TBone
06-23-2004, 01:19 PM
Weakfish catch falls off the radar
Once swimming in sea trout, Delaware's commercial and sport fisherman come up dry
By LULADEY B. TADESSE
Lewis Myers likes to brag about catching 287 weakfish in one day back in the 1970s. In those days, it was common for Myers and other recreational fishermen to catch so many weakfish, they would toss some of them back.
Since retiring from Boeing Co. in 1995, Myers, 68, usually goes fishing four days a week near his home in Milford. Last week, at the peak of the season, Myers caught only four weakfish big enough to keep.
"Weakfishing now to me is a very small portion of my fishing," he said.
The once abundant weakfish harvests have declined to their lowest level in more than 30 years, according to a May report by the state Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control's Division of Fish & Wildlife.
Scientists can't explain the decline, which came as a surprise, and they're scrambling to figure it out.
Last year, weakfish caught for sport in Delaware fell 77 percent to 56,799 pounds, from 243,156 pounds in 2002. Weakfish harvests by commercial fishermen dropped 44 percent to 91,195 pounds, from 164,064 pounds a year earlier.
Weakfish, also known as sea trout, became Delaware's state fish in 1981 because of its popularity among recreational and commercial fishermen and its economic contribution as game and food. Weakfish get their name from the fact that their mouths tear easily when they are caught by a hook.
"It used to be the most important fish in terms of the commercial landings and recreational landings," said Roy Miller, the state fisheries administrator. He said some commercial fishermen are suffering because they can no longer make a living on sea trout.
William "Frenchie" Poulin, a Bowers Beach waterman for 30 years, who has his own fish market, said he has not been able to meet customers' demand for weakfish this summer.
"There is no trout," Poulin said. "It affects me quite a bit because most of my people here love trout."
Weakfish has supported fisheries along the East Coast from Florida to Massachusetts as far back as the 1800s. Last year, Delaware's commercial catch of weakfish was worth $82,992, down more than 50 percent from 2002. The fish also is a major contributor to the sport-fishing economy in Delaware, which in 2001 drew in more than 148,400 anglers and had an estimated economic impact of $112 million, according to the American Sportfishing Association in Alexandria, Va.
Historically, weakfish have experienced unexplained fluctuations in populations. On the Atlantic coast, landings overall declined steadily after a 1980 peak of 36 million pounds, reaching a low in 1994 of 6 million pounds. Landings then recovered slightly and stabilized at 7 million to 8 million pounds, until 1999, when they started to decline.
The reason for the decrease in landings is a mystery to fish scientists because it contradicts studies showing weakfish stocks rebounding.
Since 1985, weakfish have been managed by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, a consortium of 15 coastal states. In 1996 and 2002, new regulations to protect weakfish were put in place throughout the Atlantic coast, limiting fish size and landings. Regulators considered those measures effective because studies suggested that weakfish stocks recovered in the mid-1990s.
But the more recent evidence belies those findings. At a weakfish management conference held last month, Delaware, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Maryland and Virginia reported declines in weakfish harvests.
A closer look at the latest available weakfish survey, released in 2002, concluded that earlier studies underestimated weakfish mortality due to fishing and overestimated their population. As a result, experts have launched several new studies to re-evaluate the weakfish stock size, the age and size of the fish available for harvest as well as their migration patterns. Results are due this fall.
"People are concerned," said Desmond Kahn, biometrician studying weakfish at the state Division of Fish & Wildlife. "We don't know what is causing it."
Weakfish experts said some environmental factor probably is at work. Factors such as predators, competition with other fish and weather patterns could affect weakfish populations. For example, the decline in menhaden, a fish consumed by weakfish, may be a factor.
Weakfish migration patterns, which are little understood, also may have changed. After spawning in the Delaware Bay, weakfish travel north. In the winter months, they move south to North Carolina and beyond.
In North Carolina, the evidence is even more confusing. Commercial harvests declined last year by more than 70 percent to less than a million pounds compared with 1996, but recreational landings have increased 55 percent during that same period.
"The commercial harvests are going down, down, down, and it doesn't make any sense to me," said Louis Daniel, chairman of the weakfish management board and assistant to the director at the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries. "It is weird."
While the scientists try to figure out what is going on, fishermen such as Myers and businesses catering to fishermen are coping with meager landings.
"There are an awful lot of disgruntled recreational fishermen," said George Witman Sr., owner of Cedar Creek Bait and Tackle in Milford. "People get disappointed when they go out and don't catch anything."
Witman said declines in weakfish stocks over the years have forced him to diversify his business by selling and repairing trailers.
A couple of weeks ago, when Myers caught an 18-inch weakfish weighing two pounds, he told Witman about it.
"Today when we get them, we consider them pretty nice fish because we don't get them anymore," Myers said. "He told me to bring it in so he could take a picture of it."
