Strange fish parade seen in Englewood

ENGLEWOOD -- A bizarre freeway of fish swimming by the thousands along the shore of Englewood Beach Thursday morning left crowds of beach-goers agog and marine biologists bewildered.

"I've lived her for 10 years, and I've never seen anything like this. It's incredible," said Bob Ricci of Englewood.

Beach-goers reported that a wide variety of sea creatures came swimming south in a narrow band close to the beach at mid-morning.

Included in the swarm were clouds of shrimp, crab, grouper, snapper, red fish and flounder. They were joined by more usual species, including sea robins, needlefish and eels.

Ten-year Manasota Key resident Nick Neidlinger spotted the commotion from his condominium shortly before 9 a.m.

The fish were moving in a narrow band in about 18 inches of water, he said. They were headed south, and, so far as he could tell, the moving mass of sea life stretched a good mile long.

"We're talking thousands and thousands of them," Neidlinger said. "It was so thick we couldn't walk out."

Some fish washed ashore on the Gulf's small waves, he said. The stranded fish flipped and struggled until they flopped back into the water to rejoin the piscatorial parade south.

"There were blue crabs the size of a dinner plate," Neidlinger said. "You name the species of fish and they were there."

Neidlinger said more than 100 pelicans bombarded the fish, but he saw no sharks or other predators, nor did he detect any signs of red tide.

He said all the species "were swimming amongst each other. They weren't attacking each other."

Neidlinger added, "I have never seen anything like that in my life. This was not a fish kill."

Beach-goers were grabbing crabs and fish as they swam by, Thursday. One observer thought the fish might have been weakened by some sort of toxin -- perhaps red tide -- because they could be scooped up easily by people. The event lasted until late morning, although the parade had thinned out by 11 a.m.

A few scientists contacted Thursday were surprised to hear of the unusual fish behavior in Englewood that morning. It was not typical schooling, they said, because many varied species were involved.

Scientists -- usually by nature and always by training -- are reluctant to speculate about the causes of natural phenomena without the benefit of observation and concrete data. However, they did offer some broad possibilities for what they agreed was a highly unusual event, one they had never encountered before.

It might have been predator avoidance, said one, but that was unlikely since there were no signs of predators and the species were varied.

The Gulf waters have currents that might have swept many fish along in an unusual pattern, one speculated.

Or it could have been caused by red tide that could not be detected by beach-goers.

Dr. Richard Pierce, director of ectotoxicology at the Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, said he had discussed the occurrence with Dr. Cindy Heil, the director of biotoxin research at the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission in St. Petersburg, after a reporter's phone call Thursday.

"We agree this could be that they were trying to get away from red tide, maybe offshore or in the deeper parts offshore," Pierce said.

He said red tide flows in higher or lower concentrations at various levels of the Gulf. It also follows currents, which move at varying levels and speeds.

"Sometimes, we have found it in higher concentration along the bottom. This could be what you're looking at," Pierce said.

Red tide has been lingering in the Gulf for the past couple of months, but it has been detected primarily in an area stretching from northern Sarasota County north to Hernando County.

It's possible, Pierce said, that a stealth red tide could be moving south, flowing with an offshore current along the bottom, "and they're moving ahead of it."

Key to that theory is that the fish reported Thursday included many bottom feeders. "Sea robins, flounder, grouper are indications that something is moving along the bottom," Pierce said.

"Unfortunately, this might be a phenomenon of red tide creeping in, but we'll have to wait until we get some samples," he said.

Mote recently installed two red tide detectors in Boca Grande, and Pierce said there was some indication Thursday that red tide might have been moving in that direction.

But, he added, it was all simply speculation until tests could be conducted.

"We just don't know what's happening," he said. "That's a lot of maybes and what-ifs. I know the state is working on that and some other reports, so maybe by next week we'll have some answers." [org pub Sun Herald, by Gavin Off and STEPHEN BAUMANN]

Eel Grass seeds planted in Chesapeake Bay

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Quality habitat is the key to life in every aquatic ecosystem. Researchers are trying a new approach to improve the habitat in Chesapeake Bay by scattering freshly cut eelgrass in parts of this massive estuary, hoping that seeds from the stalks will grow new grassbeds.

In the past, efforts have centered around the labor-intensive harvest of mature grasses and physically transplanting individual stems.

This past June, managers seeded roughly 120 acres, an area six times larger than any area covered with transplanted grasses. If this method works, they plan to spread seeds over even more acreage next year.

Known for its oysters, blue crabs and stripers, as well as its largemouth bass, Chesapeake Bay now has 65,000 acres of grassbeds, and individual states in the watershed have established a goal of 185,000 acres by 2010.

"This may be a better method. We don't know, but we're trying to evaluate it," said Tom Parham of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (MDNR).

The MDNR and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) are working together to find new and better ways to replenish grassbeds that constantly struggle for survival against smothering pollution that washes in from the bay's vast watershed. Grasses were at an all-time high last year, but heavy rains pushed in even more nutrients and that sediment wiped out a third of the established beds.

Aquatic vegetation provides nursery grounds and hiding places for shellfish and finfish, as well as food for fish and waterfowl. Its health serves as a "barometer of the health of the bay," said Bob Orth of VIMS.

"We hope that it is going to take off and expand. If you don't replace the resource, you're out of business," added Tommy Zinn, a crabber who helped spread the seeds.

