UPDATE OF EEL FMP
(from Jersey Coast Anglers Association September 1997Newsletter)
The NJ Marine Fisheries Council has been wrestling with glass eel regulations for the last few seasons. Before 1997 there were no regulations or gear restrictions. In 1997 they imposed radical gear restrictions to help reduce the harvest but still 2100 fishermen secured permits and cashed-in on baby eels.
At the July 10 th NJ Marine Fisheries Council meeting, the Councils eel committee proposed a new plan that will limit the pressure on the fishery and insure better reporting of landings. The following is an abridged list but covers the major points of the plan.
1. Increase resident license fee to $1000, make non-resident fees 10 times resident fee.
2. License elver dealers, require weekly reporting on harvesting information.
a) Licenses fees dedicated to Division for enforcement, monitoring and data collection /analyses.
3. Licensing revocation for illegal gear or collection techniques or misreporting.
4. Council to have authority to close areas, up to and including all marine waters.
5. Shorten work week to 4 days, closed sunset Friday to sunset Monday.
6. Illegal to possess any fish gear other than the regulation size dip nets.
7. Limit license application period, no license issued after start of season.
8. Season to remain February 15 through April 20.
Some of these proposals will require legislative action, so it is unlikely that the new plan will go into effect for the 1998 winter season. Considering this likelihood the eel committee chairman Dr Robert Abel made a motion to close the 1998 season if the plan can not be put into effect on time.
The JCAA position on the harvest of eels is a 6 inch minimum size for the entire year. Obviously this plan is not our preferred way of dealing with this fishery but, it is an attempt to address many of the concerns around the glass eel harvest. First we support closing the season until all the regulations governing this fishery are in place. The mandatory reporting by fishermen and dealers is the first step in getting control of the resource and should go a long way toward maintaining its health. We can’t manage a resource if we don’t know the level of harvest or have an idea what the overall population is. The work week will be reduced by two days, the plan allows for four consecutive days of harvest then three consecutive days of no harvest. This will at least give the
baby eels a 40% chance of getting past the nets and safely into a freshwater refuge. The increased fee structure will keep out the weekend fishermen and the limited application period will keep out the Johnny-come-lateles who would jump in if they herd there was money to be maid. These two items will have more impact on the law enforcement than the harvest levels. Fewer folks participating should reduce the many conflicts between fishermen for choice locations and make it easier for law enforcement.
The glass eel fishery has been out of control along much of the Atlantic coast and landings were grossly underestimated. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service used Customs records of live eel shipments to get an estimate of the magnitude of glass eel harvest. The declarations showed live eel export POUNDAGE to be more than TWICE the domestic landing of adult eels for 1993. Most of the live eel shipment were believed to be glass eels, which are less than three inches long and very numerous by the pound. That level of harvest is scary and cannot continue. Five states still allow glass eel harvest, New Jersey is one of them.