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Special Thanks to: SFPUC for all the help on this project. |
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In 2003 the LMTF grant committee partnered with San Francisco Beautiful, the Recreation and Parks Department and the San Francisco Parks Trust and applied for a grant from the California State Coastal Conservancy to allow us to complete four projects including a "Fisheries Community Study."
We were sucessful and in 2004 work began on a a scientific study of the lake with consultant Michael McGowan, PhD Fisheries Biologist.
His team conducted field surveys and in 2007 completed a comprehensive report their findings which can be found here. |
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| Crews are busy now taking samples of fish and planton as well as measuring water quality. |
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 A very healthy Large Mouth Bass |
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| Sampling Impound Lake
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Preliminary field sampling of benthos, fish, and zooplankton was undertaken on August 4 and August 10. Benthic samples were taken with a modified Peterson grab at 18 locations in the four parts of the lake: Impound, South, North, and East. Polychaetes, oligochaetes, and nematodes were found as well as fragments of arthropods (cumaceans and mysids).
Fish samples were taken with a 100 ft x 10 ft beach seine in the Impound Lake and at the eastern end of the South Lake and on the southern shore of the North Lake. Centrarchids (large mouth bass), embiotocids (tule perch), and cyprinids (minnows) were collected in the North Lake. Centrarchids (large mouth bass), cyprinids (carp and minnows), and embiotocids (tule perch) were collected in the South Lake. |
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| Zooplankton were collected with a 0.5m mouth diameter, 0.333mm mesh plankton net by vertical tow in each of the four lake basins. The small crustaceans Daphnia and copepods were present in the samples. |
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No fish were collected in the Impound Lake although this may have been due to disturbance in the water by a dog repeatedly fetching a tennis ball just before our sampling.
Different size classes of bass, minnows, and tule perch were present in the collections indicating that these species are reproducing in the lake. Two large carp were collected. Except for a few specimens all fish were returned alive to the lake after identifying and measuring them. The next sampling will include use of traps, long-lines with hooks, and rod and reel to collect species not yet caught such as catfish, known to occur in the lake and perhaps other species that have been reported there in the past. |
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| The Lake Merced Task Force was founded to address the deterioration and the Lake's sustainability as one of San Francisco's most valuable natural and recreational areas.
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