Until October, when the seeds start to germinate, scientists, anglers, crabbers and others will be anxiously waiting, hoping that the seeds will not be eaten, buried by pollution or carried away. "You could get a good storm and wash out all of these bags," Orth said.

Researchers also are keeping a close eye on water quality in Chesapeake Bay.

"We can demonstrate we can plant lots of grasses. That's not a problem," Orth said. "It's making sure these plants survive. If you don't have the water quality, forget it." [org pub ESPN, By Robert Montgomery]

More subway cars heading for artificial reefs

NYC transit officials are again considering a unique disposal method of old subway cars: Donating the large stripped down metal cabs as material for artificial reefs to states along the East Coast.

Previously 1,261 Redbird NYC subway cars were stripped down and sunk off of New Jersey's coast. The blood-red painted subway cars almost immediately become inhabited by plankton and other fish food, which is then followed by fish looking for food.

Sandy Hook,A 30 minute ferry ride from Manhattan

SOMETIMES getting to the beach takes so much energy that it hardly seems worth the trip. Not so when the goal is Sandy Hook, a seven-mile stretch of paradise that's accessible from Manhattan with a ferry ride of about 30 minutes.

The speedy trip across New York Harbor is thrilling; the pristine ocean beaches are dune-swept and wide. Best of all, the charms of Sandy Hook, the narrow barrier peninsula that juts northeast from New Jersey to form the harbor's eastern border, don't stop with its coastline. It's a diverse national park, part of the Gateway National Recreation Area, with thriving bird sanctuaries, a dense maritime holly forest laced with hiking trails, fishing spots brimming with striped bass and bluefish, the oldest operating lighthouse in America and a historic military fort with ghostly abandoned barracks and gun batteries.

The seaside adventure begins in Manhattan, where two companies - SeaStreak and New York Waterway - offer beach-bound ferry service on weekends. (Although the service to Sandy Hook itself continues only through Labor Day, SeaStreak, which is geared toward commuters, also has year-round rides to the Highlands, allowing another approach to the peninsula.)

If You Go

SANDY HOOK is 30 to 45 minutes from Manhattan by ferry. SeaStreak (800-262-8743; www.seastreak.com) and New York Waterway (800-533-3779; www.nywaterway.com) go to Sandy Hook weekends through Labor Day. SeaStreak goes to Highlands, daily and year-round. Fares: about $30 round-trip adults, $15 children; bikes extra.

Sandy Hook is part of the Gateway National Recreation Area (732-872-5970, www.nps.gov/gate). The visitor center is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. The Fort Hancock Museum is open 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. daily in summer and weekends the rest of the year; admission is free. The Sandy Hook Lighthouse is open for tours, which are free, in July and August 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and noon to 4 p.m. weekends.

The multiuse path is 5.5 miles long.

The New Jersey Audubon Society Sandy Hook Bird Observatory (732-872-2500; www.njaudubon.org/centers/shbo) is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekends.

The Twin Lights Historic Site (732-872-1814) is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily Memorial Day through Labor Day and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday to Sunday September through May. Admission is free.
[org pub NYTimes, by Beth Greenfield. Above article is edited]

Boston Globe Fishing Rep 8/5/05

With ocean water reaching its seasonal high temperature, the fishing activity is at its low point. But that doesn't mean there are no fish being caught, just that the numbers are lower. One obvious change is that the topwater action -- or anything close -- has diminished a lot, but every rule has its exception, and in this case it's the burst of bluefish along the shore and near rivermouths, most likely in early morning.

Area A: Northern waters, of course, are cooler and the fishing activity closer to prime. The ledges are producing for party boats and there are big bass strikes in the waters of the Penobscot and Casco bays. Along with the mix of bass and bluefish in places such as Saco and York, you can hook some large pollack, cod, and haddock feeding deep. Livelining small pollack is an excellent draw for big bass. Haddock and cod are still in abundance on the eastern slope of Stellwagen Bank. Plenty of bluefin tuna activity the entire length of Stellwagen. The Merrimack is alive with feeding bluefish, and anglers fishing off Plum Island are doing fairly well. Salem Harbor has bait and early-morning action with blues.

Area B: Again, off Boston the bluefin tuna activity is pretty warm, but the onshore action has been frustrating. Some blues deep around the outer harbor. The channel between Thompson Island and the UMass breakwater had some early action, as did the Fore River and Hull Gut.

Area C: Cohasset offshore has plenty of football bluefin action, but the big bassin' around Minots and among the ledges is slow. A few bluefish flurries are seen, often announced by the noisy wheeling of terns. Peggoty Beach was the scene of such fishing yesterday morning, and the North River mouth is still worth checking out, as is the South River toward Humarock. After some pretty decent action last weekend, Duxbury and Kingston bays have quieted.

Area D: The Canal blows hot and cold, with blues working the length, usually early. Some decent fluke activity in the Buzzards end, Wareham, and Pocasset, and big scup are in the mix. Scup to Clevelands Ledge and well over toward West Island. Best fishing action is still in the Elizabeths, Robinsons the hottest. Livelined eels are the way to go. Cuttyhunk nights have some bass action on the reefs, especially in the full moon. Early-morning fishing there is also active. Most boat guys are heading out toward the Hooter and around Nomans.

