Morning Star Fish Report

Fish Report 3/26/07

Inspection's Done

Goin' Fishin!

Hi All,

The Coast Guard inspection went very well. No Worries! Lots and lots of work to get there though...

I'd imagine most are unfamiliar with the layers of paperwork and government regulation that go into a party boat operation - I'm pretty sure you'd rather keep it that way!

Just for instance though -and a tiny, tiny part of it- there are 79 batteries aboard that have been changed and dated with a magic marker ~ everything has to be up to snuff.

It's done; we're ready to fish. The fish may not be ready though! Tog fishing is never at the pace of a decent cbass trip. Tog'll bite hot once in a while. It's far more often that a fussy one will nudge your crab around for a few minutes and STILL not take it - that's if you didn't twitch and scare the tar of it...

Eh, hasn't been too unkind, been seeing a few pretty tog. I'll go tommorrow through Sunday, the 27th through April 1st - Friday, 3/30 is already booked - Tog Trips - 15 people sells out the rail - 7am to 3pm - Crabs Provided - Reservations Required.

Perhaps some have seen April's National Geographic, "Saving the Sea's Bounty". Some scary stuff in there, but I certainly thought the first full paragraph on P. 98 was interesting ~ and that from a fisheries expert... Very much in line with what I've been trying to point out to any and all in our region's fisheries.

Good News ~ The Reef Dinner is Wednesday, May 2nd from 5-8 p.m. at Hall's Restaurant. I don't know how many years the Hall Family has been putting on this Reef Foundation benefit, Ten? More? They treat for the whole thing - Very Kind!

A big part of the all you care to eat Italian Buffet fundraiser is the various auctions. If you have something you'd like to contribute, say a new set of roofing shingles*, that would be great! You can contact Marta, Greg or myself. The website is http://www.ocreeffoundation.com/main.html (*just kidding Mike)

Going Fishin'

See you on the rail,

Monty

Capt. Monty Hawkins
mhawkins@siteone.net
Party Boat "Morning Star"
Reservations 410 520 2076
www.morningstarfishing.com

posted by Monty # Monday, March 26, 2007

Fish Report 3/21/07

Side Scan Ghosts - Heartbreak Hotel

& Goin' Fishin'

Hi All,

Dicey with an easterly wind - but it's only 10 knots. The forecast has been holding a light east on Saturday for a few days, we'll see. Saturday 3/24/07 - Tautog trip - 15 people sells out - crabs provided - Reservations Required @ 410-520-2076. If you do book, leave the very best phone number to reach you with. Dogoned easterly; if it's light it's beautiful - rolls around to the north a hair; look out!

The water temp has jumped up almost a full degree. All we'll have to do is anchor over 'em and stand back as they jump in the boat.

Ohhh, I don't think so!

I actually anticipate a tough early season bite.

We got out Monday with a light rail. One guy took a limit and a few others sure could have. The score was tied; twenty-one went by the rail sporting a yellow tag and 21 stayed in the boat. The biggest was just north of 10 pounds. Hmmm, I used to consider that a really nice tog. Spoiled: better scale my expectations back a bit!

She's been evicted! The marina where the cement boat's at is putting in new fuel lines. If the weather's just right she might go down on Saturday. They got her fully loaded with heavy precast concrete units today. Looks good; I'm sure it will be more productive than if it had been barren. Shoot, it would have been productive even then. Ah well, I had hopes of it becoming a 5 star reef hotel - a unit to study. Not this time.

Talked to a fellow today that does bay and ocean research. Seems he has some old side-scan sonar data from guvmint work. (Side-scan is the real thing, not like a 'fish finder' that shows what's straight down - it angles off and can detail an awful lot of bottom in one swipe) He'd received my recent Locations of Mid-Atlantic Bight Nearshore Natural Substrates and Associated Coral Reef Communities and overlaid those coordinates on the side-scan.

Just one pass, the only pass near a set of my bearings ~ sandstone slabs painted on the side-scan where I said they would. And that, confirmation from within the scientific community, may be the spark for some serious work.

Thar's reef in them thar waters.

2007 - time to go find 'em. Lot closer than the moon - cheaper to get to...

Going Fishing.

Regards,

Monty

Capt. Monty Hawkins
mhawkins@siteone.net
Party Boat "Morning Star"
Reservations 410 520 2076
www.morningstarfishing.com

posted by Monty # Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Fish Report 3/18/07

Fish Report 3/18/07 ~ Or is it February 46th?!

