bunker
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Bunker were thick in Manhasset Bay till mid July. Since then I have only seen a couple of small pods and have not seen any in about a month.
With commercial fisherman targeting them,charter boats and recs with cast nets and bunker snaggers, not to mention the hungry blues and bass , I wonder if the bunker can sustain this kind of pressure.
Since bunker are not regulated, I wonder if people use discretion when netting or snagging them ? Do they take only what they need ? Do they throw back ones they dont use ? Bunker are so effective on bass, I hope people dont get blinded by this and try to catch bass at the expense of many, many bunker. Not pointing any fingers , just wondering aloud.
Without bunker the bluefish and bass fisheries would suffer.
With commercial fisherman targeting them,charter boats and recs with cast nets and bunker snaggers, not to mention the hungry blues and bass , I wonder if the bunker can sustain this kind of pressure.
Since bunker are not regulated, I wonder if people use discretion when netting or snagging them ? Do they take only what they need ? Do they throw back ones they dont use ? Bunker are so effective on bass, I hope people dont get blinded by this and try to catch bass at the expense of many, many bunker. Not pointing any fingers , just wondering aloud.
Without bunker the bluefish and bass fisheries would suffer.
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The thing about bunker is that (while I agree that im seeing less now then past years) their population is huge they estimate that there are about 400 billion fish. While there is a large commercial sector the amount they harvest is actually minimal based on the population. Out of every 1000 bunker only about 2 are removed buy the commercial side. So basically bunker are a very sustainable fishery
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Billfish wrote:
That is not what I have heard about the bunker population down in the Chessapeake a couple of seasons ago. They have had real concerns about the harvesting of bunker for oil etc and that it was having a serious impact on their fishery.
The talk down in the Chessie was about "localized depletion" when the big purse seiners have been in an area for a while. AFAIK there are no purse seiners working in LIS. I think I remember that both CT and NY banned them from LIS many years ago.
That is not what I have heard about the bunker population down in the Chessapeake a couple of seasons ago. They have had real concerns about the harvesting of bunker for oil etc and that it was having a serious impact on their fishery.
The talk down in the Chessie was about "localized depletion" when the big purse seiners have been in an area for a while. AFAIK there are no purse seiners working in LIS. I think I remember that both CT and NY banned them from LIS many years ago.
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the ban of the nets in the great south bay helped out big time with the recovery in my neck of the woods. but when they allowed them back in even for a short amount of time they really devistated the population. not too mention all of the bycatch. they burnt out an entire area for not just a few acres but a few miles where fish were holding. nothing to be seen on that side of the bay after the nets. this year the algae bloom really screwed things all up. but luckily the fish finally showed up.
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Billfish wrote:
That is not what I have heard about the bunker population down in the Chessapeake a couple of seasons ago. They have had real concerns about the harvesting of bunker for oil etc and that it was having a serious impact on their fishery.
Can remember reading a article a few years back that they were pushing the seiners a few miles off the coast to give the bunker a chance to migrate up the coast from the Chessapeake Bay, been a while since i've seen this many bunker here,........can remember back in the late 70's walking up the walkway of the old Ponquogue bridge, seeing huge schools on both sides of the bridge(north side) all the way to the center span being slaughtered by huge blues and bass....would love to see that today.
That is not what I have heard about the bunker population down in the Chessapeake a couple of seasons ago. They have had real concerns about the harvesting of bunker for oil etc and that it was having a serious impact on their fishery.
Can remember reading a article a few years back that they were pushing the seiners a few miles off the coast to give the bunker a chance to migrate up the coast from the Chessapeake Bay, been a while since i've seen this many bunker here,........can remember back in the late 70's walking up the walkway of the old Ponquogue bridge, seeing huge schools on both sides of the bridge(north side) all the way to the center span being slaughtered by huge blues and bass....would love to see that today.
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What happened?
Maybe I have got my fact confused, but about a year or two ago weren't their some regulations put in place to reduce the amount of bunker being caught by commercial fleet?
LooneyTunes
Dave
Maybe I have got my fact confused, but about a year or two ago weren't their some regulations put in place to reduce the amount of bunker being caught by commercial fleet?
LooneyTunes
Dave
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LooneyTunes wrote:
Maybe I have got my fact confused, but about a year or two ago weren't their some regulations put in place to reduce the amount of bunker being caught by commercial fleet?
LooneyTunes
Dave
Dave, there have been new regulation put in place on commercial menhaden fishery almost every year since God knows when. Last year th ASMFC put some new regs in on menhanden harvest on the chessie, maybe that's what you were thinking of?
Maybe I have got my fact confused, but about a year or two ago weren't their some regulations put in place to reduce the amount of bunker being caught by commercial fleet?
LooneyTunes
Dave
Dave, there have been new regulation put in place on commercial menhaden fishery almost every year since God knows when. Last year th ASMFC put some new regs in on menhanden harvest on the chessie, maybe that's what you were thinking of?
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