Where are the Shad?

[stormchaser]

I would have to agree with this. even in the Hudson, the shad run is a shadow of what it once was. No wonder there are new restrictions. Do it now, though it's painful, so there will be a future fishery.

[plugginpete]

Here's the latest update, doesn't look good:





Shad fishermen left hanging by commission's plan


Sunday, August 03, 2008 BY FRED J. AUN
For the Star-Ledger

Given that John Punola goes by the nickname "Shad Man," it's easy to understand why he'd be upset if the powers-that-be banned Delaware River shad fishing.
In fact, he gets worked up just at the thought of it.

Punola was one of a dozen people who showed up earlier this month for a public hearing about shad conducted by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC). The hearing took place at 6 p.m. on a Tuesday at a site near Atlantic City, not exactly in the backyards of most Delaware River shad fishing die-hards.

The commission has been conducting these hearings up and down the Atlantic Coast as part of its plan to do a "major overhaul" of its current shad management program, said ASMFC public affairs specialist Tina Berger. She said the commission last year completed an assessment of Atlantic Coast shad populations and wasn't pleased with the result.

"The findings are not terribly surprising," said Berger. "We found that American shad stocks are currently at all-time lows almost throughout the range. Some river systems have seen increases, but overall the stock is depressed coastwide."

Berger said a prior assessment, conducted a decade ago, found a number of rivers along the East Coast had "serious depletion problems." She noted that ocean "intercept" fishing for shad was banned in January 2005.

Shad "tend to be pretty river specific," explained Berger, meaning they usually return to the river where they were born when they reach reproductive age. That makes it relatively easy to manage the fish on a river-by-river basis, but those efforts are undermined if shad are caught at sea when they are all intermingled.

Punola said he is worried the ASMFC will call for a moratorium on shad fishing, even in the rivers, in order to get a better understanding of the situation.

"When they do a 5-year study, they normally close fishing, the premise being they don't want their study interrupted by commercial or regular fishing," he said. "This does not affect next year, but I strongly suspect they are going to put a moratorium on the fishery for awhile."

Berger said there are no plans to do that and such a moratorium is not mentioned in the ASMFC's public information document describing its current actions.

In the document, the commission said the goal of the public hearings was to find out if people thought the shad mortality rates and restoration goals it is proposing are appropriate for rebuilding the American shad population. It also wanted to hear ideas about "what means could be implemented to prevent the expansion of American shad fisheries and whether anglers should be allowed to harvest from stocks that have been restored."

Additionally, the ASMFC asked whether fisheries should be restricted when they are operating on stocks of shad suffering from "increasing total mortality rates and decreasing relative abundance" and, if so, "to what extent should they be restricted."
Unfortunately, for those who have opinions about these issues but didn't make a meeting or send a letter, the deadline for comments came and went July 25.

"Nobody seems to know about this," Punola said. Although the ASMFC lists the status of shad in the Delaware River as being stable, Punola said he remains worried the commission will lump the river in with others that are faring worse.

Should some drastic action, such as a moratorium on shad, take place, the Shad Man will be joined in his sadness by many others who view shad fishing on the "Big D" to be a holy rite of spring right up there with trout season and the return of baseball.

[BassBuddah]

I would have to agree with this. even in the Hudson, the shad run is a shadow of what it once was. No wonder there are new restrictions. Do it now, though it's painful, so there will be a future fishery.

Hudson shad run is nothing, not even worth going anymore. That tells you things are really bad.

[bunkerjoe4]

Hey folks, I just received this via e-mail list. This e-mail pertains specifically to herring, but you can bet the regulations on shad won't be far behind. I have mixed feelings about this. All along we knew that something needed to be done. I just hope that the standards of measuring the biomass stay as they are now, and aren't modified somewhere down the road if the biomass target is not reached.

What this means to you as fishermen is that many will have their spring herring fishing either blocked or severely restricted. Even though it's boring to read through things like this, it benefits us all to stay informed. I will try to keep you posted with any further developments.



From: FWLISTS FWLISTS
To: njfreshwaterfishing@listserv.state.nj.us; njmarinefishing@listserv.state.nj.us
Sent: Fri, 22 Aug 2008 1:01 pm
Subject: Comment on River Herring Management Plan Amendment


The following is the text of a news release from the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:ASMFC Shad and River Herring Board Releases Draft River Herring Amendment for Public Comment and Review Alexandria, VA - The Commission's Shad & River Herring Management Board has approved sending forward Draft Amendment 2 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for River Herring for public review and comment.
**
It seeks input on proposed requirements for population and bycatch monitoring, as well as commercial and recreational management measures. It is anticipated that the majority of coastal states will be conducting public meetings on the Draft Amendment; information on those meetings will be released once they become finalized.
**
The Draft Amendment has been developed in response to widespread concern regarding the decline of river herring stocks. While many populations of blueback herring and alewife, collectively known as river herring, are in decline or remain depressed at stable levels, lack of fishery-dependent and independent data makes it difficult to ascertain the status of river herring stocks coastwide.
**
Between 1985 and 2004, commercial landings of river herring dropped by 90 percent from 13.6 to 1.33 million pounds. In 2007, Commission member states reported river herring landings of approximately 1.1 million pounds.
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In response to declining stocks within their own waters, four states -- Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and North Carolina -- have closed their river herring fisheries.River herring stocks are a multi-jurisdictional resource occurring in rivers and coastal waters. River herring bycatch continues to be a significant concern.
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Preliminary analyses indicate that, in some years, the total bycatch of river herring species by the Atlantic herring fleet alone could be equal to the total landings from the entire in-river directed fishery on the East Coast.
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The Draft Amendment proposes a suite of management measures to address these concerns and ensure the survival and enhancement of depressed stocks or the maintenance of presently stable stocks.The Draft Amendment proposes mandatory data and bycatch monitoring provisions, as well as options to close fisheries by river system or establish a coastwide moratorium on the river herring fishery.
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Specific commercial measures include area closures, escapement provisions, and landings reductions by river systems, as well as limited access.
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Recreational measures include recreational license/permit, limiting recreational harvest by the days of the week, coastwide creel limit, gear restrictions, and area or seasonal closures by river system. The Draft will be available by early September and can be obtained by contacting the Commission at (202) 289-6400 or via the Commission's website at www.asmfc.org under Breaking News.
**
For more information, please contact Toni Kerns, Senior Fisheries Management Plan Coordinator for Management, at (202) 289-6400 or tkerns@asmfc.org. *************************Tina BergerPublic Affairs SpecialistAtlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission1444 I Street. NW, Sixth FloorWashington, DC 20005Phone: (202)289-6400FAX: (202)289-6051Email: tberger@asmfc.org www.asmfc.org