JohnR
04-05-2001, 10:19 AM
This was an old thread from April or May that I've brought back - relates alot to the Discover Article....
thanks... John R
http://www.striped-bass.com/Images/bunker.jpg
There is a proposal to ban purse seigning of Menhaden in Narragansett Bay being proposed by Dan Pedro and others. This was brought up last night at the NPSFA meeting and he is looking for comment:
Dear Legislators,
My name is Dan Pedro, Sec. West Bay Anglers. I’m here to talk about the ecological role menhaden play, both as forage fish for other migratory species and as our roving filters in Narragansett Bay.
Let’s first talk about how menhaden serve as roving filters, converting algae into energy and thus reducing nutrient loads. Atlantic menhaden occupy two distinct types of feeding niches during their lifetime. They are size-selective plankton feeders as larvae and filter feeders as juveniles and adults. An adult menhaden through its unique filtering gills is able to process up to 4 gallons of water per minute or a million gallons of water every 180 days. Menhaden gather where nutrients in the form of algae are concentrated, such as our upper Narragansett Bay. While in our upper bay, menhaden feeding on phytoplankton and plant detritus, (Decaying Organic Matter) help to clean up our bay through their unique capacity to remove excess nutrients from the water column and rejuvenating our bay.
In a study done by marine biologist Sara Gottieg at the University of Maryland, she estimated that for Chesapeake Bay, this ecological function of removing excess nutrients is worth up to $90 million per annum counting only the reduction in nitrogen and not the other nutrient, phosphorous, that algae also contains.
Now we all know that Narragansett Bay is only roughly one-tenth the size but even at one-hundredth of that figure this ecological function far outweighs any monetary gain Rhode Islanders receive from the purse seining of menhaden in our bay.
In areas in our upper Narragansett bay that are still closed to shellfishing these roving filters our menhaden are needed to continue to clean excess nutrients out of the water column. All areas closed to pollution should also be closed to purse seining of menhaden to help insure improvement to our water quality in Narragansett Bay.
And now lets talk about the other ecological role menhaden play as forage fish for other migratory species found right here in our Narragansett Bay. Menhaden are a major forage species for a wide number of important predatory fish species including, but not limited to, striped bass, bluefish, Squeteag or weakfish, Fluke, Flounder, and Scup in our Bay and are also used for offshore predators such as bluefin tuna, and sharks. Since predators in several ecosystems eat menhaden, they serve as a direct pelagic link in the food web chain between detritus and plankton right up to the top predators.
For striped bass alone 60% of there dietary consummation would be menhaden if enough were available to them in our Bay and the Larger Bass of previous years would return and stay in our bay. In recent years both commercial Rod and reel fisherman and recreational anglers have been noticing that the larger bass in length do not weight as much as they did in previous years as a result in fewer forage fish available to them.
Recreational and rod and reel fisherman, for whom menhaden are important food-chain links, blamed commercial purse sieners for over-harvesting. Commercial seiners attributed the shortfall of menhaden to a record sized striped bass population moving through the ecosystem and preying upon the menhaden.
I personally think both arguments are correct. What we needed to do was to have some foresight. When we put a Moratorium on striped bass fishing we should have put additional restrictions on purse seining, especially in small estuaries such as Narragansett Bay to insure adequate forage fish for the increase in the migratory striped bass population.
Now in mid May each year school size stripers show up in record numbers looking for nourishment in our bay but the purse seines take away more than 95% of the favorite forage fish in a single set, leaving these stripers to prey upon other species such as crabs, lobsters, flounders, and scup before leaving our Bay in search of greener pastures so to speak. It’s also my opinion one of the reasons winter flounder stocks are so depleted in our Bay is because of the collision course that goes on each year in mid May as flounder are leaving the bay and stripers are coming into our bay with a reduced amount of forage fish for them to eat, I would not want to be a juvenile size flounder facing a hungry young striped bass.