Once swimming in sea trout, Delaware's commercial and sport fisherman come up dry
By LULADEY B. TADESSE
Lewis Myers likes to brag about catching 287 weakfish in one day back in the 1970s. In those days, it was common for Myers and other recreational fishermen to catch so many weakfish, they would toss some of them back.
Since retiring from Boeing Co. in 1995, Myers, 68, usually goes fishing four days a week near his home in Milford. Last week, at the peak of the season, Myers caught only four weakfish big enough to keep.
"Weakfishing now to me is a very small portion of my fishing," he said.
The once abundant weakfish harvests have declined to their lowest level in more than 30 years, according to a May report by the state Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control's Division of Fish & Wildlife.
Scientists can't explain the decline, which came as a surprise, and they're scrambling to figure it out.
Last year, weakfish caught for sport in Delaware fell 77 percent to 56,799 pounds, from 243,156 pounds in 2002. Weakfish harvests by commercial fishermen dropped 44 percent to 91,195 pounds, from 164,064 pounds a year earlier.
Weakfish, also known as sea trout, became Delaware's state fish in 1981 because of its popularity among recreational and commercial fishermen and its economic contribution as game and food. Weakfish get their name from the fact that their mouths tear easily when they are caught by a hook.
"It used to be the most important fish in terms of the commercial landings and recreational landings," said Roy Miller, the state fisheries administrator. He said some commercial fishermen are suffering because they can no longer make a living on sea trout.
William "Frenchie" Poulin, a Bowers Beach waterman for 30 years, who has his own fish market, said he has not been able to meet customers' demand for weakfish this summer.
"There is no trout," Poulin said. "It affects me quite a bit because most of my people here love trout."
Weakfish has supported fisheries along the East Coast from Florida to Massachusetts as far back as the 1800s. Last year, Delaware's commercial catch of weakfish was worth $82,992, down more than 50 percent from 2002. The fish also is a major contributor to the sport-fishing economy in Delaware, which in 2001 drew in more than 148,400 anglers and had an estimated economic impact of $112 million, according to the American Sportfishing Association in Alexandria, Va.
Historically, weakfish have experienced unexplained fluctuations in populations. On the Atlantic coast, landings overall declined steadily after a 1980 peak of 36 million pounds, reaching a low in 1994 of 6 million pounds. Landings then recovered slightly and stabilized at 7 million to 8 million pounds, until 1999, when they started to decline.
The reason for the decrease in landings is a mystery to fish scientists because it contradicts studies showing weakfish stocks rebounding.
Since 1985, weakfish have been managed by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, a consortium of 15 coastal states. In 1996 and 2002, new regulations to protect weakfish were put in place throughout the Atlantic coast, limiting fish size and landings. Regulators considered those measures effective because studies suggested that weakfish stocks recovered in the mid-1990s.
But the more recent evidence belies those findings. At a weakfish management conference held last month, Delaware, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Maryland and Virginia reported declines in weakfish harvests.
A closer look at the latest available weakfish survey, released in 2002, concluded that earlier studies underestimated weakfish mortality due to fishing and overestimated their population. As a result, experts have launched several new studies to re-evaluate the weakfish stock size, the age and size of the fish available for harvest as well as their migration patterns. Results are due this fall.
"People are concerned," said Desmond Kahn, biometrician studying weakfish at the state Division of Fish & Wildlife. "We don't know what is causing it."
Weakfish experts said some environmental factor probably is at work. Factors such as predators, competition with other fish and weather patterns could affect weakfish populations. For example, the decline in menhaden, a fish consumed by weakfish, may be a factor.
Weakfish migration patterns, which are little understood, also may have changed. After spawning in the Delaware Bay, weakfish travel north. In the winter months, they move south to North Carolina and beyond.
In North Carolina, the evidence is even more confusing. Commercial harvests declined last year by more than 70 percent to less than a million pounds compared with 1996, but recreational landings have increased 55 percent during that same period.
"The commercial harvests are going down, down, down, and it doesn't make any sense to me," said Louis Daniel, chairman of the weakfish management board and assistant to the director at the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries. "It is weird."
While the scientists try to figure out what is going on, fishermen such as Myers and businesses catering to fishermen are coping with meager landings.
"There are an awful lot of disgruntled recreational fishermen," said George Witman Sr., owner of Cedar Creek Bait and Tackle in Milford. "People get disappointed when they go out and don't catch anything."
Witman said declines in weakfish stocks over the years have forced him to diversify his business by selling and repairing trailers.
A couple of weeks ago, when Myers caught an 18-inch weakfish weighing two pounds, he told Witman about it.
"Today when we get them, we consider them pretty nice fish because we don't get them anymore," Myers said. "He told me to bring it in so he could take a picture of it."