Menhaden Truce

[cheferson]

For now, a truce in the menhaden harvest debate

01:00 AM EST on Monday, December 3, 2007

By Peter B. Lord

Journal Environment Writer

NARRAGANSETT — The battle over menhaden in Narragansett Bay may have come to an end. At least for the time being.

Scientists, fishermen, policy makers and politicians gathered in Narragansett on Friday to address a feud between recreational and commercial fishermen over menhaden, or pogies, the herring-like fish that swarm into Narragansett Bay in schools of varying size each summer.

Recreational fishermen this year petitioned the state to ban a commercial purse seine boat from the Bay because they say it takes too many fish. Lobstermen insisted the boat is their last source of reasonably priced bait, and its catch is insignificant to overall menhaden stocks.

At least three things happened when the groups spent a day together:

The political leaders made it clear they would not intervene. State Sen. Susan Sosnowski, chairwoman of the Senate Committee on the Environment and Agriculture, said she would rely on state regulators to resolve the problem. State Rep. Jan Malik, chairman of the House Committee on the Environment, agreed, saying, “I hope we can work on this issue not just for one side or the other, but for the state of Rhode Island.”

Stephen J. Medeiros, president of the Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Association, a recreational fishing group, walked away happy.

“For years we were asking for a meeting like this. We wanted better science. We wanted observers on the bait boat. Nothing ever happened. So we used a sledgehammer [proposed legislation banning the bait boat] and all of a sudden things are happening.”

Minutes later, Russ Wallis, one of the most outspoken lobstermen, who feared a bait-boat ban would put him out of business, said he too wished the meeting had happened long ago.

“I personally thank you from the bottom of my heart,” said Wallis.

W. Michael Sullivan, director of the state Department of Environmental Management, said he believed the meeting was the beginning of a new regulatory era that will be more flexible, while remaining scientifically principled.

The conference was organized by Rhode Island Sea Grant and the DEM in an effort to address disputes surrounding legislation sought by the recreational fishermen to close the Bay to the one purse seine boat operated by Ark Bait Co. that catches menhaden for sale to lobstermen and others.

The idea was for scientists to present facts about the fish, and then have a discussion.

The recreational fishermen were convinced that overfishing the menhaden reduced the fishes’ ability to filter pollutants from Bay waters and their abundance as food for game fish such as stripers and blue fish. Lobstermen said their costs would soar if they lost the use of menhaden as bait. The owners of the bait boat said the ban would kill their 30-year-old business.

The General Assembly did not act in its last session, but the DEM did impose some catch restrictions and launched an aggressive effort to monitor fishing and track catches in real time. It put observers on the Ark Bait Co. boat and in the spotter plane the company used to find schools of fish.

Mark Gibson, a DEM fisheries manager, said it took a lot of time and effort to monitor and regulate the menhaden population in Narragansett Bay last summer. It surged upward and attracted out of state bait boats as well. He said he worried about trying to continue improving fisheries management at a time of state budget crisis.

The DEM estimated 12.4 million pounds of menhaden were in the Bay last summer and it set a catch limit of 50 percent of that total. The bait boats did not reach that limit, but DEM would have shut down the fishery if they had, Gibson said.

Most of the fish in the Bay were large and healthy, Gibson said. But the schools that delighted people in Providence by staying in the city’s rivers well into the fall were not healthy, Gibson said. Fish sampled from those schools lost so much weight scientists believe they were starving.

Dave Beutel, a Sea Grant fisheries expert, said historical records show that 100 years ago Rhode Island was one of the country’s hot spots for menhaden fishing. In 1889, 112 million pounds were landed in Rhode Island.

Local populations have dropped off dramatically since then, although Beutel said there was a peak of 24 million pounds in 1974 and another of 19 million pounds in 1989, before populations dropped to very low levels.

Beutel also found that fish kills are not just a modern problem. He learned of one a century ago that was much worse than the Greenwich Bay fish kill of three years ago. Fish died all over the Bay, he said, in such numbers that their carcasses littered South County beaches.

Ted Durbin, a scientist at the University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Oceanography, said the role of menhaden in filtering plankton from the Bay is more complicated than many people realize.

By filter-feeding, menhaden reduce zooplankton populations, Durbin said, but such reductions allow phytoplankton to bloom. Also, he said wastes excreted by menhaden support phytoplankton growth.

Nitrogen levels in the Bay are reduced when menhaden are harvested or migrate away. But Durbin said the effect is so small that you could not control nitrogen levels in the Bay by controlling menhaden.

Menhaden that migrate along the East Coast are not overfished, according to Brad Spear, who coordinates menhaden management plans for the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. Menhaden populations have been improving since the 1960s and 1970s, he said, as states banned reduction fishing — catching menhaden to process them into oil and food.

Only one fish processing plant remains, Spear said. The plant in Virginia processed 157,000 tons of menhaden in 2006. The total East Coast catch for bait was 26,000 tons in 2006 and Rhode Island accounted for a very small portion of that catch, maybe 5,000 to 6,000 tons.

During the last two years, fishermen and scientists have seen menhaden populations increasing, Spear said. Several scientists said 2005 was a big year for juvenile menhaden so stocks may well go higher next year as they migrate north again.

