Morning Star Fish Report
Fish Report 12/29/06
Fish Report 12/29/06
Not Toggin Just Yet,
Artificial Reef Building - And Happy New Year!
Hi All,
The weather isn't going to be fit to go on our New Year's tog trip. Rats! Had 3 years running; it was bound to happen. No worries, when the weather looks good we'll go. Promise!
I've spent a lot of time writing about our natural reefs these last months. Exposed rock on the ocean floor forms reef. Period. Whether it is sandstone exposed by current or a boulder pile dropped by a melting iceberg 10's of thousands of years ago; so long as it is exposed, all that form our regions reef ecology will grow there.
Artificial reef construction is putting something on the bottom that is similar to rock and letting natural reef grow. It's really that simple. Concrete pipe, steel barges and boats - a huge variety of material can stimulate the growth of a reef.
If a rock gets scraped clean of growth - it's a rock. When a load of concrete settles to the bottom - it's a load of concrete on the bottom. Over time though, as the mussels, corals and other critters attach and colonize ~ then it becomes reef.
What can the fish know of it?
If I'm right, if ~minus fishing pressure~ the amount of seafloor habitat controls the populations of many fish; either limiting their numbers when reduced or allowing population expansion when increased, then artificial reefs are something we need to keep building.
Everything in my experience says this is so.
Since 1989 every piece of artificial reef that has been placed offshore of Ocean City, MD. has developed into productive seafloor. Every one.
Pretty amazing when you think about it.
It wasn't all gravy; back in the mid/late 70's some thought that a solution had been found to the eyesore and mosquito problem created by mountains of used tires. They banded the tires, cut slots to release air and then weighted the ends before placing these units. The bands and shackles rusted out, the units broke open and, as my daughter and I saw this past Thanksgiving, the loose tires are still washing ashore. She saved a piece of coral from it...
For a long time those tires killed any thought of reef construction off this coast.
Reef units of the 1960s are still producing. There weren't many and we're not even allowed to use the material anymore, but those wooden menhaden purse seiners on the Bass Grounds Reef get fished daily in the summer.
Artificial reef construction has received a lot more study in recent decades. Spin a globe and stop it with your finger - if you're near an ocean it's likely you can find studies conducted in that region. In Japan, where there is 'ownership' of seafloor, you can borrow money to build artificial reef based on expected production.
We're a long way from there. In fact, there are some who argue constructing reef serves only to concentrate fish. Viewed with a short timeline this is true. The first piece of reef that settles on a permitted site will, sometimes within days~even hours, start to attract fish. However, as more materials are added to the area and growths such as coral mature on the reef, the true function of a reef ecology is recognizable. One 'set' on a reef site will accomplish little. It's the building of reef 'complexes' that has positive effect.
I'll soon have my 400th tag return. Most of the fish tagged were cbass and tog. The clearest, most precise data that has developed from these returns is that these fish are homebodies. Sea bass do migrate in winter, but then, far more often than not, they return to the same reef where they were tagged. A fellow caught a double header of tagged sea bass. Both fish had been tagged on the exact same spot a year earlier. This particular example occurred on natural reef ~ but there's a large shipwreck less than a mile away.
If artificial reef served only to concentrate fish for harvest then these two fish should have been caught on the wreck. And, given the increasing amount of artificial reef and fishing pressure on them, there should be precious few cbass left in the sea.
Instead, once the growths get going and the initial settlement of fish occurs, artificial reef is indistinguishable from natural reef as to production.
Moreover, engineering the habitat that we build makes it possible to build reef that is far more productive than our naturally occurring rocky areas.
Because fish use the reefs to feed, grow to maturity, avoid predation and spawn on; and because habitat fidelity is an unmistakable trend seen in tag returns, it must be said that artificial reefs produce ~ that reef building is a tool for rebuilding our fisheries.
Now, if we just had a little money...
Maryland's coastal reef building was taken over by a small -really small- non-profit, the Ocean City Reef Foundation, back in '97.( http://www.ocreeffoundation.com/main.html ) Recently, MDDNR's Marty Gary has begun to assist at the State and Federal levels and we're grateful for the help.
It's curious to me. If the oyster was the keystone species in the Chesapeake Bay, then why isn't Maryland on the cutting edge of reef development?
We should be able to replicate a natural oyster bar's production - better it even. Biofiltering (animals cleaning the water) isn't accomplished solely by oysters - there plenty of other critters that can get the waters a little cleaner while oysters colonize new reef.