Area E: The patterns have also changed on the Vineyard, as Wasque is too warm, yet the fish still move along this shore -- just deeper. Blues are feeding here and there in the Nantucket Shoals, and on the Squibnocket side, as well.

Area F: Mung is present on these beaches, and the fishing has been pretty bad because of it. Inside, the action has slowed around Billingsgate, but there are still some bass to the Race. Again, the big game in Cape Cod Bay and farther offshore is bluefin tuna. [org. pub. Boston.com By Tony Chamberlain]

The art of the marlin

This time of year, white and blue marlin begin to show up in the canyons offthe New Jersey coast. But to catch one takes time, practice and plenty ofpatience.
Most of the encounters that boats from Monmouth and Ocean counties have with marlin are by chance, during the pursuit of tuna in the offshore canyons, primarily the Hudson Canyon.

In the northern canyons, where most boats from the Shore area fish, the marlin are more sporadic.

But in the southern canyons, which are more accessible to the more southerly inlets such as Absecon, Cape May and Ocean City, Md., marlin are a more common occurrence because the water is warmer. But every season is different.

Some of it is dependent on water temperature, which can be affected by the path of the Gulf Stream current. This season, the water seems to be warmer. As a result, Lanzerotti said, there have been more marlin encountered closer to shore, in places such as the Chicken Canyon and the Glory Hole, noting that one was caught on the Joanna in the Glory Hole just a couple of weeks ago.

Because white marlin are a highly migratory species, they travel great distances, dictated by water temperature and food availability. But they have a fairly wide temperature range in which they feed actively, Lanzerotti said, noting he has caught whites in water as cold as 73 degrees. "But some of my best white marlin fishing has been in the 80s," he added.

In addition, captains look for a temperature break — a place where there's a significant change in temperature, of a couple of degrees or more. The temperature breaks tend to draw bait and, in the process, marlin.

Like anything with fishing, there are a lot of opinions on how it should be done. Lanzerotti uses a dredge, which is similar to an umbrella rig but holds many more baits. Actually, he uses a pair of dredges, one with ballyhoo, the other with split-tail mullet, each with eight arms and holding 30 baits.

The idea is to create the appearance of a school of fish, he said. Other captains will troll using daisy chains or squid chains he said, adding that most of the teams that win billfish tournaments use one of these two methods.

Boats trolling daisy chains or squid may troll at 7 1/2 or 8 knots, whereas he trolls at 3 1/2 to 4 knots, and while he can't cover as much water as quickly as someone trolling a chain, he's had success with it and "it's just a personal preference," Lanzerotti said.

The purpose, in both cases, is to get the attention of the marlin to begin with. Once that is accomplished, the frenzy — and the fun — begin. "The most important thing is to keep an eye on the spread," where and how the baits are that are being trolled, he said, because when a white marlin hits, the timing of the angler's reaction can make a difference between a fish being hooked and one losing interest and swimming away.

"White marlin are pretty finicky," Lanzerotti said. "They will come up behind a bait and whack it with their bill a couple of times before they try to eat it." In the marlin's world, he said, it hits the bait with its bill to disable it. And that's why the timing is critical; if the angler doesn't respond by letting out line — dropping the bait back to the marlin, so that it appears it is disabled — the marlin may move on. [org pub Asbury Park Press by Karen E. Wall]

Feds may reduce Fluke catch by 20-30%

The recent announcement that the National Marine Fisheries Service is seeking a 20- to 30-percent cutback in the fluke harvest next year has anglers asking where the biologists are coming from.

Obviously the biomass must be in good shape if landings are up and there is a huge abundance of small fish that cannot be retained.

Thomas P. Fote, legislative chairman of the Jersey Coast Anglers Association, believes that the answer lies in the system.

"They say that we're overfishing when everyone knows that there are more fluke around than we've seen in years," he said. "We expected to go to a 32-million-pound quota next year, instead, they want to cut us back."

Fote, who until a few weeks ago was one of New Jersey's representatives on the Atlantic States Fisheries Commission, said the system was created to reach a goal that may not be possible.

"They're talking about rebuilding to the levels of the 1920s and 1930s," he said. "That may be unrealistic given the fact that we no longer have the wetlands, the natural environment that the juvenile fluke need when they are inshore in the summer."

Fote reminded that the wetlands have been filled and developed, pollution has increased enormously, and the entire ecosystem has been vastly altered since the '20s and '30s.

"We're no longer able to build the stocks to the point they were at 60 or 70 years ago," he said. "The National Marine Fisheries Service is adhering to a rebuilding schedule that may be unattainable, and further restrictions are going to be a hardship on anglers and the party and charter boat industry."

Fote is not optimistic about the chances of fishermen persuading NMFS to ease off on draconian measures in 2006.

"We can scream and yell — and we will — but they are going to defend their decision based on the biological reference points of their system," he said. [Published in the Asbury Park Press 08/5/05
BY JOHN GEISER]

Crustacean comeback?

George Mueller and his partner caught just 20 or so legal-sized lobsters during a recent hot day of pulling up lobster traps, but despite the meager catch, they saw the good news that others are seeing throughout Long Island Sound.

The lobsters were a good size for the area — a pound and a half or more — and they were healthy. What's more, while they were pulling up the traps, they found creatures — such as worms and small crabs — thriving in muck that used to be barren.