Cement Boat

Super Short Notice - Going Tog Fishing

Hi All,

A lot closer to having my rig ready for inspection now. Just have to do two more bilges. Not that they aren't clean - want 'em super clean. My crew always seem to enjoy that. (Pinocchio syndrome)

The water has warmed a touch, but not enough to really inspire confidence. Yes, we set a state record on our last set of trips - we also had one of the worst trips I can remember! It is fishing...

If you're of a mind to go, the weather looks good tommorrow and OK on Tuesday. Lets try it. Monday and Tuesday, March 19th and 20th ~ 7am to 3pm ~ 14 People Sells Out ~ Crabs Provided ~ Reservations Required.

The Reef Foundation recently acquired a 55 foot cement sailboat hull. This thing is a beast. Seems to have been designed for 'crossing the pond' ~ transoceanic voyages.

Yes, the boat is made of concrete. Used to be more commonly practiced than now. There's been some fairly large ships made of it. I've always though it the perfect material to make targets with. Cheap to build; if one of the armed forces anchored 1/2 a dozen or so concrete barges over a reef site and gave 'em what for, we'd all win. Target practice for them ~ fish habitat for us. Bet that would make the papers!

Anyway, this hull will make a fantastic reef unit. With some modification it could be a five star hotel!

Modifications would have to take place rapidly though. In a marina it's pretty easy to overstay your welcome with a boat that's more suited to being on the bottom!

I'd like to load the hull with either prefab concrete units like pipe and junction boxes or frame up some forms to make truly permanent tog sized 'rooms'. In any case, we'd then have to shoot concrete around everything. Ballasting is always a good thing.

Why modify it? Well, I've spent a lot of time and money nosing around with the underwater video gear. Believe this, some habitats are used far more heavily than others. What really comes to mind is an old barge I looked at. (precisely in the western north Atlantic) This barge had an area that resembled a heavy book case - stacks of square cubicles. Each square was occupied by a single tog: the highest density I've ever seen of mature fish ~ a five star hotel...

If you have knowledge of forming concrete, some time and are in the area, contact Greg Hall or myself.

This is a once in a decade opportunity to engineer a deluxe reef unit.

Also, if you happen to know where there's a heap of steel, I know a high school welding shop teacher that would sure like to have some. His kids have built some fantastic reef units in the past - need a little more raw material!

See you on the rail - Regards,

Monty

Capt. Monty Hawkins
mhawkins@siteone.net
Party Boat "Morning Star"
Reservations 410 520 2076
www.morningstarfishing.com

posted by Monty # Sunday, March 18, 2007

Fish Report 3/18/07

Fish Report 3/18/07 ~ Or is it February 46th?!

Cement Boat

Super Short Notice - Going Tog Fishing

Hi All,

A lot closer to having my rig ready for inspection now. Just have to do two more bilges. Not that they aren't clean - want 'em super clean. My crew always seem to enjoy that. (Pinocchio syndrome)

The water has warmed a touch, but not enough to really inspire confidence. Yes, we set a state record on our last set of trips - we also had one of the worst trips I can remember! It is fishing...

The Reef Foundation recently acquired a 55 foot cement sailboat hull. This thing is a beast. Seems to have been designed for 'crossing the pond' ~ transoceanic voyages.

Anyway, this hull will make a fantastic reef unit. With some modification it could be a five star hotel!

Modifications would have to take place rapidly though. In a marina it's pretty easy to overstay your welcome with a boat that's more suited to being on the bottom!

If you have knowledge of forming concrete, some time and are in the area, contact Greg Hall or myself.

This is a once in a decade opportunity to engineer a deluxe reef unit.

See you on the rail - Regards,

Monty

Capt. Monty Hawkins
mhawkins@siteone.net
Party Boat "Morning Star"
Reservations 410 520 2076
www.morningstarfishing.com

posted by Monty # Sunday, March 18, 2007

Fish Report 3/12/07

Pending State Record Tog

Lil' Research...

Hi All,

We had a couple good days this past weekend - some nice sized tog. Wasn't all gravy; had my head handed to me on Saturday. Really poor day and with a great bunch of regulars too; nicked a few dinners was all.

But the other days ~ that was some fishin! Saw a flurry of solid, around the rail action on Friday and Sunday and had a pick the rest of the while. Nice.

We do the fish pool by length on tog trips: A release counts just as good as a fish in the box. It's pretty hard to tag a pool winner if the money goes over with it!