Near the end of the day, Richard Hittinger, a recreational fisherman, said his interests were the same as the commercial fishermen. “We all want clean water and an abundance of fish.”

Lanny Dellinger, president of the Rhode Island Lobstermen’s Association, agreed. “I’d rather work with you to improve the Bay’s health and make more fish for everybody.”

[RIROCKHOUND]

Meeting was run great.
A LOT of science and management was presented that shows that people know a lot more about Pogies than people think, AND all the BS water-quality claims AND overfishing claims, along with the impact of removing pogies from the bay were not valid.

Ted Durbin had the line of the day...
"You can't control Nitrogen in the bay by regulating the amount of Menhaden"

If you want to reduce nitrogen, lets focus on getting all the people along the Bay on Sewer lines instead of on out-dated septic!!!

[UserRemoved1]

Not good. So basically these guys met, walked away with observers and nothing is being done? Am I missing something?

"Most of the fish in the Bay were large and healthy, Gibson said. But the schools that delighted people in Providence by staying in the city’s rivers well into the fall were not healthy, Gibson said. Fish sampled from those schools lost so much weight scientists believe they were starving."

[striperman36]

Bugger that's the take I get from the story too.
BAU and let's hope we have some pogies next year. All those large fish in the bay stayed there well into June. I didn't see really large out on the Island until then.

I don't know about anyone else, but I did not find a single harbor on the Mass South Shore that held a large number of mature pogies in the fall. The small bait has been unreal but only small.

Has been this way for about 15 years. I would be very happy if we could find a way to control the harvest of this critical forage fish in NE.

[riverrat2]

Striperman if you couldnt find pogies on the MA south shore you were seriously missing something. I had a harder time finding a harbor on the mass south shore that didnt have adult pogies.

[striperman36]

Wareham?

[BassDawg]

Good to hear that a dialog has begun. These things take time to arrive at a consensual agreement that appeases ALL the interests involved. While on the outset it may seem like alot of gerrymandering and empty or shallow promises, it cain't hurt to have all partries convene on a regular basis. I was very glad to see DEM initiate proactive measures by establishing and enforcing real time catch limits for the Narragansett Bay. Baby steps, gents, baby steps.....................

Only spotted adult-sized once or twice up NShore way.
Spotted p-nuts very regularly. Although the BIG BLITZES from last year were strangely absent. Coupla small and sporadic ones off shore this year and not much in tight. Still, this was my best season yet, and only me second one at that!!!!

HOLY SHEET, am I jonesin' for next July already !!!!
Be a great time to read up, attend some shows and seminars, and replay/rehash the mistakes and snafus of '07. Just got Zeno'z new book, and was thinking of picking up one of Tim Coleman's books.
Any preferences gentlemen, or should I just breakdown and get them both ?

[RIROCKHOUND]

Scott;
You are missing several things. Some of which I may forget. These came from the notes I took at the meeting, remember I'm a geologist, not a biologist, so these are my opinions/observations on what was said...

1. DEM now observing and measuring/calculating how many pogies enter the bay using a bunch of data. All available data (and common sense) indicates they are underestimating the #, which is good since it reduces the actual % caught!)

2. They are sticking to the daily cap AND putting a quota at 50% of the amount of pogies that enter the bay. After that, no fishing.

3. Pogies remain not-overfished. There may be local variations, ASMFC is working on that. As far as the target numbers and such that ASMFC has pogies are fine...

4. The claims being made during/by the Bill (water-quality) were proved to be way more complex that they were portrayed, and the importance (or lack there of) of pogies relative to the health of the bay (i.e. Nitrogen) was pretty clearly demonstrated

5. The huge populations of pogies mentioned (i.e. 1970's) was the reult of HUGE year classes along the entire coast. Why that occurred was likely climate driven; since a majority of the pogies spawn offshore, changes in wind/water circulation can effect recruitment. Again, this bill is based on warm fuzzy feelings regarding years past. the guy from NMFS who was their pogy expert seemed to indicate that in this regard we can't manufacture more pogies to get to that level.

As far as the starving pogies... sounds like they got trapped in by Bluefish and wouldnt leave... I stick to my original thought that the water quality in the bay HAS changed, and we just cant support the sheer number of pogies it used to...

[UserRemoved1]

Interesting. Wonder how much of this is power plant or oil spill related.

[RIROCKHOUND]

Scott, I think very little.
We continue to think of our area as super-critical to Pogies..
they basically stop in for the summer, grow a bit and leave.

While they do spawn here a bit, the most successful spawning is offshore, they are small larvae, so I'm sure some get sucked up in the powerplants, but I doubt the number is astonomical.

I dont think oil-spills would have any impact on them.

[BassDawg]

As always Bryan, thank you for your interest
and the info that you've gathered and duly reported.

I truly believe that between the concerted efforts of these groups, we will find an ongoing and progressive way to use this most valuable resource effectively and responsibly. And I pray that we will do so in a manner that will promote the longterm health of pogie, Bay, and lobstermen alike .

