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Bunker Regs Held Hostage
by Frank Richetti
Bunker Regs Held Hostage
by Frank Richetti
(from Jersey Coast Anglers Association January 2001 Newsletter)
The new menhaden protection
regulation passed by the NJ Marine Fisheries Council is being held hostage by the threat
of a law suite. The Commissioner for NJ Department of Environmental Protection, Robert
Shinn is preventing this proposed regulation from going forward. It was scheduled to go to
public hearing this past fall along with other new regulation but Commissioner Shinn
decided to withhold the menhaden protection measure. To date there has been no explanation
for his decision. You must remember that the law suit has only been threatened. It has not
been filed.
JCAA and the Menhaden Project along
with the RFA and many of our member fishing clubs have worked long and hard to protect
menhaden. We have gone to the State Legislature only to be told that the proper place to
handle issues concerning marine species is at the NJ Marine Fisheries Council. We
approached our state Marine Fisheries Council and found them attuned to our concerns. They
passed a regulation that would "ban the harvesting of menhaden within state waters
for the purpose of reduction". This regulation would prevent large reduction boats
from fishing within 3 nautical miles of NJ beaches.
Currently the reduction boats can
fish within 1.2 nautical miles of our beaches and they harvest the lion’s share of
bunker, some years have been as high as 100 million pounds. The smaller bait industry
boats can fish within 0.6 nautical miles of shore and harvest about 30 million pounds of
bunker each year. The difference in the size
of the gear and harvest levels is astonishing, the bait boats fish up to 6 months to catch
their 30 million pounds, but the reduction boats only spend 2 or 3 weeks in our state
water and catch 3 time the amount of fish. That is a big difference.
This important forage fish is a
critical link in the marine ecosystem. It is a filter feeder that helps to keep the waters
clean and it is a prime prey fish for predatory species like striped bass, bluefish and
weakfish. We are concerned about the commercial harvest because of the lack of
restrictions; no size limits or harvest limits have been set. In fact the major management tool for control of
this fishery is the placement of the buffer zones mentioned above. There is nothing in
place to prevent large scale harvesting of these forage fish and that is why this
regulation is so important. If we want to see continued recovery of fish like striped bass
and weakfish we must protect their food source. We must protect the menhaden or risk
breaking a critical link in the food chain.
Commissioner Shinn needs to hear from
you so please write or phone his office and express your concern over the delay of in enacting this regulation. You should also send a copy of your letter to the
Governor
Department
of Environmental Protection
Robert C. Shinn, Jr. Commissioner
401 E State Street
7th Floor, East Wing
P.O. Box 402
Trenton, NJ 08625-0402
Telephone (609) 292-2885
Fax (609) 292-7695
Gov. Christine Todd Whitman
P.O. Box 001
State House, Trenton, NJ 08625-0001
PH 609-292-6000
FAX 609-292-3454
http://www.state.nj.us/governor/govmail.htm