Fish abundance in the Elwha River estuary, Washington, from 2006 to 2014

This portion of the data release presents fish abundance data from samples collected in the Elwha River estuary, Washington, in 2006, 2007, 2013, and 2014 (no associated USGS Field Activities numbers because data were collected predominantly by biologists from the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe). We used the Puget Sound beach seining protocol (Simenstad and others, 1991) to sample fish populations in the Elwha River estuary complex. The beach seine was 38 m long x 2 m deep, with a 2 m x 2 m bag in the center of the net; mesh size was 3.18 mm, 6.35 mm, and 31.75 mm, for the bag, center panel, and wings, respectively. The seine net was deployed from bank to bank by a small skiff and then pulled on shore. The number of seines conducted each month varied based on estuary conditions and staff availability. Captured fish were quickly transferred to 20-liter plastic buckets filled with aerated estuary water, individually identified, counted, measured, and released at the point of capture. The locations of seines were determined with a hand-held global positioning system (GPS). Fish abundance is reported as catch per unit effort (CPUE), calculated as the total number of each fish species caught in all seines at each site and date, divided by the number of seines conducted. Fish abundance data are provided in a comma-delimited spreadsheet (.csv).