Much of our forage fish work is powered by community (citizen) science. Project Watershed is part of the Coastal Forage Fish Network where non-profits & NGOs, First Nations, and individuals collectively come together to collaborate on forage fish specific research, monitoring, and restoration. If you want to help find forage fish eggs and habitat on shorelines in your home reach-out with our sign-up form below. We provide training for groups and individuals on how to search for this very specific habitat and cryptic species. You can join one of our beach monitoring teams or start up your own! 

Being part of a beach spawning forage fish monitoring team involves visiting beaches, collecting sand, and using microscopes. This work has opportunities to suit everyone’s abilities and talents, you can join in for all of it, or focus on specific tasks. As part of the training our biologists will teach you how to assess beach habitat, layout transects, collect samples and preserve them. Back at the office/lab we will show you how to prepare samples and identify eggs under the microscope. 

We sample core beaches on suitable tides every 10 to 14 days in the winter sand lance spawning season, November to February. Once eggs are detected at our core beaches, we begin blitz surveys. Blitz surveys involve sampling as many suitable beaches as possible. We sample core beaches once a month throughout the year, as surf smelt are known to spawn in every month. These surveys identify where important fish nursery habitats are and the long-term monitoring provides data about spawn timing, distribution, and long-term persistence. We are actively collaborating with researchers to improve our processes and better understand these important food web species.

Join us for beach fun!