Fortunately, it seems as though there is a new and greater interest in reef building. Perhaps Maryland will, one day, be among the leaders in reef technology.
I hope so.
Rebuilding fisheries from the bottom up isn't such a bad strategy...
Have a Great New Year!
Regards,
Monty
Capt. Monty Hawkins
mhawkins@siteone.net
Party Boat "Morning Star"
Reservations 410 520 2076
www.morningstarfishing.com
mhawkins@siteone.net
Party Boat "Morning Star"
Reservations 410 520 2076
www.morningstarfishing.com
posted by Monty # Friday, December 29, 2006
Fish Report 12/??/06
Fish Report 12/??/06
Not Toggin Just Yet,
Artificial Reef Building - And Happy New Year!
Hi All,
The weather isn't going to be fit to go on our New Year's tog trip. Rats! Had 3 years running; it was bound to happen. No worries, when the weather looks good we'll go. Promise!
I've spent a lot of time writing about our natural reefs these last months. Exposed rock on the ocean floor forms reef. Period. Whether it is sandstone exposed by current or a boulder pile dropped by a melting iceberg 10's of thousands of years ago; so long as it is exposed, all that form our regions reef ecology will grow there.
Artificial reef construction is putting something on the bottom that is similar to rock and letting natural reef grow. It's really that simple. Concrete pipe, steel barges and boats - a huge variety of material can stimulate the growth of a reef.
If a rock gets scraped clean of growth - it's a rock. When a load of concrete settles to the bottom - it's a load of concrete on the bottom. Over time though, as the mussels, corals and other critters attach and colonize ~ then it becomes reef.
What can the fish know of it?
If I'm right, if ~minus fishing pressure~ the amount of seafloor habitat controls the populations of many fish; either limiting their numbers when reduced or allowing population expansion when increased, then artificial reefs are something we need to keep building.
Everything in my experience says this is so.
Since 1989 every piece of artificial reef that has been placed offshore of Ocean City, MD. has developed into productive seafloor. Every one.
Pretty amazing when you think about it.
It wasn't all gravy; back in the mid/late 70's some thought that a solution had been found to the eyesore and mosquito problem created by mountains of used tires. They banded the tires, cut slots to release air and then weighted the ends before placing these units. The bands and shackles rusted out, the units broke open and, as my daughter and I saw this past Thanksgiving, the loose tires are still washing ashore. She saved a piece of coral from it...
For a long time those tires killed any thought of reef construction off this coast.
Reef units of the 1960s are still producing. There weren't many and we're not even allowed to use the material anymore, but those wooden menhaden purse seiners on the Bass Grounds Reef get fished daily in the summer.
Artificial reef construction has received a lot more study in recent decades. Spin a globe and stop it with your finger - if you're near an ocean it's likely you can find studies conducted in that region. In Japan, where there is 'ownership' of seafloor, you can borrow money to build artificial reef based on expected production.
We're a long way from there. In fact, there are some who argue constructing reef serves only to concentrate fish. Viewed with a short timeline this is true. The first piece of reef that settles on a permitted site will, sometimes within days~even hours, start to attract fish. However, as more materials are added to the area and growths such as coral mature on the reef, the true function of a reef ecology is recognizable. One 'set' on a reef site will accomplish little. It's the building of reef 'complexes' that has positive effect.
I'll soon have my 400th tag return. Most of the fish tagged were cbass and tog. The clearest, most precise data that has developed from these returns is that these fish are homebodies. Sea bass do migrate in winter, but then, far more often than not, they return to the same reef where they were tagged. A fellow caught a double header of tagged sea bass. Both fish had been tagged on the exact same spot a year earlier. This particular example occurred on natural reef ~ but there's a large shipwreck less than a mile away.
If artificial reef served only to concentrate fish for harvest then these two fish should have been caught on the wreck. And, given the increasing amount of artificial reef and fishing pressure on them, there should be precious few cbass left in the sea.
Instead, once the growths get going and the initial settlement of fish occurs, artificial reef is indistinguishable from natural reef as to production.
Moreover, engineering the habitat that we build makes it possible to build reef that is far more productive than our naturally occurring rocky areas.
Because fish use the reefs to feed, grow to maturity, avoid predation and spawn on; and because habitat fidelity is an unmistakable trend seen in tag returns, it must be said that artificial reefs produce ~ that reef building is a tool for rebuilding our fisheries.
Now, if we just had a little money...
