Monitoring forage fish is one of the ways we can gain a better understanding of the ecosystem and its health. Forage fish are an important source of food for animals such as salmon, seals, and a variety of seabirds. Great Peninsula Conservancy (GPC) will be working closely with Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) biologists to pilot a volunteer monitoring program for surf smelt and sand lance spawning on one of our favorite Key Peninsula shorelines — McDermott Point Preserve! Help GPC and WDFW get the program started by attending our Forage Fish Survey Training on Tuesday, March 18th from 9:30am-4pm. What better way to learn about the importance of forage fish in our region than on one of GPC’s most beautiful Key Pen preserves while getting hands-on with survey procedures led by experts from WDFW? Use the training to decide if you’d like to sign up for future survey opportunities!

What to expect:

• Learn about forage fish from WDFW biologists
• Take a field trip to a GPC preserve to perform a beach site assessment
• Collect and process samples
• Meet conservation-minded neighbors
• Sign up for future surveys

Accessibility: The majority of the training will take place at the Longbranch Improvement Club (4312 Key Pen Hwy SW, Longbranch, WA) where we will have use of their heated meeting room, kitchen, and bathrooms for the day. Please remember to BYO lunch or snacks for our midday break. After lunch we will take a brief excursion to GPC’s McDermott Point Preserve just a few minutes down the road. Directions to this preserve will be provided via email to the attendees who have completed registration. Accessing the site will require a hike down a moderately steep trail to the sandy shoreline. Total distance out and back: ~.25 mile. GPC recommends that all attendees come dressed for the weather and in comfortable footwear. Waders won’t be necessary during our visit, but rubber boots are recommended.