"There's life in the mud," Mueller, 43, said after docking his boat at Harbor Island Park by the Mamaroneck Bait & Tackle shop, which he owns.

With the legal lobsters, they caught about 10 that were too small to keep. But Mueller and his partner were not counting on a large catch. They pulled just 100 traps, a small number, more to gauge the crustacean population than to make a killing.

"You can't make a living out there — definitely not," he said.

With the catch too meager to be profitable, they threw back even the larger ones, all but five that Mueller kept to bring home for his wife.

"She'll eat them all week long," Mueller said.

Some lobster fishers who have hung onto their chosen line of work throughout the devastating die-off of 1999 say they are seeing larger, healthy lobsters in the Sound.

Roger Frate, a longtime lobsterman from Connecticut, said his son, who also fishes for the coveted creatures, found some success last fall and in the spring.

"So far, we've had a couple of good, decent weeks, and there seem to be more lobsters from one end of the Sound to the other," said Frate, 59, who also owns Darien Seafood Market. He said the creatures they are pulling up weigh 1 1/2 or 2 pounds and sometimes up to 3 pounds.

Penny Howell, a marine fisheries biologist with the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, said recent trawls of the Sound showed another year with few lobsters.

While numbers have not been refined, they appear to be little better than last year's trawls, which showed it to be the third worst year of the 21 years the agency has been doing the survey. By taking an average number of lobsters caught in the trawls, then adjusting the numbers to weed out anomalies, they showed an average of 2.5 lobsters in 2004, down from the record, 18.5 in 1998. The numbers had averaged about 7 in the late 1990s before reaching the record. Since 1998, the numbers have dropped off severely and steadily.

This year's number will be slightly higher than last year's, but still will be less than 3, Howell said.

"The catches have not been terrible," she said. "Early on, a lot of the guys were reporting large animals, and that's always good news."

The New York Department of Environmental Conservation will conduct a survey at the end of the summer, said agency spokeswoman Gabrielle Done.

"But we are hearing some favorable reports from the docks that good catches are coming in," she said.

The agencies are tightening restrictions on the size of lobsters that can be taken, angering some lobster fishers. Lobsters now must measure 3 1/4 inches from the eye socket to the end of the carapace, or back piece. Next month, the minimum will increase to 3 and 9/32 inches in both the Connecticut and New York sections of the Sound.

The increase, just one thirty-second of an inch, will have an impact. Nick Crismale, president of the Connecticut Lobstermen's Association, said it will further hurt lobster fishers already struggling.

"We've been brought to our knees, and now they're hitting us with the hammer," he said.

Howell said the agency officials understood the fishers' problems, and that fishing was not the cause of the lobsters' troubles. Still, she said, the agency has to protect the lobster population.

"We have to protect the resource," she said. "That's our first job, and our resource numbers are frighteningly low."

Ideally, she said, they would tighten the restrictions even more, "but we're aware of the economic situation and that the (fishing) is not the cause of this issue. Nevertheless, if they want a resource, which I know they do, they have to be part of the solution."

Three years of research by scientists, funded mostly by the federal government, zeroed in on climate change as the reason for the die-off. Many lobster fishers disagree. They are certain the lobsters were killed by pesticides sprayed to kill West Nile virus-carrying mosquitoes. Research showed the pesticides are harmful to lobsters, but one study also indicated that not enough of the chemicals would have made it to the Sound to do serious harm to the lobster population.

Still, two pesticide manufacturers reached a $3.75 million settlement with the lobster fishers late last year over claims that the chemicals devastated their livelihood.

Frate and Crismale, like some other lobster fishers, have turned to clamming for income.

Crismale is skeptical of claims that more lobsters are out there. He said people may mistakenly get that idea because so few lobster fishers are left that the lack of competition allows them to make more from a smaller lobster population.

"They appear to be healthy right now, and everything looks just fine, but the biomass is just not there," he said.

The number of lobster fishers has declined, although Howell said that came about from several causes. In Connecticut, it had been declining since 1985, when 776 licenses were issued. In 1999, there were 520 licenses issued; that declined to 309 last year. In New York, the number of resident commercial licenses issued declined to 477 last year from 746 in 1999.

Mueller said before the die-off, it was typical to see 20 or more lobster boats pulling in 150 pounds or more of lobsters in a day.

And despite the good signs, there were none left in the area around the Bronx-Westchester border, which is filled with deep holes where lobsters once sought shelter, making it the best spot in the region for seeking the delicacies.

"There's nothing from New Rochelle to City Island," Mueller said. "There's not a lobster to be found." [Original publication The Journal News, Ken Valenti]

NJ's artifical reef gets a new old ferryboat

Another ship sunk, and divers cheer

There's a less-famous underworld in New Jersey, one where people swim with the fish instead of "sleeping" with them.

This underworld features ships, barges and even subway cars. But the real stars are the more than 200 species of fish and invertebrates that populate the 25 miles of artificial material purposely dumped on the ocean bottom to provide homes for them.

On Wednesday, state officials added to the scenery by scuttling a ferryboat about eight miles off Cape May at one of 14 artificial reef sites established along the Jersey Shore.

The boat, like the 135 sent to the bottom before it, is intended to take the place of rock formations, which don't exist in the flat, sandy bottom of the continental shelf. Such solid structures provide habitats for crustaceans and microorganisms that fish eat. More food means more fish, and that makes the ocean more lucrative for fishermen and more interesting for divers.

