Bunker change a win for anglers
In a decision seen as a big win for recreational anglers, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) last week announced that menhaden, known locally as bunker, will now fall under a management program requiring a reduction in harvest and the use of biological reference points to rebuild the stocks.
"Menhaden are one of the most important forage fish for striped bass, bluefish and a host of other predator species,'' said Charles A. Witek III, chairman of the Atlantic Fisheries Committee for the Coastal Conservation Association, a nearly 100,000- member marine resource conservation group that strongly advocated this position. "Bunker stocks are down nearly 90 percent from historic levels. This plan should increase their numbers substantially.''
Anglers and conservationists for years have believed that menhaden stocks are severely stressed. One can only wonder how it took the ASMFC so long to agree. The initial catch reduction will be about 37 percent. That will affect the bunker reduction fleet and bait suppliers but shouldn't prevent anglers from gathering small numbers of bunker for personal use as bait.
With the decision to bring menhaden under the management umbrella, the next step is defining how to implement the reductions. "That,'' said Witek, "is where the real brawl begins as the reduction fleet, bait fleet and individual states hammer out the particulars.''
Action heats up in cold
The blast of cool air that pushed white caps across Long Island Sound Thursday provoked thick schools of bluefish and school stripers to crash North Shore beaches. The morning bite found solid action on tins and bucktails from Horton's Point to Wading River. Look for the same scenario again after this weekend's warming trend.
If you've been thinking about squeezing in another blackfish or striped bass trip, now would be a great time to get it done. The tautog are hitting hard and heavy in 40- to 50-foot depths in Long Island Sound with limit catches reported by open boats sailing out of Port Washington, Huntington, Port Jefferson, Greenport and Orient. South Shore catches also have been strong out of Montauk, Shinnecock, Captree, Freeport and Point Lookout. If keeper stripers are on your mind, drift whole clams or live eels at the South Shore inlets and bridges, or go diamond jigging on the Long Island Sound Middle Grounds near Stratford Shoal.
It's turkey time
Long Island's third annual fall turkey hunting season opens at sunrise Saturday and runs through sunset on Wednesday. Hunters carrying a valid turkey permit and tag can take turkey with either bow or shotgun from sunrise to sunset and are allowed one bird of either sex for this year's hunt.
Public hunting opportunities for turkey on Long Island are available on several DEC-managed lands in Suffolk County, including the Otis Pike Preserve, Rocky Point Natural Resources Management Area, Westhampton Management Area, West Tiana, Barcelona Neck and the Sarnoff Pine Barrens Preserve. Town lands in Brookhaven, Shelter Island and Southampton, along with Suffolk County Parks and the East Hampton Cooperative Area, are not open to turkey hunting this year.
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