Maryland's coastal reef building was taken over by a small -really small- non-profit, the Ocean City Reef Foundation, back in '97.( http://www.ocreeffoundation.com/main.html ) Recently, MDDNR's Marty Gary has begun to assist at the State and Federal levels and we're grateful for the help.
It's curious to me. If the oyster was the keystone species in the Chesapeake Bay, then why isn't Maryland on the cutting edge of reef development?
We should be able to replicate a natural oyster bar's production - better it even. Biofiltering (animals cleaning the water) isn't accomplished solely by oysters - there plenty of other critters that can get the waters a little cleaner while oysters colonize new reef.
Fortunately, it seems as though there is a new and greater interest in reef building. Perhaps Maryland will, one day, be among the leaders in reef technology.
I hope so.
Rebuilding fisheries from the bottom up isn't such a bad strategy...
Have a Great New Year!
Regards,
Monty
Capt. Monty Hawkins
mhawkins@siteone.net
Party Boat "Morning Star"
Reservations 410 520 2076
www.morningstarfishing.com
mhawkins@siteone.net
Party Boat "Morning Star"
Reservations 410 520 2076
www.morningstarfishing.com
posted by Monty # Friday, December 29, 2006
Fish Report 12/10/06
Gift Certificates are cotton-candy at the reservation line!
Fish Report 12/10/06
Minor Explorations
Hi All,
The very last trips of the year had little to do with a day's fishing but everything to do with how good fishing might be in the future. Burnt some fuel to take scientists and advocacy groups offshore to see for themselves a tiny bit of our seafloor ecology.
Weather was marginal; I wasn't able to show them even 1% of what I wanted them to see. Cancelled Monday, snuck out far enough to know the forecast was wrong on Tuesday and, finally, with about a foot of visibility, dropped a camera and Ponar Grab on some soft corals and tube worms on Wednesday. Not much for a lot of effort and expense. Somehow though, enough.
The Henry B. Bigelow, a brand new 40 million dollar NOAA research vessel, is being fine-tuned in Mississippi. NOAA has a fleet of other research ships and boats, some of which are tied up a few miles away in Lewes, DE. These boats do work - a lot. Diverting their attentions away from dead zones, collapsed fisheries and entirely new forms of life on the deep ocean ridges will be difficult.
You'd think that undocumented seafloor ecologies might be enough.
Not quite, or at least not yet.
Compared to other US regions, the mid-Atlantic is at least 15 years behind in seafloor habitat research ~ half a millennium if you ask Japanese researchers.
What to look at were there time and money:
Document many rocky areas that can support hard-bottom reef but fishing gear impact intervals are too tight to allow full regrowth. Study unimpacted sites ~hard-bottom reef in it's natural state~ to compare the amount of life -the fish and fish food- that can be found.
Establish an ageing chart of hard-bottom reef ~ How dense is a sea-whip colony at 5/10/20 years- how tall are they? How dense is star coral (the region's hard coral) at 20/40/60/80... 1000 year intervals. Is there useful information to be found among the oldest corals, climate information perhaps?
Document the mud sloughs where tube worm colonies thrive. Examine the importance of these areas to the mid-Atlantic. Certainly acres of worms with tubes jutting 4 to 16 inches off the bottom create complex seafloor habitat, but how crucial is it to life stages of sea trout, bluefish, sea bass, flounder, sturgeon and so on...
Take that information and create a production model (number of fish that survive to spawn or be catchable) that includes fully regrown seafloor communities ~ a forward looking VPA. (Virtual Population Analysis ~ which is RCFM, Really Complex Fisheries Management).
Also, and this is key, reverse the production model to show a virgin mid-Atlantic. Reversing, taking a look back, can be supported by people who were there. Men that saw and caught white marlin just a few miles off the coast; Party boat customers who were bowed-up on scup while watching the Ferris Wheel go round and round; Captains who remember 40 charter boats tied off stem to stern on Fenwick shoals; Mates who remember gaffing marlin and dolphin while able to see ~actually looking at~ the sandy bottom on Sugar Lump; Skippers that, with only a compass and Radio Direction Finder to find their way, caught burlap bags of sea bass for their customers while drifting on the bass grounds...
There's so much history out there that, if researched, it would help greatly in the restoration of our region's fisheries.
It's not all about the bottom, there's plenty of other work to do too, but overlooking it is costing us.