"There's nothing divers love to look at more than an intact sunken ship," said Steve Nagiewicz, who runs a dive boat company and operates a Web site - njscuba.com - that lists New Jersey's popular dive locations.

The 120-foot-long ferryboat Elizabeth was built in 1901 and originally plied the Hudson between Jersey City and lower Manhattan. It was the last steam ferry on that route. It had been docked in Philadelphia for many years and was used most recently as a restaurant.

The boat was cleaned and stripped of its pilot houses before a hole cut in one of its watertight compartments sent it to Davy Jones' locker.

The artificial reefs have been credited with making fish and lobster more plentiful, and that makes diving more interesting. Their well-mapped locations in New Jersey's cold and cloudy gray waters also make diving easier.

In addition to decommissioned ships, boats, tankers and barges, the state Department of Environmental Protection - in partnership with diving and fishing groups - has tossed chunks of steel and concrete, known as "reef balls," and various other material over the side since the program began in 1984. The program was largely uncontroversial until the sinking two years ago of 250 former New York City subway cars.

The subway car dumping prompted some fishing and diving groups to break ranks with environmental groups, which tried to block the sea bottom express because of concerns that the asbestos floor tiles would deteriorate and contaminate the waters.

Divers now say the subway cars are far from must-see locations.

"It's a one-dive-only trip," said Glenn Arthur, chairman of the New Jersey Council of Diving Organizations. "Once you get down there to see them, all there is to look at are subway cars."

The cars probably will deteriorate into "lumps of steel" in another decade, but what will be left behind is "a whole column of marine life that will be amazing to see," Nagiewicz said. "Fish moved in the day they went down."

The artificial reef sites - while lacking the history and lore of sunken freighters, galleons and cruise ships - are great for novice divers and others not familiar with the locations of the thousands of historic wrecks along the coast, Nagiewicz said.

But funding to buy and sink decommissioned ships is hard to come by. The ferryboat sunk Wednesday was one of three bought with a $100,000 DEP appropriation. In May, a Navy tanker was sunk at a different location and another Navy tanker will be scuttled later this summer, officials said. [originially published by Northjersey.com, Colleen Diskin writer].

A Plan to Protect Trout Upstate Fails to Meet Its Promise - New York Times

HANCOCK, N.Y. - When New York City agreed last year to release more water from its upstate reservoirs to protect wild trout in the Delaware River, people in this one-stoplight village were skeptical, but they hoped for the best.

As fly-fishing season opened in the spring, the local diner, the Circle E, featured a hearty "Sportsman's Breakfast" aimed directly at anglers, and the Grand Union hung a big banner over its entrance saying "Welcome Fishermen."

But almost no anglers are buying beer or frozen burgers at the supermarket, and the owners of the diner say business is down about 20 percent. At Jim Costolnick's Border Water Outfitters fly and tackle shop on East Front Street the other day, local businessmen gathered to complain about the same thing: the new plan is not working. Despite promises, there is still not enough water in the Delaware to keep the river from becoming as warm as bath water, which is bad for fish, and bad for Hancock, too.

Nearly every shop in this Delaware County village of 1,200 wrapped in a bearhug by the East and West Branches of the Delaware is suffering. When temperatures rise above 70 degrees, trout begin crowding into cooler parts of the river, fighting among themselves and even dying. Low water in the river this summer has consistently pushed the Delaware's temperature above 80.

The problem is not drought. There's plenty of water in the city's reservoirs, which are around 90 percent full. The fishermen claim the city is hoarding water. And that, they say, is wrecking the new plan, which they doubt would have worked anyway.

"We've been pointing out to them all along that the plan wasn't going to work, and it isn't working," said Craig Findley, the president of the Friends of the Upper Delaware River, which represents sportsmen on the river. "This is an emergency."

Mr. Findley's group has proposed several alternative plans that would use far more water than is now being released from New York City's mammoth reservoirs at the head of the Delaware. But officials have rejected them all, saying that although the city's upstate reservoirs are close to full, they are slightly below normal and there's still a lot of summer left.

Besides, they point out, releasing water is not up to them, but is governed by a complicated formula established by the United States Supreme Court more than 50 years ago.

Any tinkering with that formula requires the consent of all parties involved. That includes the States of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware, the City of New York and the Delaware River Basin Commission, an interstate agency that oversees the river.

All the parties did agree last year to an experimental three-year plan to increase the water in the reservoirs in case of drought, while also expanding separate banks of water that the State of New York can use to protect the trout and their river habitat.

This is the second year of the interim plan, and it seems apparent that changes are going to have to be made.

As part of the plan, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation can order New York City to release cold water from the special banks to keep the river at an average of no more than 72 degrees according to a temperature gauge at Hankins, N.Y., about 15 miles downriver of Hancock . But by the second week of June, the state had already used more than a third of the water in the special banks trying to meet that target, and it feared that the supply would run out before summer ended.

Gerry A. Barnhart, director of the New York State Division of Fish, Wildlife and Marine Resources, said that on June 10 he gave the order to abandon the Hankins temperature target altogether. Instead, he said, the state would concentrate on cooling the East and West Branches of the Delaware, and the Neversink River, which runs into the Delaware and is part of the New York City water system.

