NEW YORK
DEC gets limited exception to travel ban
Early last fall, it appeared that the
Cuomo administration-imposed travel restrictions, which had already pre- vented representatives of the Depart - ment of Environmental Conser vation’s Marine Bureau from attending impor- tant stock assessment meetings, would be extended to prevent attendance at both regular meetings of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission and the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Man age - ment Council. However, shortly before the October Council meeting, Marine Bureau personnel were instructed to attend, regardless of the comprehen- sive travel ban, by the Commissioner of the DEC. Later in the month, agency person-
nel were also permitted to attend ASMFC’s annual meeting. This was welcome news, for while it appears that travel to important stock assess- ment and other purely scientific ses- sions will still be blocked, New York’s anglers will not be disenfranchised at the policymaking level. That could be very important to New York anglers at upcoming meetings, where potentially controversial issues such as summer flounder and black sea bass allocations will probably arise.
Hurricane Sandy
devastates angling infrastructure Hurricane Sandy may have been the
most destructive storm to strike the New York coast since the hurricane of 1938. Along with the extensive damage that it caused to homes and businesses, the hybrid storm devastated much of the private and public infrastructure that is critical to anglers, particularly on the South Shore of Long Island. The effects are likely to have a significant impact on the 2013 fishing season. Surf fishermen will probably feel the
greatest impact. South-facing county, state and national parks suffered wide- spread erosion, including a number of breaches in the barrier beach. Cup - sogue County Park was cut through just east of Moriches Inlet; as a result, the inlet has more than doubled in width, with the rocks of the east jetty, now barely sticking up above the flow, being the only thing separating the two cuts. Farther west, Fire Island was cut twice. Smith Point County Park has been bisected, temporarily depriving anglers of access to Moriches Inlet and
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close to half of the ocean beachfront; the second breach split the Fire Island National Seashore, making the western end of FINS inaccessible from the Smith Point Bridge, which provides the only motorized access. The Cupsogue and Smith Point breaches will be closed by the Corps of Engineers; the breach at FINS, which is in a wilderness area, may be left open. If it is, the inflow of ocean water will probably benefit the eastern bay, but will severely restrict angler access to the western reaches of FINS. At Robert Moses State Park, two
lanes of the traffic circle at the park entrance have fallen into the surf. The road east, to Fields 4 and 5, has been badly compromised. To the west, Field 2 appears to have been seriously dam- aged, much of the beach has been carved away and the dunes have large- ly disappeared. It is not clear when vehicular access to Democrat Point can, or will, be restored, although the point itself appears to have weathered the storm. On the other side of Fire Island Inlet, the Sore Thumb is nearly gone, and Gilgo Beach, already closed to vehicles as a result of earlier storms, isn’t doing much better; so much sand has been swept away that the ruins of the old Coast Guard Station have been unearthed, and an eastbound lane of Ocean Parkway was undercut and destroyed. Three weeks after the storm, travel on Ocean Parkway was still pro- hibited. At Jones Beach, the fishing piers at Field 10 are largely gone, and the jetties at West End 2, once a popular casting spot, largely sanded over. Not only geological features were
altered by the storm. From Staten Island through Shinnecock, tackle shops, fuel docks and fishing stations within reach of the storm surge were either badly damaged or destroyed. Many estuaries and marshes, particu- larly in New York City and western Nassau, have been flooded with sewage from plants overwhelmed by the tide and with gasoline and diesel fuel from breached storage tanks at marinas and from far larger tanks at regional fuel depots. The waters north and west of Staten Island were particu- larly hard-hit. The only good news is that the
area’s party boat fleet came through in surprisingly good shape. While a lot of vessels took some cosmetic damage, the boat basin at Captree State Park was up and running again by mid- November, with boats again sailing for striped bass and tautog. Other South
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Shore ports were also back in action by mid-month, while Montauk, North Fork and North Shore boats, which escaped the full force of Sandy, could begin operating even sooner. At this time, it’s not clear what
impacts Sandy will have on the 2013 fishing season. Significantly restricted beach access is likely, and it is possible that some channels and inlets — Fire Island Inlet, in particular — may have filled in badly enough to become haz- ardous during many combinations of wind and tide. In addition, the begin- ning of the season, at least, may see many dockside bait and fuel dealers still rebuilding their facilities and not yet ready for business. Many boats may still also be in the repair yards, as fiberglass shops and outboard, diesel and gas engine mechanics work to cor- rect the damage wrought by the storm. However, most of the for-hire fleet should be up and running. As the sea- son progresses, many of the remaining problems should be overcome, and the angling scene allowed to return to some semblance of normal.
NORTH CAROLINA Fisheries update
At the urging of CCA NC, as well as
public comment, the North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission voted to open a new amendment for the shrimp fishery management plan. This is a major victory for North Carolina fish- eries as recent studies confirm what many have suspected for years — otter trawls used for shrimp harvest in our sounds and estuaries have unaccept- able bycatch levels that are about four times more than the targeted shrimp. The bycatch consists of several impor- tant juvenile finfish including spot and weakfish, among others, that are either stressed or depleted. The new amend- ment for the shrimp plan will examine this issue in depth and make recom- mendations to reduce bycatch in the shrimp fishery. CCA NC will partici- pate in the plan development to assure bycatch is minimized. In addition, the MFC also agreed
with CCA NC to change the commer- cial weakfish daily trip limit to 100 pounds to be consistent with all other Atlantic coastal states. The previous regulations treated the commercial har- vest of weakfish as a bycatch fishery that would allow up to 1,000 pounds of weakfish provided they were limited to 10 percent of the total catch. The new
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