Tag: gray trout

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Kensdock Report: Commercial fishermen lead the way to sustainable yield / Spring Weakfish

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Commercial fishermen are not an enemy of sport fishermen. Bad regulations are the enemy. Sustainable yield fish stocks ensure the future of both commercial and sport fishing. Commercial fishermen supported a moratorium on weakfish, when some recreational fishing groups would not do so.

Today, Atlantic sea scallop vessel owners voluntarily contribute $10 million a year from their harvest to pay for ongoing scientific research on scallop populations.

They also earned a sustainable yield certification recently:

“This is an American fisheries success story,” said Attorney John Whiteside, who represents the ASA and led the certification effort for the industry group. “The certification is further validation for the efforts of an industry which worked together to progress from the brink of oblivion to prosperity.”

Dr. Kevin Stokesbury, Professor and Chairman of the Department of Fisheries Oceanography at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth School for Marine Science and Technology (SMAST) who served as the ASA’s lead consultant through the three and one-half year review process said “The industry deserves this. It’s a well-managed fishery. It has come back to sustainable levels. The sort of cooperation offered by the scallop industry doesn’t come along every day.”

Their road to recovery included closed seasons and financial sacrifice.  Sport fishermen should  bring the same tenacity to the fish management table. Here in New Jersey it is free to saltwater fish. However,  we do not have a reliable funding source for marine fisheries management.  As the scallop fishery has proven , NJ saltwater fishermen would be much  better served by funding marine fisheries management with their own dime.

 Spring Weakfish 2014

The first weakfish of the spring  has been caught in Cape May co. NJ. They have also been caught just south of Cape May in the Delaware canal. If you are interested in catching weakfish check out the May issue of On The Water magazine:   http://www.onthewater.com/issues/

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Kensdock report 1-5-10

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Originally Posted by GoNavy View Post
Kensdock is an enviro nut who pretends to be a big fishing advocate. He spices his posts with just enough factual info to make them sound ok… However, if you search his posts, you’ll find that his history proves his primary goal is to shut down fisheries.

I’m all for conservation and there is a big problem with several fisheries, but I just don’t trust him.

If CaptTB or some of the other guys started a similar post… Ok. But not from Kensdock…

GoNavy, Obviously you do not know me. Nothing could be further from the truth! I have caught more fish and killed more deer legally under fair chase than most people on the planet! I spent enough time to catch over one hundred keeper flounder last season and catch one of three specs caught in Cape may co.. I have won a few and participated in many fishing tournaments both big game and back bay tournaments like lucky bones flounder. My family has been involved in hunting , commercial fishing, recreational fishing for 5 generations in Cape May co. NJ and continue to be avidly involved today. I am long time personal friends to some of the biggest players in the commercial fishing industry today.Due to my back ground I am able to post information that some people do not want posted on this site and others. I am all for utilizing our natural recourse via harvesting sustainable numbers of fish and game. I am not for abusing our natural resources via over harvest and repeating the same mistakes of the past. I look forward to meeting with Governor elect Chris Christie’s staff to discuss the benefits of a saltwater license. I do not get a dime for writing these post or lobbing our legislators. I do it because I love to catch fish and I know exactly what most be done to dramatically improve our saltwater fishing in New Jersey.

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12-10-09 Kensdock Report

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I will publish the season rap up later this week. I will also publish excerpts from my up coming book the  300″ keeper season. I have been deer hunting hard this week so time is limited.  It has been a great deer hunting  season so far. GONE DEER HUNTING” BE BACK LATER.
 
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11-23-09 Kensdock report

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The weather  will not give us a break this fall. North East wind and rain! Just about the time the water clears the wind turns North east and it start to rain. When the condition have been at lest fair, keeper stripers have been caught from Avalon and Stone harbor beaches. Just a few caught on poppers the rest on live bunker or eels. Clam has also taken some nice stripers. The water temperature is 57 degrees. The speckled trout season was a bust as only three specs have been caught to date.What happened to the specs?? Remember the 2002 weakfish season when every sharp weakfish angler in Cape May co. NJ was asking the same question about the weakfish?  I believe the mystery of why the weakfish did not show up for the 2002 season has been solved:
 
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ATLANTIC STATES MARINE FISHERIES COMMISSION WEAKFISH MANAGEMENT BOARD – August 19, 2009
 
DR. DANIEL:
 
 
The last example I’ll give you is the Valentine’s Day Fishery back in 2002, I believe, when a group of about four or five sink net boats went about 30 miles offshore in 360 feet of water, fishing a large-mesh, six-inch gill net for large bluefish, and they all rounded off their boats with tens of thousands of pounds of eight- to fifteen-pound gray trout; very unexpected, unavoidable.