[clambelly]

RIRockhound...excellent posts. you are doing a great job putting this into presepective for a lot of people who aren't really following this, including myself.

however, from afar, i see some disturbing things. i see recs wanting to have their cake and eat it too. there is a resource out there that isn't owned by anyone. commercial or rec. the commercial guys are willing to play by a quota set by the state. they are willing to have observers on there so as to make sure there isn't any funny business. that is the sign of concession. there is something to be said for that.

i think what happened there in RI is very positive. it is a good thing when two groups can sit down, air their differences, and come to an agreement to work together. this will resonate much more then a lot of folks think, and farther as well.

[RIJIMMY]

Bryan, excellent job.

I dont understand much of this but 50% sounds too much to me. That much lobster bait is needed? There is more than enough bluefish available to fill any reduction in bunker. I just think 25% of the population may be reasobnle. Alloiong 50% of the bunker population to be taken sounds crazy from someone as ignorant on the issue as I am

[tautog]

Great job Bryan relaying this topic into layman's terms.
Sounds like the need for a complete commercial shutdown of the species was totally uncalled for.
My feeling is to believe the experts as they have a lot more knowledge than the average fisherman does.

[stripadan]

Originally Posted by striperman36

Wareham?

Duxbury, Plymouth, Wareham, Marion, take your pick.

[striperman36]

Pandaram?
I saw nothing around wesport except for small bait chased by hard tails

[numbskull]

Jesus! In 1889 they took 118 MILLION FCKING POUNDS of menhaden out of RI waters, without spotter planes, sonar, or engines! Now they estimate 12 million pounds exist.......the stock is healthy, let's kill 50%. No wonder the Conservation Law Foundation sues these fools.

[zacs]

Originally Posted by striperman36

Pandaram?
I saw nothing around wesport except for small bait chased by hard tails

i saw major schools of adult menhaden in Marion, Fairhaven, NB & Padanaram this year. biggest that i saw was in MA was in Marion, but they were all impressive. i didn't go to westport.

[numbskull]

Originally Posted by zacs

i saw major schools of adult menhaden in Marion, Fairhaven, NB & Padanaram this year. biggest that i saw was in MA was in Marion, but they were all impressive. i didn't go to westport.

And I saw none in Quissett harbor, although for the first 1/2 of my life the place was always lousy with them. Then again I didn't see any in Great Harbor, Penzance Bight, along Naushon, along Pasque, along Nashawena, around Weepeckets, or in Tarpaulin. Of course I only spend about 200 hours/year fishing those areas year after year since the early 70's so maybe I missed the great rebound in the bunker population we are all celebrating now.

[Raider Ronnie]

So some lobster guys fear going out of business if the boats can't come back in and wipe them out again.
Gee, up my way, I've seen some lobster guys who are very good with a gill net and get all the pogies they need for bait for free!

[riverrat2]

But Ronnie the pogies didnt show up until the fall in boston

[zacs]

Originally Posted by numbskull

And I saw none in Quissett harbor, although for the first 1/2 of my life the place was always lousy with them. Then again I didn't see any in Great Harbor, Penzance Bight, along Naushon, along Pasque, along Nashawena, around Weepeckets, or in Tarpaulin. Of course I only spend about 200 hours/year fishing those areas year after year since the early 70's so maybe I missed the great rebound in the bunker population we are all celebrating now.

hey, i'm just reporting what I saw. I don't know, or profess to know the health of the stock.

[Clammer]

Bryan ;;

IF I read this correctly this meeting [besides being informative ] was direct in reference to Jerry souza & his Ark Bait Company :>> he,s been busting his balls for years trying to make a living in the fishing industry ;;
Guys want to put him out of business yet will go & get bait from him ..he has always willingly givin us bait >.for the few of us that have a chip in our Marine radio,s he #^&#^&#^&#^& who was //maybe still is the captain on the boat .. would tell us where they were & when to come get bait ;;

My concern is if you continue to have a good supply of poundage in the next few years ..did anyone ask about the out of state boats .. & the two last year are nothing ,compated to the ones that came up from Virginia && actually worked 24/7 ..they concerned me then & I,m concern now that that potential hasnmt been addressed :;

JUST mE CLAMMER

[RIROCKHOUND]

Mike;
I think they said it was ruled unconstitutional to ban out of state boats (I think they tried in the 70's and failed) but the daily cap per boat of 75k lbs will keep the large boats away; not enough money to be made.

Raider Ronnie, I for one would rather see one purse seine than 100 gillnets, especially if I was a guy who went snagging every morning for bass bait!

As far as the other concerns, everyone has their opinion, I went to the meeting to hear the science and policy being used. I'm just reporting back as best I can.

Mike;
One of the hardest pills to swallow for me regarding this bill (besides all the BS 'science' being thrown around) was the hypocrisy of exactly that; guys who have taken bait from them (Ark) and then signing the petitions and such to ban them. Can't have your cake and eat it to! If I was Jerry I would tell every sport boat to ---- off if they came looking for bait!

[riverrat2]

NIce work bryan. People fail to realize that some people actually depend on a fishery for more than just the oppurtunity to catch a trophy fish and post it online.