Menhaden migrate north in early spring each year, with larger/older fish going farthest north and with fewer older/larger fish in the spawning biomass less and less menhaden reach our bay each year. This is why we need to put a Moratorium on purse seining of menhaden
As far as needing to purse seine the menhaden to use as Lobster bait here in our bay holds no weight with me because about 90% of the annual Atlantic coast catch is processed into fish meal and oil, while the remaining 10% is used for bait in the crab and lobster pot fisheries and for sport fishing bait. With what small amount that is harvested from our Bay it does not even supply enough lobster bait for even 1 month and for the rest of the year it is shipped in from New Jersey. We need to end purse seining so there will be an adequate level of menhaden as forage to assure the natural development of predator species in Narragansett Bay
In past years both Recreational and Commercial rod and reel fisherman would spend a couple of hours to catch enough menhaden to be used as baits approximately 35-50 for a weekend. These days almost all Recreational anglers have stopped trying and Commercial Rod and Reel fisherman will spend all night or at least 8 hours to catch maybe a dozen (12) on a good night.
At present only Ark bait a Massachusetts based company is responsible for the purse seining that goes on in our Bay and once he is done taking 95% of all menhaden that enter our bay buy the end June, he is back to New Jersey for his bait leaving us with inadequate levels of menhaden for all the other user groups here in Rhode Island for the rest of the year.
The Advantages of this menhaden Moratorium:
Eliminate the conflict over Purse seining of Menhaden in Narragansett Bay
Maintain adequate levels of menhaden as forage fish as stock improves from the reduced catch
Provide for the presence of Menhaden in areas accessible to both commercial Rod and Reel fisherman and recreational Anglers
Assure the continued improvement of the water quality in the upper bay by the reduction of nutrient loads
Resurgence in larger fish in our Bay that will stay here for longer periods during the summer
Increased Recreational Industry from the increase of fish in our bay
Improve the overall Quality of life in Narragansett Bay
By adopting this menhaden Moratorium you as legislators have the chance to be pro-active for a change, instead of waiting to be re-active when amendment 1 of the ASMFC is approved.
And in conclusion I would like to leave you with a little unknown fact that I came across. Rhode Islanders invented the first use of a purse seine to catch menhaden in 1845 and it was said to be the single greatest advancement in the fishing Industry, for its time, but that was then. Now is the time once again that Rhode Islanders take the single greatest step to improve our ecosystem in Narragansett Bay by stopping the purse seining of menhaden.
Thank You,
Dan Pedro
(Sec) West Bay Anglers
(401) 539-7914
Email: sca97@email.com
thanks... John R
http://www.striped-bass.com/Images/bunker.jpg
There is a proposal to ban purse seigning of Menhaden in Narragansett Bay being proposed by Dan Pedro and others. This was brought up last night at the NPSFA meeting and he is looking for comment:
Dear Legislators,
My name is Dan Pedro, Sec. West Bay Anglers. I’m here to talk about the ecological role menhaden play, both as forage fish for other migratory species and as our roving filters in Narragansett Bay.
Let’s first talk about how menhaden serve as roving filters, converting algae into energy and thus reducing nutrient loads. Atlantic menhaden occupy two distinct types of feeding niches during their lifetime. They are size-selective plankton feeders as larvae and filter feeders as juveniles and adults. An adult menhaden through its unique filtering gills is able to process up to 4 gallons of water per minute or a million gallons of water every 180 days. Menhaden gather where nutrients in the form of algae are concentrated, such as our upper Narragansett Bay. While in our upper bay, menhaden feeding on phytoplankton and plant detritus, (Decaying Organic Matter) help to clean up our bay through their unique capacity to remove excess nutrients from the water column and rejuvenating our bay.
In a study done by marine biologist Sara Gottieg at the University of Maryland, she estimated that for Chesapeake Bay, this ecological function of removing excess nutrients is worth up to $90 million per annum counting only the reduction in nitrogen and not the other nutrient, phosphorous, that algae also contains.
Now we all know that Narragansett Bay is only roughly one-tenth the size but even at one-hundredth of that figure this ecological function far outweighs any monetary gain Rhode Islanders receive from the purse seining of menhaden in our bay.
In areas in our upper Narragansett bay that are still closed to shellfishing these roving filters our menhaden are needed to continue to clean excess nutrients out of the water column. All areas closed to pollution should also be closed to purse seining of menhaden to help insure improvement to our water quality in Narragansett Bay.
