surferman
08-13-2010, 08:23 PM
I heard them talking about this on a SJ morning radio show, they were saying peanut bunker must be a weaker fish because the died so quick. They had no clue about oxygen levels and what it does to fishing. Funny what people who aren't fishermen will say about this.
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/breaking/article_ee3e7a3e-a5a2-11df-bdfd-001cc4c002e0.html
By RICHARD DEGENER Staff Writer | Posted: Wednesday, August 11, 2010 | 0 comments (http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/communities/lower_capemay/article_ee3e7a3e-a5a2-11df-bdfd-001cc4c002e0.html#user-comment-area)
http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/pressofatlanticcity.com/content/tncms/assets/editorial/2/4d/9f9/24d9f952-88bd-5801-8a82-930c87b4350c-revisions/4c633287acbaa.preview-300.jpg (http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/communities/lower_capemay/article_ee3e7a3e-a5a2-11df-bdfd-001cc4c002e0.html?mode=image&photo=0)Hundreds of thousands of dead fish are washing ashore along the Delaware Bay's beaches, possibly as a result of low dissolved oxygen levels in the water caused by hot summer temperatures.
MIDDLE TOWNSHIP - Hundreds of thousands of dead fish are washing ashore along the Delaware Bay's beaches, possibly as a result of low dissolved oxygen levels in the water caused by hot summer temperatures.
The fish, a small oily species known as menhaden or bunker, apparently began washing ashore sometime Tuesday night into Wednesday morning. They were not washing up Tuesday at sunset, according to a Rutgers University biologist based on the bay at the oyster research station Cape Shore Laboratory.
"My field manager (Matt Newman) was here fishing last night and there weren't any dead menhaden, but he saw them jumping out of the water," Gregory DeBrosse, a Rutgers biologist and facilities manager of Cape Shore Laboratory, said Wednesday morning.
DeBrosse arrived at 6:30 a.m. Wednesday and saw the water and beaches were full of dead fish.
"There was a 20-foot-wide floating patch in either direction as far as the eye could see," DeBrosse said, speculating the number could be in the millions.
He theorized the fish were in the tidal tributaries and the recent hot weather may have lowered dissolved oxygen levels in the water. DeBrosse said juvenile menhaden, also known as "peanut bunker," are especially susceptible to low levels of dissolved oxygen in the water.
There also have been new moon tides recently that cause extremely low water at low tide, leading to hotter water temperatures in the marshes. Warmer water contains less oxygen than colder water.
There also has not been much rain recently. Rain washes out tidal tributaries and raises oxygen levels, said David Welsh, a Galloway Township resident who was catching baitfish on the bay Wednesday morning.
DeBrosse said he never has seen a fish kill this large in the 22 years he has worked at the Cape Shore Laboratory but has heard they have happened.
"This happened in the 1970s once at the same time of year," DeBrosse said.
The fish were spread out for several miles from Kimble's Beach in Middle Township to the North Cape May section of Lower Township. A few even made it past the Cape May Canal jetties and washed up on beaches in Cape May Point. The highest concentration appeared to be in the Pierce's Point area of the township.
DeBrosse does not expect any affect on the millions of oysters being cultivated in the waters off the Cape Shore Laboratory. He said the lab is only 12 miles from the ocean, where there is strong tidal flushing twice a day.
"It's unlikely this happened in the bay. It's most likely the tributaries," DeBrosse said.
The area is dotted with small tidal creeks such as Green Creek, Dias Creek, Cox Hall Creek and others.
The juvenile fish were jumping out of the bay waters at about 8 p.m. Tuesday, Newman said.
"The water looked like it was brewing over, like it was raining. I'd throw a popper (lure) in, and everywhere I threw it bunker jumped out of the water. It was almost like too much of them in one area," Newman said.
Newman said he believes a low level of dissolved oxygen, a problem when water becomes too warm, makes the most sense. Newman, however, said another possibility is too many fish were in one area and they "got stressed out" and died.
