They are asking for local help but I figured a little exposure among the dive community couldn't hurt.
http://members3.boardhost.com/Modiver/
NJ ReefRescue Group and more
A new group has recently been established and it is called Reef Rescue. The sole purpose is to rid our artificial reef sites of commercial gear. We paid for it, they over fish it. Attached is a "golf" letter, Bill Figley wrote, explaining the situation and a platform of reasons we compiled at our most recent meeting.
The situation is complicated because 13 out of 15 reef sites are beyond the State's 3 mile limit. This means we will have to apply our influence at both State and Federal levels.
To demonstrate unity and support, our group needs sport organizations and their members, throughout the state, to get involved. You can start immediately by writing letters to the Governor, the DEP Commissioner and the Chairman of the Mid Atlantic Fisheries Management Council. It doesn't have to be long, just hand written (using the information supplied).
Important! Ask a question so they have to reply.
Let us know if you can help. Our plans include attending State and Federal meetings, posters and flyers at tackle & dive shops, website message board involvement and more.
It's a worthy cause but we can't do it alone.
Thanks & good diving,
Captain Pete Grimbilas
reefrescue@yahoo.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
DO YOU WANT TO FISH OR PLAY GOLF?
By Bill Figley
Did you ever wonder why your favorite reef site looks like an 18-hole golf course? The main obstacles a player faces on these offshore courses are not sand traps and water hazards, they are fish traps.
The golf flags, more appropriately called high flyers, that you see bobbing in the waves mark the locations of commercial fish and lobster traps. The benign appearance of the flags on the surface belies the large quantity of unseen fishing gear below. There is typically a flag marking each end of a pot string. Pot strings are several hundred feet long and have dozens of traps attached. The reason your favorite reef looks like a golf course is that commercial fishermen recognize that there are a lot of sea bass, tog and lobster living on the reef structures below. Their plan, of course, is to catch them and, obviously, the more pots they set, the more fish they hope to take * that¹s par for the course.
Why should recreational fishermen care if reef sites become golf courses? There are several reasons, but the one that pops into anglers¹ heads first is that the traps are catching lots of fish. Anglers resent competition on reefs that were largely paid for by the contributions of many sportfishing and diving clubs. In fact, the New Jersey reef program, run by the Division of Fish and Wildlife, is funded by Federal Aid to Sportfish Funds, acquired from a national excise tax paid on all sportfishing equipment.
The pot lines also compete directly with recreational fishermen in another way. The bottom lines that connect the numerous traps together are polypropylene, which means the line floats up in arcs off the ocean bottom between each pair of traps. When recreational boats drift between two pot flags, everyone on the boat snags the pot line and loses their rig. Anchors may also snag pot strings. The end result is that one or two commercial fishermen can set enough gear on a reef site to both dominate the catch and reduce access to all other boats. And this monopoly goes on continuously, 24/7, without a commercial fisherman anywhere in sight.
When traps are lost by commercial fishermen, either through storms or by being snagged in reef structures, these ³ghost² pots continue to fish, catching a stream of fish, crabs and lobsters, all doomed to a slow death, until the traps deteriorate and ultimately break apart.
Past and present experience shows that the problem will continue to get worse. As reef construction expands, so do the number of pots on reefs. Every time a new structure is placed on the sea floor, pot flags appear around it.
Years ago, anglers in southeast states decided they would rather fish than play golf and took steps to eliminate golf flags * commercial high flyers * from their local reef sites. This was done through the Southeast Fisheries Management Council which had the power to designate reefs as Special Management Zones (SMZs). SMZ status allowed states to regulate the types of fishing gear that could be used on reef sites. In this case, commercial traps were prohibited.
The same thing can be done in New Jersey by petitioning the Mid-Atlantic Fisheries Management Council. This step should be taken by state reef managers at the Division of Fish and Wildlife . It will, however, take a ground swell of public insistence to get this process moving and to provide the clout needed to adopt this measure.
If you are not yet ready to trade in your rods and reels for a set of clubs and a pair of spiked shoes, I suggest you advise, as an individual or as a club, the following two people of your concerns and proposed action on this matter:
Lisa P. Jackson, Commissioner
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection
401 E. State Street
7th Floor, East Wing
PO Box 402
Trenton, New Jersey 08625-0402
Gilbert H. Ewing, Jr., Chairman
New Jersey Marine Fisheries Council
501 East State Street, 3rd Floor
PO Box 400
Trenton, New Jersey 08625-0400
These people can get the ball (not, I hope, the golf ball) rolling. The establishment of SMZs to protect sportfishing on reefs is an agenda that will be promoted by the Reef Rescue Group, Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA) and the Jersey Coast Angler¹s Association (JCAA).
http://members3.boardhost.com/Modiver/
NJ ReefRescue Group and more
A new group has recently been established and it is called Reef Rescue. The sole purpose is to rid our artificial reef sites of commercial gear. We paid for it, they over fish it. Attached is a "golf" letter, Bill Figley wrote, explaining the situation and a platform of reasons we compiled at our most recent meeting.
