Herring ban official?

[IrishAyes]

I have only seen this on the Press of Atlantic City site. Haven't been able to find anything on the NJ Fish and Wildlife or DEP site to corroborate it.

Read between the lines and it appears this is another attempt to get a paid saltwater license. They will try anything they can to push their agenda for more money. 


http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/sports/local/fishing_boating/new-jersey-bans-the-catch-and-sale-of-river-herring/article_ef9c31bc-494f-11e1-a43d-001871e3ce6c.html

[Hotrod]

OMG!!.. there goes the spring striper fishing in the Delaware   Unbelievable!!

[fellinger]

 

[Bucktail]

I've heard there is a ban on taking herring from Maryland north, all the way up the coast.  I don't have the regs to support that though.  

[Fishin Dude]

According to all of the news reports, it's true. I , like Joe, can not find an "Official" statement from the New Jersey Government.

I wonder how this will affect the herring populations in out large lakes, where it is still legal to capture them. Is this where the bait supply is going to come from now, or from New York, where the fishery is unaffected? Sounds like another case of the New York guys keeping the fish that we are not allowed to. 

[IKAT]

If it wasn't posted here is the Official statement

   http://www.nj.gov/dep/fgw/news/2012/herring-tog_regchange.htm   

[Capt. Carl]

This story sounds familiar....we cant possess but the commercial guys will be ok under the bycatch laws

[IKAT]

This story sounds familiar....we cant possess but the commercial guys will be ok under the bycatch laws

YUP BUD--5% of there other catch over the 3 mile limit--But--Nj Comms can't do anything with them--AS it is we need that one more state to follow--In- line with all the others --And that is not going to happen

WE will fish herring this year--HOPE NOT if you get my drift

[bassnblues]

This says "marine waters". Does that include the Delaware River around Trenton?

[IrishAyes]

This says "marine waters". Does that include the Delaware River around Trenton?

This is friom the NJDEP-Division of Fish and wildlife...

Effective immediately, no person shall take, possess, land, purchase, sell or offer for sale any river herring (alewife and blueback) in the marine waters of the State. Only commercial vessels fishing exclusively in Federal waters while operating a valid Federal permit for Atlantic mackerel and/or Atlantic herring may possess river herring, up to a maximum of five percent by weight of all species possessed.

These regulations were put in place due to concerns about the significant coastwide decline of river herring stocks. The exact cause for these coastwide declines remains uncertain, but numerous factors such as loss of spawning habitat, impediments to fish passage (i.e. dams), water quality degradation and fishing all likely played a role. Amendment 2 of the ASMFC fishery management plan for river herring prohibits both the recreational and commercial harvest of river herring in the waters of states that do not have an ASMFC- approved river herring sustainable management plan. New Jersey does not have an approved plan since the available information on river herring stocks is not sufficient to definitively prove the State's river herring stocks are sustainable. Other states along the East Coast - Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, Massachusetts and Rhode Island - have closed their river herring fisheries as well.

Amendment 2 of the ASMFC fishery management plan for river herring applies to the state’s entire population of migratory herring in both marine and fresh waters. Currently, the river herring fishery closure is in place for marine waters only, but compliance with the ASMFC plan also requires closure of the state’s fishery for freshwater migratory herring. The freshwater fishery closure, which will not include landlocked herring populations, is expected to be in place by mid-February. The Division will issue a public notification when the freshwater closure is approved.

[bassnblues]

That really sucks!

[IrishAyes]

Yes it does.

And the NJOA is blaming it on the fact that the saltwater fishermen didn't go for a license, claiming that we didn't fund the fisheries to make their studies. Of course they omit the fact that the closure also includes all the states that  do have a saltwater license. But hey, why let facts get in the way of your agenda. 

[Hotrod]

 

[IKAT]

Another article from last year-we knew it was coming

http://www.eregulations.com/newjersey/fishing/saltwater/last-call-for-river-herring/