Art Treon, Lower Township's emergency management coordinator, said another theory is the fish died as a result of a commercial netting operation. Bunker fishermen, however, target much larger fish.
Treon is faced with the task of cleaning up tons of dead fish from North Cape May, Town Bank and Villas beaches, but said he would not start without approval from the state Department of Environmental Protection to take heavy equipment on the beaches.
"I won't get any equipment on the beach until we get something in writing from the DEP," Treon said.
The DEP had a helicopter in the air Wednesday trying to determine the extent of the problem.
"It does appear to be spread over several miles," DEP spokesman Lawrence Hajna said.
The DEP planned to analyze oxygen levels but said water samples taken Wednesday showed no evidence of toxic phytoplankton, such as a red tide, which can also cause fish kills.
Hanja said the dead fish appeared to be exclusively menhaden. DeBrosse said if the problem were in the bay, other species would be dead as well.
"You look at them and they look perfect. There's not a mark on them. This isn't disease. There is no chemical smell, plus it wouldn't just be the menhaden," DeBrosse said.
In a strange and unexplained twist, DeBrosse, Treon and others noted sea gulls were not eating the dead fish.
Ben Lockwood, a scallop fisherman who lives in Sunray Beach, said the most baffling thing about the fish kill was nothing was feasting on the dead fish as of Wednesday afternoon.
"There're zillions of dead bunkers and the sea gulls aren't eating them. It's scary. I was afraid it was a chemical spill," Lockwood said.
The New Jersey Sierra Club blamed the fish kill on a drop in oxygen levels due to high nutrient levels. Club Director Jeff Tittel said it shows the failure of state policy to reduce nutrients getting into the waterways.
"Sprawl, overdevelopment and the failure to clean up sewer plants are the cause of the fish kills. The dead fish are like the canary in a coal mine that the Delaware Bay is in trouble," Tittel said.
The DEP said the cause of the fish kill "is not known" but is still under investigation.
A fish kill in July at Lake Lily in Cape May Point was also blamed on high water temperatures reducing oxygen levels.
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/breaking/article_ee3e7a3e-a5a2-11df-bdfd-001cc4c002e0.html
By RICHARD DEGENER Staff Writer | Posted: Wednesday, August 11, 2010 | 0 comments (http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/communities/lower_capemay/article_ee3e7a3e-a5a2-11df-bdfd-001cc4c002e0.html#user-comment-area)
http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/pressofatlanticcity.com/content/tncms/assets/editorial/2/4d/9f9/24d9f952-88bd-5801-8a82-930c87b4350c-revisions/4c633287acbaa.preview-300.jpg (http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/communities/lower_capemay/article_ee3e7a3e-a5a2-11df-bdfd-001cc4c002e0.html?mode=image&photo=0)Hundreds of thousands of dead fish are washing ashore along the Delaware Bay's beaches, possibly as a result of low dissolved oxygen levels in the water caused by hot summer temperatures.
MIDDLE TOWNSHIP - Hundreds of thousands of dead fish are washing ashore along the Delaware Bay's beaches, possibly as a result of low dissolved oxygen levels in the water caused by hot summer temperatures.
The fish, a small oily species known as menhaden or bunker, apparently began washing ashore sometime Tuesday night into Wednesday morning. They were not washing up Tuesday at sunset, according to a Rutgers University biologist based on the bay at the oyster research station Cape Shore Laboratory.
"My field manager (Matt Newman) was here fishing last night and there weren't any dead menhaden, but he saw them jumping out of the water," Gregory DeBrosse, a Rutgers biologist and facilities manager of Cape Shore Laboratory, said Wednesday morning.
DeBrosse arrived at 6:30 a.m. Wednesday and saw the water and beaches were full of dead fish.
"There was a 20-foot-wide floating patch in either direction as far as the eye could see," DeBrosse said, speculating the number could be in the millions.