Those fish were all dead …”

MR. O’REILLY

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Weakfish hearing

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back bayI attended the ASMFC weakfish hearing in Toms River last night. The asmfc offered 4 options.You can view them all at the asmfc site. The only option that offers a real chance for the weakfish to recover is option 4 Harvest moratorium. The commercial fishermen’s rep was fine with  option 4 moratorium. Mostly all the recreational fishermen that voiced their own opinion demanded option 4. I do not know how many members the RFA has I do know they lost at lest eight members last night. They did not support a moratorium! If you would like give the weakfish a real chance of recovery  support option 4 harvest moratorium. You have until October 31 to make a comment.  Send your comments nmeserve@asmfc.org    
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8-19-09 Kensdock todays ASMFC weakfish meeting,update 8:55 pm

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Take  time to read the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries weakfish management board meeting minutes. http://www.asmfc.org       
 
 
 
 Here is quote from

 
 And, finally, I would just like to say, as I said before,

no matter what happens with the peer review in June

the board needs to remember that weakfish is in a

depleted condition, a depressed state. We can’t agree

with that particular panel on why it is there. One of

the main things that they said was that predation may

be maintaining the population at low levels without

having contributed to the original decline in the

stock.

We agree that overfishing was the problem in the

eighties. We have used management to get the stock

started back in an increasing mode during the early

nineties and mid-nineties, and then all of a sudden it

dropped back down. Now, we definitely agree that it

was overfishing early on. We’re saying the split

happened in the early thousands that predation is the

main focus of a problem out 

out there, and it is

continuing to maintain those levels and we can’t

seem to break through it to move forward. That’s it

for me. Like I said, I tried to do this real quick.

 

I was in contact with Nichola Meserve Fisheries Management plan coordinator today via email. She informed me that in light of the dramatic weakfish stock decline the ASMFC weakfish board initiated an addendum. The draft addendum will include  a range of options to severely  restrict the harvest of weakfish, including a moratorium on harvesting weakfish. The addendum is being fast tracked and could be approved in November.

 

 

  

 

 
 
MR. RUSS ALLENS’ report to the weakfish board:
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7–24-09 Kensdock fishing report update 7-26-09

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I am heading out flounder fishing in the back bay it is 11: 00 am when I return I will post a report.
Best
Ken
 
 
The  flounder bite remains red hot on the reef and the old grounds any time the condtions are good. The back bay bite is best when we have the turn of the tide at first light. The rest of the day is pretty much a waste of time as far as keeper  flounder are concerned. The back bay water quality is excellent with visablity around 12ft..
As many of you know the weakfish population is at an all time low. The weakfish need a chance to rebuild! The best way and the fastest way is to close commercial fishing for weakfish for two years and close recreational fishing during the spawning season. For years commercial fishing was allowed without a limit on the amount of weakfish that could be killed. Commercial and recreational fishing is still allowed in the spawning area of the entire east coast. The winter yard of the weakfish is still open to commercial fishing, Can you believe the ASMFC has the audacity to claim it is not their fault that the weakfish is heading for the endangered list! The ASMFC will meet on August 19, 2009 to find a way to rebuild the weakfish. All comments must be received 3 weeks before the meeting or they will not be heard. Do not expect any fishing group like the RFA to make a case for you or me. This group was started by marine manufactures and that is were their allegiance lies. Please let them know the condition of the weakfish as you see it. Send your comment nmeserve@asmfc.org <nmeserve@asmfc.org>
Best,
Ken

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7-22-09 Kensdock report

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I fished a couple of Back Bay flounder spots at dusk today. The water temperature was 72.2 on the top of the tide. The water clarity was excellent with visibility about 12ft. Flounder fishing now requires a lot more effort and time. If you want to catch a few keepers in the back bays of Cape May co. NJ at this time  it is going to take  ten times the effort that it does in June. The ocean hot spots like the old grounds and reef 11off of  Cape May co. NJ are  holding large numbers of flounder and most likely will continue to do so through the reminder of flounder season. To fish the ocean locations it requires the better part of a day as far as time. You also must have the correct conditions or it is a waste of time as far as catching fish. I shake my head when I see a party boat or charter captain taking  people on a twenty mile rough ride knowing that the fishing is going to be terrible and someone on board is going to get sea sick. There is always someone that is fishing for the first time on these boats and when their first trip is on a rough day with no fish caught  they may never fish again. If someone goes fishing for the first time and the ocean is calm and the fish are biting he or she will go fishing  again and some will become avid fishermen. When I read Sheps column in the Atlantic City press recently he reported that limits of Weakfish are being caught. He has no names of the fishermen that are catching the weakfish and not one  picture of a limit catch  of weakfish. Sorry Shep, I do not believe that limit catches of weakfish are being caught. Here in Cape May co. NJ and all along the east coast the weakfish population is at an all time low. The few weakfish that are left need a chance to rebuild!  They do not need pressure from news papers trying to sell advertisements!! The ASMFC will meet on August 19, 2009 to discuses ways to rebuild the weakfish population. The best way and the fastest way to rebuild the weakfish stock is a complete closer of commercial fishing for two years and a recreational closer during the spawning season. Please  take the time to make a comment on  the ASMFC web site on the best way to save the weakfish.       Best,Ken
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Spring Weakfish Cape May County,NJ

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Weakfish have  always been one of the pleasures of spring in Cape May County NJ. True spring arrives here with the news of the first  weakfish and Black Drum being caught. Today with the weakfish population at a low  point it is imperative  you have intimate knowledge of the areas you fish. You also need the ability to read the water or fish with someone that does. No special lure or chum will catch fish without that information or ability.