And now lets talk about the other ecological role menhaden play as forage fish for other migratory species found right here in our Narragansett Bay. Menhaden are a major forage species for a wide number of important predatory fish species including, but not limited to, striped bass, bluefish, Squeteag or weakfish, Fluke, Flounder, and Scup in our Bay and are also used for offshore predators such as bluefin tuna, and sharks. Since predators in several ecosystems eat menhaden, they serve as a direct pelagic link in the food web chain between detritus and plankton right up to the top predators.
For striped bass alone 60% of there dietary consummation would be menhaden if enough were available to them in our Bay and the Larger Bass of previous years would return and stay in our bay. In recent years both commercial Rod and reel fisherman and recreational anglers have been noticing that the larger bass in length do not weight as much as they did in previous years as a result in fewer forage fish available to them.
Recreational and rod and reel fisherman, for whom menhaden are important food-chain links, blamed commercial purse sieners for over-harvesting. Commercial seiners attributed the shortfall of menhaden to a record sized striped bass population moving through the ecosystem and preying upon the menhaden.
I personally think both arguments are correct. What we needed to do was to have some foresight. When we put a Moratorium on striped bass fishing we should have put additional restrictions on purse seining, especially in small estuaries such as Narragansett Bay to insure adequate forage fish for the increase in the migratory striped bass population.
Now in mid May each year school size stripers show up in record numbers looking for nourishment in our bay but the purse seines take away more than 95% of the favorite forage fish in a single set, leaving these stripers to prey upon other species such as crabs, lobsters, flounders, and scup before leaving our Bay in search of greener pastures so to speak. It’s also my opinion one of the reasons winter flounder stocks are so depleted in our Bay is because of the collision course that goes on each year in mid May as flounder are leaving the bay and stripers are coming into our bay with a reduced amount of forage fish for them to eat, I would not want to be a juvenile size flounder facing a hungry young striped bass.
Menhaden migrate north in early spring each year, with larger/older fish going farthest north and with fewer older/larger fish in the spawning biomass less and less menhaden reach our bay each year. This is why we need to put a Moratorium on purse seining of menhaden
As far as needing to purse seine the menhaden to use as Lobster bait here in our bay holds no weight with me because about 90% of the annual Atlantic coast catch is processed into fish meal and oil, while the remaining 10% is used for bait in the crab and lobster pot fisheries and for sport fishing bait. With what small amount that is harvested from our Bay it does not even supply enough lobster bait for even 1 month and for the rest of the year it is shipped in from New Jersey. We need to end purse seining so there will be an adequate level of menhaden as forage to assure the natural development of predator species in Narragansett Bay
In past years both Recreational and Commercial rod and reel fisherman would spend a couple of hours to catch enough menhaden to be used as baits approximately 35-50 for a weekend. These days almost all Recreational anglers have stopped trying and Commercial Rod and Reel fisherman will spend all night or at least 8 hours to catch maybe a dozen (12) on a good night.
At present only Ark bait a Massachusetts based company is responsible for the purse seining that goes on in our Bay and once he is done taking 95% of all menhaden that enter our bay buy the end June, he is back to New Jersey for his bait leaving us with inadequate levels of menhaden for all the other user groups here in Rhode Island for the rest of the year.
The Advantages of this menhaden Moratorium:
Eliminate the conflict over Purse seining of Menhaden in Narragansett Bay
Maintain adequate levels of menhaden as forage fish as stock improves from the reduced catch
Provide for the presence of Menhaden in areas accessible to both commercial Rod and Reel fisherman and recreational Anglers
Assure the continued improvement of the water quality in the upper bay by the reduction of nutrient loads
Resurgence in larger fish in our Bay that will stay here for longer periods during the summer
Increased Recreational Industry from the increase of fish in our bay
Improve the overall Quality of life in Narragansett Bay
By adopting this menhaden Moratorium you as legislators have the chance to be pro-active for a change, instead of waiting to be re-active when amendment 1 of the ASMFC is approved.
And in conclusion I would like to leave you with a little unknown fact that I came across. Rhode Islanders invented the first use of a purse seine to catch menhaden in 1845 and it was said to be the single greatest advancement in the fishing Industry, for its time, but that was then. Now is the time once again that Rhode Islanders take the single greatest step to improve our ecosystem in Narragansett Bay by stopping the purse seining of menhaden.
Thank You,
Dan Pedro
(Sec) West Bay Anglers
(401) 539-7914
Email: sca97@email.com