Outdoor Writer's Workshop

I attended the Outdoor Writer Workshop representing JCAA.

This workshop pulled together by the Division of Fish & Wildlife (F&W) and sponsored by the JCAA and the NJ Federation of Sportsmen Clubs, is essentially a meeting to update sportswriters on a variety of current hunting and fishing issues for the benefit of their readership. This meeting was well attended by members of the press and it was held at the Assunpink Central Region Office. Members from various fishing and hunting organizations were also present.

David Chanda, Director of Fish & Wildlife, gave a brief introduction of DEP Commissioner Robert Martin and indicated because of time restrictions only members of the press were allowed to ask Commissioner Martin questions. The Commissioner made the following opening comments and then they were followed up with questions from the press:

• Science and data goes into the decisions of F&W on fishing and hunting management issues and not by politics.
• Regulations concerning the bear hunting season should come out in April and be followed up by a public comment period in June. This bear hunt can be possibly extended into December because of the increasing population of bears across NJ.
• 570,000 trout to be stocked in 88 streams during April. June 13th and October 17th are declared "free fishing days" to encourage the public to become more involved in fishing.
• Striped bass will be directly managed by F&W in the future and will not require approval by our legislators. This change will end the approval delays by our legislators and also end the nail biting involved in having our striper season opening on time.
• May 17th is the Governor's Surf Fishing Tournament. It was moved from October to May17th to provide better fishing opportunities.
• Seismic testing is opposed by the commissioner and he indicated that our state is developing a case against it since it violates our Coastal Management Zone Act in addition to other environmental issues.
• Artificial Reefs - new regulations will be issued in June that provide for shared managements zones by commercial and recreational anglers on the Axel Carlson and Sandy Hook reefs. A new reef will be built for exclusive use by recreational anglers in the near future to replace the loss of fishing space on the above two reefs by recreational anglers.
• New Game Code out for public comment and comments are due to DEP’s Fish & Game Council by May 15th.

Questions from the Press

• Will there be more funding for F&W? - Answer- Money is very tight right now and money for it is not in the current budget for it. Need to find new sources like Rutgers to help with needed research projects.
• What is the status of the new archery facility in Sussex County? Answer - Still moving forward with this beautiful facility and design drawings for it are expected to be completed by fall.
• Why can't we get rid of bears that threaten us? The Commissioner explained that we cannot kill every bear that we see and that F&W follows a protocol that will kill dangerous bears, but remove nuisance bears with tranquilizers for re-location to other sites.
• Why can't F&W use credit cards more widely for possible service fees associated with archery/hunting courses? The Commissioner will look into this issue.

Other Workshop Agenda Items

Black Bear Management Policy - presented by F&W's Tony McBride who explained the protocols used by F&W to kill or remove bears who become a nuisance. He also indicated archery is very effective in killing bears and hunters from 30 states come to New Jersey to hunt bears. Hunters can take two bears in October and December. Permits can be purchased in September.

Bureau of law Enforcement - was made by Acting Chief, Mark Chicketano, who talked about illegal activities concerning elvers (glass eels), undersized fish and bear killings for their gall bladders. Of special note was that 5 lbs. of elvers can fetch up to $10,000 and with that type of money, criminals use every possible method to go undetected for this lucrative trade. A special police unit has been established to catch them.

Bureau of Fresh Water Fisheries was presented by F&W's Lisa Barno - who talked about their field surveys to capture and identify fish at various lakes to determine their status in regard to their stock and health. These surveys help to determine if a certain species is in decline and more of them may be needed to be stocked. The continual warming of fresh water lakes due to global warming is a growing concern since it may have a negative effect on fish reproduction. Another area of concern is that invasive species introduced by nature or mostly by humans into our fresh water systems may severely disrupt their ecological balance. Lisa strongly urged anglers to NOT THROW BACK into the water diseased fish or a fish that is not recognizable. These fish will continue to degrade our fresh water systems. Either get in touch with F&W to report this problem or Kill the Fish!

Russ Allen, Bureau of Marine Fisheries - gave an overview of upcoming saltwater fishing regulations (they should have been in place earlier at the NJ Bureau of Marine Fisheries meeting in March, but it had to be canceled because of a snow storm. This meeting was moved to April 9th to discuss and approve 2015 fishing regulations). Russ talked about the upcoming Bonus Tag program for striped bass and indicated that only 1% of the total amount of striped bass is caught under it. He stressed the importance of completing the Bonus Tag information since it is needed by F&W to help develop striped bass regulations for the following year. Anglers need to sign up for NJ's registry program. Other states have more registered anglers and these states are trying to get more representation and influence at management councils on how decisions are made to the detriment of NJ anglers.