Monday, August 10, 2009
Meir Rinde
STAFF WRITER
As states along the Delaware River struggle to stem steady declines in shad and herring numbers, New Jersey is moving to sharply reduce limits on fishing of three affected species.
The daily limit on alewife and blueback herring would be reduced from 35 to 10 per person, and the limit on American shad from six to three, under a rule proposed by the Department of Environmental Protection's Fish and Game Council. A public hearing in Robbinsville is scheduled for Sept. 8.
Reductions in limits, and possibly even the suspension of shad and herring fishing, have been anticipated for years as a way to keep the fisheries from disappearing altogether, said Steve Meserve of Lewis Fishery in Lambertville.
"I used to catch a bunch of herring when I was a kid," said Meserve, whose company focuses on monitoring the health of the river. "The last few years, we've seen nothing. We've seen one herring in the last two or three years."
Dwindling shad numbers in the 1950s helped spur a cleanup of the river, resulting in a rebound in the 1960s and 1970s and the establishment of Lambertville's annual Shad Festival. But the numbers have declined again in recent years, leading to further study and the current proposal.
"It's like, the water's fine, now what's doing it?" Meserve said. "In the meantime, to keep things from getting worse than they are, this is one thing they've been thinking about doing."
The rule would not affect the number of fish that may be caught and released, only the number that may be kept.
The proposal comes as the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, whose members include New Jersey, Pennsylvania and 13 other states, revises its fishery management plans.
In May, the Washington, D.C.-based commission agreed that all river herring fishing in member states must stop at the end of 2011, unless a state can show its herring stocks will continue to grow despite continued fishing.
Some states have already adopted a ban, spokeswoman Tina Berger said.
NJ.com ArticleI don't think this comes as a surprise?! Guess we really can't dispute this one
? I haven't heard any good reports on herring or shad fishing in the Delaware from this year.
