Bunker dying,,,

[Rip-Plugger]

I have seen many bunkers dying,swimming along very slow,wobbling and spinning around as they go with the tide.
I hear from friends that the same thing is going on in jersey bays and inlets.
whats doing to them,parasties,low H2o levels or getting exhausted from being chased by fish too small to eat them?
post your thoughts,ideas,observations here!

[J Barbosa]

Been seeing it first hand here for over a month now in our rivers.

Too much bunker in too little water = low oxygen = death

[finchaser]

:clapping::clapping:

[Rip-Plugger]

perhaps a lack of flushing rains also added to this as I have not seen them do this in many years unless there are tons more bunkers than in recent years.


R-P

[surfstix1963]

We have had that happen and I will go with JB's answer too many low oxygen.We had thousands wash up on the shore in a back bay area the big blues were going crazy trying to eat the floaters it stank for weeks.

[finchaser]

they need to be harvested there are too many

[jigfreak]

I hear from friends that the same thing is going on in jersey bays and inlets.



they need to be harvested there are too many

That's something to think about, good point. Most of the big bluefish in the barnegat inlet this year were chasing bunker. I can't think of the last time there were that much bunker that the blues were in and out of the inlet for a few weeks. The bunker are everywhere. A few years ago they said save the bunker. Now they have exploded in number.

[plugginpete]

saxitoxin - they just found hundreds of dead turtles as well on the east end of LI

http://www.myfoxny.com/story/29197927/spike-in-water-toxins-blamed-for-hundreds-of-turtle-deaths

[finchaser]

saw them in Barnegat yesterday
they were also on the beaches of LI yesterday

[fishinmission78]

Have seen them in the back of barney bay as well. Wasn't it not less than 3 years ago there were all these online petitions and groups fighting to save the bunker? There is an old saying be careful what you ask for you just might get it. Well these people got what they asked for and more. Bunker show up now in areas they never were. Is there anyone out there who still thinks these bunker gotta be saved?

[plugginpete]

Every year riverhead usually ends up with one bunker kill but this is getting ridiculous. Every few days you read about another one.

[cowherder]

There was also a kill in the raritan river may 30. They found them all the way up to edison. A pic I saw on facebook.