El Niño brings warm waters and unusual fish species to Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Warmer ocean temperatures associated with El Niño are bringing unusual numbers of fish species into Bay Area waters, according to fishermen and marine scientists who say they are seeing large concentrations of bonito and Pacific bluefin tuna in areas where they are not commonly found.

Commercial fisherman and charter boat operator Matt Juanes said the recent fishing season has produced catches that are uncommon for Northern California waters.

Juanes operates charter trips and also fishes commercially for crab and salmon aboard his vessel, the Plumeria. Recently, he and other anglers have encountered large numbers of bonito.

"It's pretty rare. Ten years, 12 years, I think is the last time that we've seen them out here," Juanes said.

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Luiz Rocha of the California Academy of Sciences said bonito are typically found farther south.

"Bonito is a subtropical species, so it's normally in the LA to Santa Barbara area and now it's coming up here, so that's very unusual," Rocha said.

Dustin Barbane, owner of D&D Fishing Co., said the number of bonito being caught has been remarkable.

"There's tons and tons of them out there right now," Barbane said. "Right now all the bonito off of our coastline is pretty crazy. I've seen some charter boats putting in like 150 to 160 bonito in a day, which is pretty unheard of."

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Barbane, who typically fishes for salmon along the Marin County coastline and near Point Reyes, said he also encountered Pacific bluefin tuna feeding about 40 miles southwest of the Golden Gate Bridge last month.

"I'd say it was probably the biggest massive bluefin we've seen up here in a really long time," Barbane said.

Scientists say the fish are being drawn north by warmer-than-normal ocean temperatures and available food sources.

"So this time of the year, normally the bay in the San Francisco area is about 58 degrees, and right now it's 62, so that's quite a bit above normal," Rocha said. "And whenever that happens, fish that are normally further south, like bonito, like bluefin tuna, they come up further north."

For commercial fishermen, the unusual catches have added interest to the season as they continue working before the commercial salmon fishing season ends Wednesday.