Mr. Barnhart said that abandoning the Hankins target will have a substantial impact on the Delaware, "but it's not going to be, in my judgment, catastrophic. It is something that the river system can recover from in better water years." While fishermen say that New York is hoarding water, officials say that it was an historic excess of water that set off this year's crisis. Snowpack melt and early spring rains produced the highest water levels on the Delaware in half a century.

The heavy rains damaged a dam at the Swinging Bridge Reservoir, in Sullivan County. It is owned by the Mirant Corporation, an energy company, and is used to generate hydroelectric power. Vast amounts of water had to be released from the reservoir so the dam could be repaired.

Here's where it gets really complicated. The Supreme Court ruling, established in 1954, ensures that a certain amount of water -1,750 cubic feet per second - always flows past a monitoring gauge in Montague, N.J. This protects the water supplies of Trenton, Philadelphia and other cities downriver that draw drinking water from the Delaware.

While the extra water from Swinging Bridge helped meet the target at Montague, New York State was not directed to release water from its reservoirs to compensate for the water flushed from Swinging Bridge. As a result, the upper Delaware dropped, and water temperatures rose.

The Delaware River Basin Commission recently considered another proposal by the Friends of the Upper Delaware River for a constant release of 482 cubic feet of water per second from one of the city's reservoirs throughout the summer. Mr. Findley, the group's president, said doing so would stabilize temperatures without endangering the city's drinking water.

But Fred Nuffer, assistant director of the New York State Division of Water, said computer models run by the state showed that the Friends' proposal would use far too much water. Smaller releases, down to 160 cubic feet per second, were also analyzed, but the states represented by the commission unanimously rejected the proposal.

Mr. Nuffer said there were concerns that changing the three-year experimental program "in midstream" would invalidate the data already collected.

Still, river conditions have improved lately. With Swinging Bridge stabilized, New York City was directed last week to release water above Hancock, raising the level of the Delaware and lowering water temperatures, at least temporarily.

And New York City has agreed in principle to expand the cold water banks so there would be enough water to control temperatures in the East and West Branches of the Delaware and the Neversink through the end of September. All the states in the commission would have to approve that as well.

Michael A. Principe, director of New York City's Bureau of Water Supply , said that including the Hankins temperature targets in the interim plan had been overly optimistic, and that efforts to regulate the river's temperature might need to be scaled back in any long-term management strategy.

"You have to make a decision about how much of the river you can manage," Mr. Principe said. "Are you looking to control temperatures all the way down to Hankins? If not, you've got to step back and make a decision about what you can actually manage."

New York Times by By ANTHONY DePALMA 8/3/2005

Survey targets 15-pound destructive rodents - Delaware

Survey targets 15-pound destructive rodents

By Laren Hughes
Staff Reporter

Delaware and Maryland residents living near the water may soon have to deal with more than mosquitos and annoying insects -- 15 pound rat-like creatures known to live near marshlands.

"I saw one the other day," said Bob Schaller a resident of Muskrat Town Road in Bishopville, Md. "I could see the entire thing. It looked like a big, fat rat from a monster movie."

And he is not the only Eastern Shore resident who has sighted a nutria. The large rodents -- which hail from South America -- have been spotted near the shore in both Maryland and Delaware.

Verena Chase, from Berlin, Md., is an environmental engineer who has headed-up a nutria detection study in Worcester County, Md. through a grant from the Maryland Coastal Bays.

Chase received a $3,000 grant Coastal Bays Program for her nutria survey project, an on-foot hunt for markings, droppings and sightings of the animal itself, which blends the physical features of a rat, a squirrel and a hamster. Chase says she and volunteers will canvas several areas close to the coastal bays.

In an attempt to caution residents and locate these creatures, she distributed a survey throughout the county on July 25 -- a move that caused some concern among residents.

The Survey

It was through that study and her own observations that she concluded nutria are not a problem at the present time but a close eye should be kept on area marshlands.

The survey spanned Worcester County and because these creatures are semi-aquatic, her study focused on water-lined areas.

"I walked every shoreline or ditch that I could find," Chase said. "The creeks, I surveyed by kayaks, looking for habitat changes."

Although Chase did not detect any nutria during her four-month long study, she said she is confident they will overpopulate the area if the situation is not monitored.

The Origin

According to Steve Kenbrot, district supervisor for the United States Department of Agriculture and Wildlife Services, nutria were brought to the United States from South America in the 1930's to establish an alternative fur market.

"The muskrat population was going through a down cycle and they thought they could replace the muskrat," Kenbrot said.

Unfortunately, they created a monster. Since that time, the nutria population has increased dramatically, creating a major problem for the environment and the economy.

An encroaching threat

Nutria recently wreaked havoc on wetlands at the Blackwater Refuge in Dorchester County, Md.

Nutria devour the roots of marsh plants, exposing the mudflats to erosion and robbing smaller animals of places to hide from predators. Implications ripple up and down the food chain, affecting eagles and other species on the Eastern Shore.

Kenbrot said the county started an eradication project in September 2002 in an effort to save those wetlands.

"We've covered 75 to 100 thousand acres of federal state and private land," he said. "We've taken 9,500 nutria in the process."

He said Dorchester County has lost up to 8,000 acres of marshland because of te rodents.

He said $1 million of the state's budget is allocated towards this effort. Seventeen full-time employees track the infested areas.

"We have a recurring monitoring program where we go and look back at areas that we have already depopulated.

