Yesterday was my last day with Fish and Wildlife. Since my last post, we’ve been busy trying to finish all the end of the season chores like data analysis, write-ups, and gear cleaning. We didn’t get to everything though because a few things came up. One day we spent with USGS sampling adult suckers in Clear Lake, CA. It consisted of pulling a seine net between two boats and then pulling it up to shore and collecting all the fish from it. We also pulled up a few trammel nets that were set out at specific spots to get fish swimming in the area.

Releasing tagged juvenile sucker fish!

We also had to tag and release our last net-pen of fish and we were able to take a reporter out with us so she could do a write-up of our season. We were lucky to have zero mortality from tagging and released a few hundred healthy juvenile suckers between all of our net-pens. So hopefully in a few years we’ll see them spawning!

Overall, I had a great season out here and learned a lot about sucker fish, lake systems, the west and all the challenges it presents. I’ve never worked in an area where water was such an issue, so it was definitely interesting to see how water availability affected things over the season. I have a background in marine science, but after this season I’m definitely more open to working with freshwater resources. I’ve also realized that I want to go into a more active management career such as working for Fish and Wildlife or USGS instead of working in academia, which is what I previously thought I wanted to do.

I got to work with a great crew this season and I’m sad to leave them, but I’m definitely ready for the next thing, which I don’t actually know what that is yet. But I also feel much more prepared for grad school or another job, whichever comes first, after learning all sorts of great new skills. I feel like thanks to CLM and everyone at my office I’m more confident and ready to take on anything new!

Sucker fish lips!