By: Zoey Pittman
It’s a warm, breezy afternoon on the water. You’ve been fishing since the crack of dawn and nothing has been biting. Contemplating calling it a day, you finally feel a bite, quickly reel it in and realize you have no idea what you just caught.
“What’s My Bait?” is a project that schools UGA and Coastal Georgia have been partnering to develop a platform that identifies fish breeds in Georgia’s coastal estuaries.
The project is funded through from the National Estuary Research Survey System Science Collaborative Transfer Grant and mainly takes place on Sapelo Island.
This idea came about when researcher, Rachel Lane, noticed that there was not an easy, accessible place for people to identify their fish and what stage of life it is in.
“I would have to go through 6 or 7 sources just to find a guide on the fish I was holding,” said Lane.
In Lane’s post graduate work, she studied desert pupfish and that is what got her interested in climate change effects on the fish.
From there, she went to UGA to work on research of juvenile fish in estuaries, looking at things like habitat and sea level changes.
This project is intended to create a platform that scientists, researchers or local fishermen can refer to when they have a question about a fish they caught.
The website, “What’s My Bait?” will have the ability to help people determine where the fish is at the stage of its life or if it has responded to habitat changes.
Estuaries play a major role in the health of Georgia’s coast. It provides a habitat for many fish populations, supports healthy water systems, protects the land from storms and much more, said Lane.
“Seafood is the last wild caught animal that we still commercially sell, so protecting their habitat is critical for protecting the species,” said Lane.
There are 11 stations that are mainly along Sapelo Island, and at each station a team of researchers check water quality, collect data about general weather or water conditions and examine any fish caught.
Whenever a team goes out in the field, they throw a small net, similar to the ones used for shrimp fishing, let the net set for five minutes and then bring it back into the boat.
Once the net is retrieved, the team sorts through all the fish and takes note of their size. They use the size of the fish to figure out if the fish is a juvenile or not.
“We associate the size of the fish with their habitat,” said Lane.
Fish utilize different parts of the estuaries based on the physical and nutritional needs. For instance, younger fish have smaller mouths and are weaker swimmers, therefore their environment would have to accommodate the fish.
“Not only are we hoping that the data can be used on how things are changing in the environment, but it's also going to be a resource for people to go and learn about estuaries in Georgia,” said Bryan Fluech, who is a part of the boat crew and hires students.
This project has also been an opportunity for students going to college at UGA and College of Coastal Georgia.
Part of the goal for this was to give students the opportunity to gain experience in a science field and also learn the process of doing research.
“Right now we don’t have any major trends but one of the goals is giving training opportunities for students,” said Fluech.
Megan Mathis, majoring in biology with a concentration in marine biology at College of Coastal Georgia, had the opportunity to be involved with “What’s My Bait?” over the summer of 2023.
During Mathis’s time working with the program, she was able to go out into the field and collect data.
Being a data collector for the team, it gave her a good idea for what field research is like on the water, said Mathis.
“It was valuable working with a team who is more knowledgeable on something and then you can gain from that and take it with you,” said Mathis.
The project started in October of 2023 and will end in September 2024. The website will also go live once the project has been completed.
“What’s My Bait?” is a long-term project, so as more species changes are discovered, the website will be updated. Scientists, students, and even local fishermen will benefit from having a central place to learn about the fish in their estuaries.