The fellow that's tagged and boated a few dandies of late, Sam, steps up with a pair of 27 3/4 inch releases. They had to have been near 16-17 pounds. Nice tags ~ plenty of other big releases too. And then Sam found the fish he's been looking for ~ 20 pounds 11 ounces! Pending recertification of the scales -a must for a state record- he'll be in the book. The current record is 19 pounds 8 ounces.

Some records come by a stroke of luck - not this one. A lifetime's work: This record was earned.

I don't have any trips in mind right now. That will change with the weather. Have a few chores before the annual CG safety inspection to take care of. No worries. Maybe the southerlies this week will warm the water a touch.

The task of redoing the tog regulations looms over us. ASMFC wants a pretty substantial cut: going to hurt in some places. But it's also an opportunity to make each local stock -each area's tog population- far better. Continued building of artificial reef and better management is key. I think it's entirely possible to make this fishery better than it's ever been. Just need to put more reef out there and serve less tog for dinner! Really is that simple.

I've been through one tog collapse in the early/mid 80s. The ocean still boundless - having only to fish when they were 'running' and take all we could catch. We were greedy but lacked foresight to know it.

Personally, for Maryland's marine tog fishery, I'd like to see the size limit jump from 14 to 16 inches. Fecundity -how many eggs are produced- rises substantially in a slightly larger female. It's a good thing if you want to still be catching tog in a few years. Whether the MD DNR will consider it I couldn't guess. It becomes complex because a two inch increase to our shore-bound fishers would put them out of the game. That is, the fish along the jetties and bulkheads are mostly caught-off as soon as they are 14 inches -if not sooner. With precious few 16 inch fish in the bays, there would have to be separate regulations for boat and shore fishers; a difficult undertaking in these under-funded times.

There are plenty of ways to get the reduction to our catch that's needed to meet the federal guidelines - one'll shake out.

I had a trip on Monday to go explore with the underwater video camera. Artificial reef monitoring: With the State stepping back into the reef construction game in a big way, it's work that needs doing. My first stop was on an old menhaden boat that had been sunk in the 60's. Wow! What an incredible coral colony. I've looked at a lot of structure - never seen anything like that. 100% hard coral coverage.

And, in the yet to warm March waters, there was a large male tog totally still and snug in a deep crevice beneath the coral.

I think you could have put soft-shell lobster in front of him ~ no way that fish was going to eat!

Another piece to the puzzle...

We worked around to different reefs, dropping the camera on sets that I thought might interest. I finished the day on a piece of natural reef - a place I know as an exquisite sea-whip (soft coral) meadow. One problem; it was no longer there. Oh, the rocks were still there -you can believe I found the spot- but what little remained of this fantastic sea-whip colony was in-between slabs of rock - hidden. It was almost as if every exposed surface had been scrapped off.

Bet it was. Bet some flounder came up in the net that did it.

Judging by the new growth I'd estimate that the gear impact took place in late '05.

One of these days we have to get that issue straightened out. I'm told that we don't have enough science to know absolutely that returning a reef to it's bare rock form is bad for the fisheries in this region. And I'm told that we really don't know how much is out there - or should be. There's a lot we don't know. Then there's things that we do know -know in our gut - but are really hard to do.

Preventing gear damage to natural reef is a great big scary job - huge. Fishing's gonna get a lot better though...

Meanwhile, we'll build some reefs, nick a few tog and bide our time while the sea bass move back inshore. If you happen to know where there's a heap of steel, I know a high school welding shop teacher that would sure like to have some. His kids have built some fantastic reef units in the past - need a little more raw material!

Ahhh, I can see it now. "Welcome to Ocean City ~ Tautog Capitol of the World!". 'Course then we'd have to tear down that beautiful marlin sculpture at the foot of the 50 bridge...

Nah, time the tog population gets where I think it's possible, there'll be whites back inside the twenty. Congratulations to ya' Sam, but I think we'd better keep the statue!

Regards,

Monty

Capt. Monty Hawkins
mhawkins@siteone.net
Party Boat "Morning Star"
Reservations 410 520 2076
www.morningstarfishing.com

posted by Monty # Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Fish Report 3/5/07

Toggin' tales & another habitat piece...