Residents voice concerns

Many residents -- especially pet-owners -- are disturbed by the thought of these creatures making a home in their back yards.

Schaller said he had not seen a nutria until recently.

"The grass was deep and it stuck its nose out and I got a good look at it," he said. "Four days after I saw it, I got the flyer in the mail.

Schaller, an avid cat lover, said nutria increase the danger his cats already face outdoors.

"Most of the time they won't bite off more than they can chew," he said. "Cats usually keep rodents away but I worry about the outdoor cats with these things running around."

According to Chase, these animals will not attack unless they are cornered. She said they are not harmful to humans or their pets.

Environmental Impacts

Nutria may not pose a threat to domesticated animals, but they do create problems for those in the wild.

Nutria make their homes on shorelines and are competing with muskrats for territory, officials said.

In addition, they also displace stationary and migratory birds.

"They change the habitat a great deal because they feed on marsh grasses and that causes erosion," Chase said. "The destroy the habitat of blue crabs, clams and some fish that are getting their young in the marshes."

Economic Impacts

According to Chase, an overpopulation of nutria will negatively affect the economy.

She projects the overall losses could exceed $35 million dollars annually.

As the nutria create their habitat, marsh land is destroyed, making it difficult for area waterman to make a living.

"Blue crabs are dependent on marsh lands," Chase said. "They live there and spawn there and if the marsh is gone because of erosion, you can't get them anymore."

John Fabryka, a commercial fisherman in Ocean View, said he is worried that nutria could negatively impact his livelihood.

"The bank is being eaten away at the head of White's Creek," he said. "That is the first I've ever run into them."

Fabryka said he was not aware nutria were in the Delaware area until recently. "It's going to affect navigational things mostly for me because it would make it hard to get around," he said. "If they come here in large numbers they could be a problem."

Solutions

Jonathan Schafler, a refuge manager at Primehook National Wildlife Refuge in Milton, said nutria aren't a problem in Delaware yet but officials are keeping close tabs on the situation.

"We do have several but it's not a problem over here," he said.

Schafler said precautions are being taken to prevent this invasive species from taking over the wetlands.

"A team came in with specially trained dogs to find nutria," he said. "They found none but we do the study annually."

Chase said when nutria are found, they are trapped and killed.

According to Chase, most residents were unaware that nutria existed.

She said she hopes the survey has opened eyes and encouraged residents to report future sightings before these animals take over ecosystem.

Boston and regions Fishing

Season has gone to the dogs

By Tony Chamberlain, Globe Staff | July 29, 2005

This is the time of year when, if you took vacation for some gangbuster saltwater fishing action, one only hopes you learn from your mistake. Just as surely as the game fish show up in June, hungry from their migratory run and ready to munch on the plentiful bait, by the midsummer doldrums -- mid-July on -- the action quiets down drastically. Which does not mean there aren't fish to catch, but except for some action up north, our waters are pretty quiet. The most excited species is dogfish. Yuck.

Area A: Go north and you'll be rewarded with stripers and bluefish, smalls to mediums for both species. Some lovely stripers have been feeding in the waters from New Harbor and Pemaquid up to Muscungus Bay. Biddeford Pool and Higgins Beach have good catches of bass in the evenings, best livelined on eels and small pollack. Bluefish in Saco Bay and Piscataqua River into Great Bay. Some fish showing up at night around the jetties at Plum Island, but few on the oceanfront.

Area B: Slow fishing along the Salem-Lynn waters, but a few big bass have been reported in the north approaches to Boston Harbor, taking live eels. Harbor catches have been fairly light, and the dogs are thick. Drift around the harbor islands -- north end of Thompson to Spectacle. Cod, haddock, and pollack have also been caught this week.

Area C: Perhaps the most consistent fishing in the Boston waters has been the southern approach -- Minots Ledge, where good-size bass can be counted on settling in for the season and never moving until fall. Getting them to wake up to bait is another matter, but many anglers are livelining eels and using chunk mackerel. The rocky Glades and the waters between Peggoty Beach and the North River are worth fishing -- again, better night and early morning. Fluke season is still lagging in Duxbury. Offshore, bluefin tuna fishing is the only thing that has some anglers excited.

Area D: The Canal has some bluefish at both ends -- and presumably in the middle, though that's not where the reports are coming from. A couple of decent stripers came up from the west end this week, and also in Buzzards Bay, where the small blues are suddenly active in many harbors from Wareham to Mattapoisett to Quisset, on the Falmouth shore. Also, striper anglers are becoming interested in the Elizabeth holes, from Woods Hole along the Hadley side to Robinsons and Quicks. Cuttyhunk reef is active these nights as well. Westport has blues working.

Area E: The shoal water in Nantucket Sound is likely to have small blues and scup deep. Nantucket Blues in the rips and the Vineyard guys are finding Lobsterville to Menemsha Bight in pretty good shape, along with an occasional good catch off Gay Head Light.

Area F: Race Point is surprisingly active, early and late. Not much action reported on the Seashore side. Billingsgate is always worth a look.