The situation is complicated because 13 out of 15 reef sites are beyond the State's 3 mile limit. This means we will have to apply our influence at both State and Federal levels.
To demonstrate unity and support, our group needs sport organizations and their members, throughout the state, to get involved. You can start immediately by writing letters to the Governor, the DEP Commissioner and the Chairman of the Mid Atlantic Fisheries Management Council. It doesn't have to be long, just hand written (using the information supplied).
Important! Ask a question so they have to reply.
Let us know if you can help. Our plans include attending State and Federal meetings, posters and flyers at tackle & dive shops, website message board involvement and more.
It's a worthy cause but we can't do it alone.
Thanks & good diving,
Captain Pete Grimbilas
reefrescue@yahoo.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
DO YOU WANT TO FISH OR PLAY GOLF?
By Bill Figley
Did you ever wonder why your favorite reef site looks like an 18-hole golf course? The main obstacles a player faces on these offshore courses are not sand traps and water hazards, they are fish traps.
The golf flags, more appropriately called high flyers, that you see bobbing in the waves mark the locations of commercial fish and lobster traps. The benign appearance of the flags on the surface belies the large quantity of unseen fishing gear below. There is typically a flag marking each end of a pot string. Pot strings are several hundred feet long and have dozens of traps attached. The reason your favorite reef looks like a golf course is that commercial fishermen recognize that there are a lot of sea bass, tog and lobster living on the reef structures below. Their plan, of course, is to catch them and, obviously, the more pots they set, the more fish they hope to take * that¹s par for the course.
Why should recreational fishermen care if reef sites become golf courses? There are several reasons, but the one that pops into anglers¹ heads first is that the traps are catching lots of fish. Anglers resent competition on reefs that were largely paid for by the contributions of many sportfishing and diving clubs. In fact, the New Jersey reef program, run by the Division of Fish and Wildlife, is funded by Federal Aid to Sportfish Funds, acquired from a national excise tax paid on all sportfishing equipment.
The pot lines also compete directly with recreational fishermen in another way. The bottom lines that connect the numerous traps together are polypropylene, which means the line floats up in arcs off the ocean bottom between each pair of traps. When recreational boats drift between two pot flags, everyone on the boat snags the pot line and loses their rig. Anchors may also snag pot strings. The end result is that one or two commercial fishermen can set enough gear on a reef site to both dominate the catch and reduce access to all other boats. And this monopoly goes on continuously, 24/7, without a commercial fisherman anywhere in sight.
When traps are lost by commercial fishermen, either through storms or by being snagged in reef structures, these ³ghost² pots continue to fish, catching a stream of fish, crabs and lobsters, all doomed to a slow death, until the traps deteriorate and ultimately break apart.
Past and present experience shows that the problem will continue to get worse. As reef construction expands, so do the number of pots on reefs. Every time a new structure is placed on the sea floor, pot flags appear around it.
Years ago, anglers in southeast states decided they would rather fish than play golf and took steps to eliminate golf flags * commercial high flyers * from their local reef sites. This was done through the Southeast Fisheries Management Council which had the power to designate reefs as Special Management Zones (SMZs). SMZ status allowed states to regulate the types of fishing gear that could be used on reef sites. In this case, commercial traps were prohibited.
The same thing can be done in New Jersey by petitioning the Mid-Atlantic Fisheries Management Council. This step should be taken by state reef managers at the Division of Fish and Wildlife . It will, however, take a ground swell of public insistence to get this process moving and to provide the clout needed to adopt this measure.
If you are not yet ready to trade in your rods and reels for a set of clubs and a pair of spiked shoes, I suggest you advise, as an individual or as a club, the following two people of your concerns and proposed action on this matter:
Lisa P. Jackson, Commissioner
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection
401 E. State Street
7th Floor, East Wing
PO Box 402
Trenton, New Jersey 08625-0402
Gilbert H. Ewing, Jr., Chairman
New Jersey Marine Fisheries Council
501 East State Street, 3rd Floor
PO Box 400
Trenton, New Jersey 08625-0400
These people can get the ball (not, I hope, the golf ball) rolling. The establishment of SMZs to protect sportfishing on reefs is an agenda that will be promoted by the Reef Rescue Group, Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA) and the Jersey Coast Angler¹s Association (JCAA).
