New Jersey Legislative JCAA Newsletter Archives Jersey Coast Angler's Association Home Page JCAA Host Issues JCAA Fluke Tournament

Menhaden Regulation Public Comment Period Ends March 7th

by Frank Richetti

(from Jersey Coast Anglers Association March 2000 Newsletter)

By the time you read this article the Public hearing scheduled for February 20, 2001 at Stockton State College will be over. If you were able to attend and express your views on eliminating large scale reduction fishing in NJ state waters, great!  If you couldn’t make the hearing there is still time to make your opinion known by sending in written comment by March 7, 2001.

Please send your written comments supporting the proposed regulation to prohibit the harvesting of menhaden for purposes of reduction within NJ state waters.

Department of Environmental Protection
Office of Legal Affairs
Docket No. 36-00-12/147
PO Box 402 Trenton, NJ  08625-0402

 The issue of protecting prey fish that provide an important feed stock to many of our sought after predatory fish has been receiving a lot of attention.  In the December issue of the ASMFC publication Fisheries Focus, the lead story was Multispecies Assessment Targets Atlantic Menhaden, Bluefish, Striped Bass and Weakfish. The ASMFC is funding a multispecies assessment pilot study. The four main points in this study are:

 

  1. Evaluate the nature and magnitude of the interaction among menhaden and its key predators.
  2. Evaluate the current utilization of menhaden: (a) as a directed fishery, (b) its role in the ecosystem (forage base), and (c) sustainability of the stock.
  3. Evaluate whether there is an optimal size (or age) composition of Atlantic menhaden to balance its ecological role with the goals of the directed fishery.
  4. Evaluate any adjustments required of the biological reference points from single species management when predation is included in the multispecies model.

It is gratifying to see the agency that manages our inshore coastal fish finally pick up on what JCAA, The Menhaden Project and the RFA have been saying for years. To have healthy stocks of targeted fish like striped bass, bluefish and weakfish, there must be healthy stocks of forage fish like menhaden.

It is great that the wheels of progress are turning.  We cannot afford to sit back and wait for this study to be completed and then for a comprehensive management plan to be developed.  That will take a couple of years and just confirm what we are planning to do right. Our actions must be more immediate. Just know that your concerns around menhaden harvest are also the concerns of many fishery managers. I view that as support of our action to have balanced protection of menhaden within the waters of our state.