So I was reading The Fisherman last night and it opens up with a letter from a Mass North Shore Tuna charter captain, talking about the decline of the region’s primary forage fish species like menhaden, mackerel, and herring. This captain is really on the herring situation and makes a bunch of nice points. Now I’m not familiar with the tuna fishery or the bait situation “inshore” 10 miles out (that’s nearing offshore to me
) but if it’s anything like what is happening near shore in our bays and rivers, it’s gotta be in serious trouble.
I guess what irked me the most, and I may be suffering from the proverbial hair across the tush, but the editor’s reply had me fuming and a bit confused. His comments were:
[/quote]
Dear Gary,
Herring is a hot commodity. If I’m correct, the boats (
I believe the editor is speaking of the large herring processing ships which process the herring caught from smaller local boats) you speak of pack up the herring they catch here, and ship it east to China and Russia. I too have seen these boats coming back to port so loaded they can hardly float. I know in Rhode Island and Connecticut, we’ve outlawed menhaden boats in state waters, and that has helped bring back our local bunker population. New Jersey has done the same thing. Perhaps we can accomplish such a goal with herring netters [/quote]
What irked me was this line: “I know in Rhode Island and Connecticut, we’ve outlawed menhaden boats in state waters, and that has helped bring back our local bunker population.”.
What bunker population? You mean to tell me that there is a secret, hidden, but otherwise thriving bunker population somewhere in New England? That these fish have recovered? I’ve seen a lot of juvi menhaden at times but have not seen or heard of any appreciable schools of adult bunker that historically ran the coast into Maine.
And “We accomplished something?”. The guys & gals in Jersey have done a standup job against netting in state waters but I’m not aware of anything in Ma, Rhody, or CT passed thru legislature that comes anywhere remotely close to what has recently happened in NJ (
to the people down there that got that done). And no plan has been in place long enough anywhere to “bring back our local bunker population”.
Sorry to put this up and again, I can’t tell if I just haven’t had enough coffee yet, that I’m seriously missing something, or just plain have a hair across my butt but I had to vent here a little….