Assessing Pier Association and Long-Term Movements of California Halibut Paralichthys californicus and White Croaker Genyonemus lineatus

California halibut (CH) and white croaker (WC) are important food fishes commonly taken by fishers from coastal fishing piers in southern California.  Both are known to contain variable amounts of tissue contamination resulting in consumption guidelines.  To document attraction to and association with fishing piers, we passively monitored the movements of 42 CH and 198 WC using passive acoustic telemetry within the Los Angeles Harbor for 1.5 years.  Average residency times for fish detected within 300 m of the pier are approximately 90.5 days for CH and 32 days for WC.  Only 18% of WC and 6% CH tagged from other region of the harbor (> 1 km away) were detected migrating to the pier and spent < 10 min within 300 m of the pier.  When in detection range of the pier, 32% of CH and 8% WC positions were within 50 m of the pier.  Though both species are frequently caught near fishing piers, CH show the greatest potential affinity for pier habitat.