He theorized the fish were in the tidal tributaries and the recent hot weather may have lowered dissolved oxygen levels in the water. DeBrosse said juvenile menhaden, also known as "peanut bunker," are especially susceptible to low levels of dissolved oxygen in the water.
There also have been new moon tides recently that cause extremely low water at low tide, leading to hotter water temperatures in the marshes. Warmer water contains less oxygen than colder water.
There also has not been much rain recently. Rain washes out tidal tributaries and raises oxygen levels, said David Welsh, a Galloway Township resident who was catching baitfish on the bay Wednesday morning.
DeBrosse said he never has seen a fish kill this large in the 22 years he has worked at the Cape Shore Laboratory but has heard they have happened.
"This happened in the 1970s once at the same time of year," DeBrosse said.
The fish were spread out for several miles from Kimble's Beach in Middle Township to the North Cape May section of Lower Township. A few even made it past the Cape May Canal jetties and washed up on beaches in Cape May Point. The highest concentration appeared to be in the Pierce's Point area of the township.
DeBrosse does not expect any affect on the millions of oysters being cultivated in the waters off the Cape Shore Laboratory. He said the lab is only 12 miles from the ocean, where there is strong tidal flushing twice a day.
"It's unlikely this happened in the bay. It's most likely the tributaries," DeBrosse said.
The area is dotted with small tidal creeks such as Green Creek, Dias Creek, Cox Hall Creek and others.
The juvenile fish were jumping out of the bay waters at about 8 p.m. Tuesday, Newman said.
"The water looked like it was brewing over, like it was raining. I'd throw a popper (lure) in, and everywhere I threw it bunker jumped out of the water. It was almost like too much of them in one area," Newman said.
Newman said he believes a low level of dissolved oxygen, a problem when water becomes too warm, makes the most sense. Newman, however, said another possibility is too many fish were in one area and they "got stressed out" and died.
Art Treon, Lower Township's emergency management coordinator, said another theory is the fish died as a result of a commercial netting operation. Bunker fishermen, however, target much larger fish.
Treon is faced with the task of cleaning up tons of dead fish from North Cape May, Town Bank and Villas beaches, but said he would not start without approval from the state Department of Environmental Protection to take heavy equipment on the beaches.
"I won't get any equipment on the beach until we get something in writing from the DEP," Treon said.
The DEP had a helicopter in the air Wednesday trying to determine the extent of the problem.
"It does appear to be spread over several miles," DEP spokesman Lawrence Hajna said.
The DEP planned to analyze oxygen levels but said water samples taken Wednesday showed no evidence of toxic phytoplankton, such as a red tide, which can also cause fish kills.
Hanja said the dead fish appeared to be exclusively menhaden. DeBrosse said if the problem were in the bay, other species would be dead as well.
"You look at them and they look perfect. There's not a mark on them. This isn't disease. There is no chemical smell, plus it wouldn't just be the menhaden," DeBrosse said.
In a strange and unexplained twist, DeBrosse, Treon and others noted sea gulls were not eating the dead fish.
Ben Lockwood, a scallop fisherman who lives in Sunray Beach, said the most baffling thing about the fish kill was nothing was feasting on the dead fish as of Wednesday afternoon.
"There're zillions of dead bunkers and the sea gulls aren't eating them. It's scary. I was afraid it was a chemical spill," Lockwood said.
The New Jersey Sierra Club blamed the fish kill on a drop in oxygen levels due to high nutrient levels. Club Director Jeff Tittel said it shows the failure of state policy to reduce nutrients getting into the waterways.
"Sprawl, overdevelopment and the failure to clean up sewer plants are the cause of the fish kills. The dead fish are like the canary in a coal mine that the Delaware Bay is in trouble," Tittel said.
The DEP said the cause of the fish kill "is not known" but is still under investigation.
A fish kill in July at Lake Lily in Cape May Point was also blamed on high water temperatures reducing oxygen levels.