Rock Harbor Fishing Report Cape Cod

Rock Harbor Fishing Report
By Capt. Hap Farrell

The bass are starting to make their move. They started up on top of Billingsgate Shoals, mainly on the west end. This is a good sign. They will be easier to keep track of and we'll be able to use different methods of fishing to hook up on them. I'm hoping we'll be able to use the hootchie with success and also single swimming plugs on mono. At least we won't have to use 400 feet of wire much more.
A number of people have asked me why the tube and worm has not been working very well this season. Well, in some cases it has worked, in deep water, sometimes in the inside hole, but for the most part there has not been much activity when using it. The reason is there has not been much of a worm hatch in the Bay. If there has been one it didn't amount to a hill of beans. Hopefully when the main body of bass move into the grass on the east end of the shoals this will change.


Not all of the bass have moved out of the deep water yet. Up off Great Island in 50 feet of water there are a number of good sized schools of mixed fish. Both bass and bluefish of all sizes can be found in these bunches. Jigging with extra long wire is the best method; however, a few big bass have taken single swimming plugs on mono mainly in the outriggers. I'm sure if you had the time you could do quite well trolling around with just hootchies or plugs on mono.
The Path hasn't had much attention. Not many of the charter boats have been up there. The last time I was up there was a month ago and I found a fair amount of bluefish and a few bass out in 25 feet of water. The umbrella rig worked for me but I'm sure jigging would work and probably hootchies on the mono. At any rate, the area is worth a look see. There are plenty of bluefish in the Sunken Meadow area, so that's a safe bet.
Where will the bass be during the next week? My guess would be on the shoals. I'd look in the middle and to the west end to start with. Next, I'd work the edge, around 20 feet of water, up to the northeast. If not there, in the grass on the east end of the shoals. Try jigging.

NJ Fluke catches come in bunches

Fluke catches come in bunches
Published in the Asbury Park Press 08/2/05

There must be an awesome number of fluke out there this summer when one considers the catches being put together on a daily basis.

Capt. Ed Bunting Jr., Sea Horse, Atlantic Highlands, said he goes back to the grounds day after day and comes in with good catches.

"We had another good week catching fluke in Ambrose and Sandy Hook channels," he said. "Plenty of limits every day, and lots of shorts for action."

Jay Warford of Rumson was the angler to watch on the Sea Horse the other day when he bounced a bucktail on slack water, and picked up an 11 1/2-pound pool winner and a 9-pounder for good measure.

"He is one of the premier fluke fishermen on the Sea Horse," said Bunting.

George Waked, Cranford, had an 8-pounder; Alida Wright, Toms River, had a 6-pounder; and Harry Jenkins, North Arlington, had a 6-pounder.

Bunting said sand eels and squid strips have been hot baits, but a number of big fluke have been caught on live snappers.

Capt. Steve Spinelli, Skylarker, Belmar, said he is impressed with the response to the new Berkley Gulp bait for fluke.

"I cannot believe the number of fluke caught on it," he said. "Either crab scent or herring scent, they both work."

Capt. Bob Bogan Jr., Gambler, Inlet Basin, Point Pleasant Beach, said he continues to drift the hills and rough bottom south of Manasquan Inlet, and he found a lot of action off Seaside Park.

"Seventy-five percent of the fish were throwbacks, but we had a decent amount of keepers," he said. "We found them in 50 to 55 feet of water."

Bogan said he had been catching some big fluke in 60 to 65 feet of water farther north off Lavallette and Mantoloking, but there were not enough of them to keep everyone satisfied.

Capt. Mike Bogan reported good fishing for bluefish that ranged from 5 to 10 pounds over the weekend at Monster Ledge.

Capt. Joe Bogan, Jamaica II, Brielle, said the last seven days of fluke fishing have been good overall with only a couple of slow trips due to either a drift that was too fast or too slow.

"Not many throwbacks," he said. "A nice sprinkling of 3- to 5-pounders with 6- to 8-pounders winning most pools."

Fred Morris of Bristol, Pa., led the Jamaica II's monthly pool with an 8-pound, 1-ounce fluke until the final day when Larry Quattrone of Hightstown caught a 9-pound, 5-ounce fluke.

Monthly pool winners on the Jamaica II are rewarded with one year of unlimited fishing free.

John West of Trenton had seven fluke to 5 pounds Sunday morning, and Charlie Harris, Philadelphia, had six fluke to 4 pounds and eight sea bass.

Capt. Marc Vitolo, Skipper, Belmar, had good fluke fishing over the weekend on the grounds north of Asbury Park.

Gordon Farris of Miltop, Pa., had six keeper fluke to 8 pounds; Tom Dudek, Wall, had his limit to 7 pounds, and Jeff Collins, Bradley Beach, had his limit to 6 pounds.

Tom Flanagan, Perkiomen Ville, Pa., topped his catch of fluke with one that weighed 7 1/4 pounds and another that went 6 pounds, 9 ounces.

Dave Arbeitman, co-owner of The Reel Seat, Brielle, said Capt. Jerry Melia and mate Jerry Melia Jr. had the Hard Eight out fluke fishing with a party made up of Arman DeLaughter and Jennifer Burke, Dallas; Brandon Gentry, also of Texas; Capt. Tim Burke, Puerto Rico; Mailen Kent, Birmingham, Ala.; and Jack Frick, Dover Township.

They drifted off Monmouth Beach, and caught 35 fluke up to 3 1/2 pounds.

Tom Grasso, Sea Girt, fished the rail at Manasquan Inlet, and stopped at The Reel Seat to report a catch of several keeper fluke up to 19 inches, a number of sea robins and a 6-pound star gazer.

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