research laboratory, have emerged due to serious concerns regarding the overfishing of lingcod stocks. Strait of Georgia Lingcod stocks are just 7-22% of what they were 100 years ago except for the Vancouver area, at less than 1%. In 1990, the commercial fishery for lingcod was stopped and in 2002, sportfishing for lingcod was banned in the Strait of Georgia.
Annual Lingcod Egg Mass Survey

In 1994 the Marine Life Sanctuaries Society (MLSS) created a project to involve the sport diving community in assisting with the collection of data on lingcod populations. At the time the commercial lingcod fishery in Georgia Strait had recently been closed, and the sport fishery was restricted by new size limits and annual bag limits. This project, now sponsored and organized by the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre, is called the Lingcod Egg Mass Survey (LEMS).

The survey is carried out just after mature female lingcod spawn. After spawning, the female retreats into deeper waters, leaving the male to guard the nest site. The size of the egg mass indicates the age of the spawning female and the number of egg masses observed in a given area help researchers determine lingcod abundance. The survey uses data collected by volunteer divers to evaluate the status of lingcod populations on the coast of B.C. These data provide information on the reproductive outputs of lingcod, as well as an insight into the age structure of the female lingcod population.

Last year volunteers from around British Columbia and Aquarium staff undertook 166 dives totaling 6,752 minutes underwater. In all, 360 egg masses were sighted, 115 in Howe Sound (the principal area of focus) and 245 in all other areas. If you would like to know more about last years results please download the 2008 Lingcod Egg Mass Survey Report using the link below. Thanks again to all the people that made last year a record for number of dives! Hopefully we can break that record this year!