I think the recent Boris Worm study, or rather the paraphrased articles based on that study which indicate imminent collapse of the world's fisheries, are dead wrong. If we roll our sleeves up and get to work we'll have white marlin in sight of OC again by 2048 ~ sooner. A lot sooner.
How artificial reefs can help with that in the next report...
Enjoy Your Holidays!
Regards,
Monty
Capt. Monty Hawkins
mhawkins@siteone.net
Party Boat "Morning Star"
Reservations 410 520 2076
www.morningstarfishing.com
mhawkins@siteone.net
Party Boat "Morning Star"
Reservations 410 520 2076
www.morningstarfishing.com
posted by Monty # Sunday, December 10, 2006
Fish Report 12/1/06
Fish Report 12/1/06
Pit Stop & Toggin's Future
Hi All,
The final weeks were more productive than I would have thought. It seemed - despite all indicators - that the cbass were hightailing it out of here. And they are now indeed but we sure had a couple good shots on 'em as they left!
Before the Thanksgiving blow - the storm's sea heights topped out at 22.7 feet! - we had some wild, truly wild, fishing. The interaction of sea bass and bluefish ~ and folks aboard that enjoyed the heck out of the show ~ what a blast! When the anglers wore out, we went home!
After the blow I was quite concerned whether we'd catch well at all. We limited the rail and came home early twice... Need to get my crystal ball looked at.
Oh, they're moving offshore alright, but we stumbled into a few more on the recent tog trips. One fellow had just 2 tog all day on Tuesday - and a limit of bass...
What do you do?
Wednesday was clean toggin' - fish up to 14/15 lbs. Nice. Today's year-end trip was a bass/tog mix as well. Tagged 40 in 4 days. Not great, but more than a dozen of 'em were over 8 pounds - 1 probably north of 14. Had two tag returns as well.
Ah well, I'd like to press on, keep fishin', but my rig needs a pit stop if we're going to fish the fair weather days this winter. We'll have at it while Maryland's tog season is closed this December . Little sanding, glassing, painting - couple new pistons, cutlass bearings... It's a list that never ends - ever!
Went to a meeting up in Lewes the other night about the ASMFC's tautog management revisions. If we (Maryland) have to use the ASMFC's MRFSS* data for management purposes then tog trips are likely going to be far fewer! (*marine recreational fisheries statistics survey)
As I recall, we'd need a 58% reduction to meet management's goals... Every state will have to revise their tog plan to suit the ASMFC's model or create a new one from scratch.
Perhaps ~ just maybe ~ all the tagging of recent years can be turned into a data set that disputes their numbers well enough to keep the fishery open. It's a big if.
On the bright side, it is also possible that a close examination of the fishery will reveal ways to better manage it. I think it's plausible that there are more tog off our coast now than ever before. They're spread thinner over more habitat - the artificial reefs that have been created since the late 80's - but more numerous in total.
The trick to all this is to keep fishing - catching - while allowing the 'stock' (total number of fish) to grow.
A few thoughts:
Create an SMZ (special management zone) from the inlet to 12th street in the bay. In this area of incredibly strong fishing pressure, stakeholders want to be able to catch and eat 'the small fish that live there'. I think it best that they, the fishers and tackle shops, find a way to comply with management in this area. Dern sure they'll not like these ideas!
For the ocean fishery, which is primarily artificial reef, I'd like to see a size limit increase to 16 inches and a slot limit of 1 fish over 22 inches. Additionally, tightening the creel limit while sea bass are about, say May 15th to Oct 15th and a loosening during the cold water months makes sense. After all, anyone that can catch tog can sure nick a few bass for dinner! Perhaps an effort to educate conservation minded anglers on how to distinguish females and encourage release is sensible too. Seems to have worked so far.
This fishery is delicate. With today's 5 fish @ 14 inches limit we could simply increase effort and drive our tog stock right back to where it was in '88. I could've counted our tog that year on my fingers. A few years before that we were slam-jamming coolers full of 'em. Been there, done that. In those days I'd wait 'till we ran out of bait and then bail jumbos on a diamond jig. Sure was fun. Derned if I remember eating them though...
Better off to throw more back!
Going heavy on seafloor habitat with the next 'fish report'.
Fair Warning!
Regards,
Monty
Capt. Monty Hawkins
mhawkins@siteone.net
Party Boat "Morning Star"
Reservations 410 520 2076
www.morningstarfishing.com
mhawkins@siteone.net
Party Boat "Morning Star"
Reservations 410 520 2076
www.morningstarfishing.com
posted by Monty # Friday, December 01, 2006
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