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By the time you get this newspaper, the ASMFC will be meeting. You can find the agenda at this link. I hope we have better decisions made at this meeting than the disastrous decisions regarding summer flounder, scup and black sea bass at the joint meeting. That information was included in last month’s newspaper and you need to read it. There will be some interesting decisions made by the NJ Marine Fisheries Management Council on how to implement new regulations on summer flounder for the upcoming summer flounder, scup and black sea bass for 2023. Because of the new process there will not be as many options as in the past and it will be more complicated. At the next NJ Marine Fisheries Council meeting those options will be discussed. If you care about the seasons for next year, get involved, sign up as an advisor to NJMFC. JCAA will be sending alerts as we learn the different options. If you feel strongly you might want to attend the meeting in person instead of virtually making your voice heard.
The death of the whales in the New Jersey/New York area has been very concerning. This is an endangered species that we need to rebuild and precautions must be taken. JCAA is strongly behind the protection of the whales with all decisions based on the best available science. Because of the number of deaths, some NGOs who have an agenda to stop windmills are using the deaths to criticize and blame the windmills. It reminds when we were supposed to get Red Bird subway cars from New York for an artificial reef. There was no evidence that the asbestos in those cars which was non-friable and covered with epoxy would harm the fish. But they managed to hold up the process long enough that we lost the use of the cars. I see the same tactic using the whale deaths to stop the windmills. Honest questions about the impact of windmills and the impact on fishing are appropriate. We need to ask the hard questions and demand answers. What we don’t need to do is use false information to support any agenda. I have enclosed NOAA’s fact sheet on whales and windmills.
What concerns me is that many of the discussions about windmills demand that no progress be made until every single question is answered. With climate change we don’t have the luxury of time. I was on a MAFAC call on climate resiliency concerning fish populations.
We at JCAA have been testifying before Congress and NOAA about global warming and its impact on fish since the late 80’s.
When there was a lack of cold ocean water in the mid-Atlantic region in 1988 and 1989, sand eel populations stopped reproducing. Any of us who were fishing in the 60’s, 70’s and mid 80’s in New Jersey and New York saw unprecedented numbers of bluefish, the best in recorded history. There were large bluefish tournaments from Maine to North Carolina with hundreds of boats and beach buggies. During the migration from Maine south, the bluefish would gorge on sand eels off the New Jersey coast. Then the water got too cold in December and the bluefish migrated to North Carolina, they were breaking size records. To get big press you had to catch a blue fish over 30 pounds. That all stopped in 1990 when the sand eels disappeared. Similar to the red knots that need to feed on horseshoe crab eggs before they migrate north, blue fish need to feed on sand eels before they head south. Those same blue fish that weighted 30 ponds in 1989, after 1990 they migrated to North Carolina with big heads and skinny bodies. I asked Bruce Freeman, NJ Chief of the Bureau of Marine Fisheries, what happened and he said the water was too warm for the sand eels to reproduce and there was no recruitment. This is just one example of the impact of global warming.
We could also talk about lobsters. As the water warmed in the 90’s they started having better reproduction. That was until the water reached a higher temperature and the recruitment stopped in the mid-Atlantic region. We at ASMFC recognized that we had no control over the collapse of the lobster stocks and the lobster fishermen had not caused the problem. Maine is now having the same problem now. The water warmed and the lobster stocks grew until the water warmed further and recruitment had stopped for five years. There were only 30 – 40 lobster boats permitted in New Jersey. In Maine however there are thousands of lobster permits and the entire state economy will take a huge hit, hundred of millions of dollars.
The last example I will use today is surf clams. We had a thriving commercial industry in New Jersey for harvesting surf clams. This industry to harvest and process was worth over 200 million dollars. It was the most important commercial fishery in New Jersey. I have been fishing at Island Beach State Park since 1970. When the season would open in October and November I would see 12 or 13 boats working off Island Beach, just harvesting surf clams. On the beach in the summertime we could see the spats of the clams all over the beach. I learned the surf clams lived to be 150 – 250 years. Now there is no inshore fishery for surf clams in New Jersey. The water has warmed to where they have moved north and offshore. These are the canaries in the mine and fishermen have always recognized that global warming is a huge problem.
When we discuss how to create climate resilient fisheries, I am often at a loss. I can’t put ice cubes in the water to make it colder. We can’t bring the glaciers south since they are already melting at an escalating rate. Fisheries in 5 – 10 years will have to look much different than they do now. Your children, grandchildren and great grandchildren will not recognize these fisheries.
JCAA decided 20 years ago that we must support renewable energy as one way to deal with climate change. We also supported more efficient cars and more efficient motors for our boats. My question to those who oppose windmills, “What is your alternative?” Until they can tell me a more effective way to reduce greenhouse gasses, JCAA stands for renewable energy, including windmills.
Next month we will talk about environmental justice and the health emergency being created by climate change in our poorer neighborhoods.