lets talk herring

[slapshot]

It takes 4 years for this years' spawn to mature and return to the rivers to make new spawn. For this reason, I say it will take a minimum of 6 years before any improvements are seen.

[thefishingfreak]

i'm not just thinking about myself here. don't matter,
i could pound sand for the next three years. whats off limits is off limits..
however i think that just shutting everything down and waiting to see what happens is not the way to go.

you want herring down there?
i know a place there will be tons of big fat pregnant females. come the full moon in may.
we try not to take the big fat females. we try to help them up river.
seems they come in first to lay the eggs,, then we'll see the carp come in like hoovers to suck up the eggs. and then the males will come in to fertilize them..
this is just a guess? based on what i see day to day. hour to hour.

i'm no herring expert but like i said,, i use them.
so tracking whear they are,, what there doing at the runs is high on my list. as whell as other guys i know.

if they do come back to the same river to spawn? i would think transporting pre-spawn fish to a certain area could only help.

[Navy Chief]

Maybe someone should do something about the non-native Carp that are s#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&g the eggs like Hoovers.

[macojoe]

I hate chasing the herrin and paying for the permits!! I have not used them for 3 years now.
I use live scup now, but they were almost as hard to get last summer??

[ZuluHotel]

Interesting post.

I have to admit I understand little about where anadromous herring (as opposed to Atlantic herring) spend their time when they're not in rivers--way offshore, nearshore, along shore. NMFS has repeatly noted there's very little interaction between the mid-water trawlers that target Atlantic herring, and bluebacks or alewives. Then again, observer coverage in the form of qualified fish biologists who can differentiate between Atlantics and bluebacks has been very small percentagewise. It could well be that big numbers of river herring are being sucked up in that fishery.

Then again, it could be the resurgence of our beloved striped bass or not-so-beloved dogfish, at the same time many other historic food sources that diverted attention away from river herring (i.e. mackerel, pogies, etc.) that is putting unbelievable pressure on the bluebacks and alewives. Could be more holdover bass waiting in the river systems, could be pollution, could be upstream obstructions.

Complicated problem. I think increased observer coverage on the mid-water boats would be a good starting point to eliminate or confirm that possibility.

Curious to see what others think.

[ThrowingTimber]

I think the ban should include rhode island as well. We're now trapped between two states where possession is illegal. We're gonna get squeezed even worse...

[Nebe]

Originally Posted by ThrowingTimber

I think the ban should include rhode island as well. We're now trapped between two states where possession is illegal. We're gonna get squeezed even worse...

YEp..

[MoroneSaxatilis]

Originally Posted by macojoe

I hate chasing the herrin and paying for the permits!! I have not used them for 3 years now.
I use live scup now, but they were almost as hard to get last summer??

Not to mention that they shut down the rec scup, so if you didn't have a comm permit you couldn't even have ONE on board.

[Raider Ronnie]

Mike,
I think that you will be going through the DTs from herring withdrawl come early june !!!

[BobT]

Problem...............now what do I do with all the frozen herring that's in my freezer???????????????????????

[slapshot]

Originally Posted by MoroneSaxatilis

Not to mention that they shut down the rec scup, so if you didn't have a comm permit you couldn't even have ONE on board.

I'm not sure what State Googanville is in, but where did they shut down the rec scup fishery?

[riverrat2]

I think the herring ban can only help. I just hope that they dont go right back to the old ways next year.

[MoroneSaxatilis]

I'm in Massachusetts. The rec scup fishery was shut down around the end of August and the comm limit was first doubled, then more than tripled.