Hi All,

A few weeks back when we left the dock it was 11 degrees in Salisbury. Pretty chilly for these parts. Breaking ice and easing through slush seem to be lie behind us now. That cold spell finally worked it's way into local marine waters though. For a while the water temperature at the buoy 20 NM ENE of Ocean City's inlet was constantly below 40 degrees and is again. I had a report from divers working on a government project of 35 degree water at Isle of Wight Shoal. That's plenty cold enough to put tog into a dormant period. They just cover up with sand like a flounder and have a snooze. Warming air temps should have their effect soon enough; the hard southerly winds probably won't hurt either.

By working offshore on my last two trips we found bottom temps suitable for them to still be feeding. For some anglers they were pretty decent trips. Others were pretty choked up as tog to 16 pounds went by the rail sporting a pretty yellow tag!

Tog fishers are a breed apart. This is not your average bottom fishing! The cold weather certainly, but it's the fishing itself that is unique. Sure, plenty of folks have had a great day of toggin' - sometimes on their first try. That (would have been) state record that we released 2 years ago comes to mind. Makes you crazy - if you curse when you drop a good fish you haven't figured it out. Laugh and rebait! Yes, there's skill to it. The fellow that released the 16 pounder last Wednesday was the same guy that caught 2 over 16 pounds the week before. It took me 26 years to break 16!

Know what? There's always a chance at one bigger..

Another fellow has the bug bad. He's definitely getting on to it - no doubt! Had a decent day and decides that he's going again in the AM. His buddy that came with him and has to work the next day? Aw, it was ugly! He got home alright - just make sure you know how fanatical your fishing buddies are...

Going fishing, Caveat Emptor, cold water. Might work ~ might not! The last 2 days of February we had 60 some tags. A little under half were over 20 inches. No one took a limit - though some sure could have! I'm going again on Friday, Saturday and Sunday - March 9th, 10th and 11th - Weather's too far out to be real, but it does look good. 12 people sells out the rail - crabs provided - 7 to 3 - reservations required - leave the best phone number possible in the event of cancellation.

Below you'll find a paper suggesting HAPCs. Habitat Areas of Particular Concern - guvmint speak for somewhere we don't want to mess up. I think the coordinates must have dropped off the email somehow, sorry 'bout that!

These are the regions that I'm constantly writing about, trying to get scientists and managers interested in the habitat. There has been some success in that of late. Well, at least they don't laugh anymore when I suggest there's coral beds in our waters.

Marine production's no joke. Many species are dependant on it year around, others just overwinter at sea. Either way, by protecting habitat we will expand it. An expansion worth many-many times our artificial reef system would keep us reeling in fish for a long time to come.

There's an idea.

Regards,

Monty

Capt. Monty Hawkins
mhawkins@siteone.net
Party Boat "Morning Star"
Reservations 410 520 2076
www.morningstarfishing.com

Summary:

Fishery managers, marine ecologists, advocacy groups and even some fishers are unaware of naturally occurring coral reef systems in the mid-Atlantic Bight. Because these areas remain unknown, contributions by this productive ecology type are unrecognized in management. In particular, lost production due to gear damage is unquantified in any regional management plan. Calculated over the span of many decades, habitat loss must have played a role in the diminishment of fisheries.

This report contains descriptions of areas of hardbottom reef locations in the hope that scientists will be able to recognize the value of it's contribution to the region's marine ecology and make recommendations for proper management.

For Consideration as Habitat Areas of Particular Concern:

Locations of Mid-Atlantic Bight Nearshore Natural Substrates

and Associated Coral Reef Communities

Capt. Monty Hawkins - 3/1/07 - 11546 Dolly Circle - Berlin, MD. 21811 - mhawkins@siteone.net

Our fisheries depend on marine production; the interaction of all the components of the food web that allow fish to thrive. Seafloor habitat in the form of reef is among the most productive of habitats.

This seafloor habitat ~be it hard corals, tubeworms, clay bottom riddled with holes, mats of dense grass-like hydrozoas and bryozoans, or meadows of sea whip~ all form important complex habitat for fish and other valuable species under management in the mid-Atlantic.

In many regions of the US, indeed the world, managers are actively protecting reef-like areas. To date, however, the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council has done little with regard to marine bottom habitat.

Perhaps this is because science, on the whole, has missed the existence of these habitat types in the region.

If any of the science and my own observations are to be relied upon; allowing these habitats to flourish must benefit many of the species that make up the region's fisheries. Protecting certain habitats would enhance juvenile survival rates by increasing forage supply and improving their ability to avoid predation. When recruitment rates go up the fishing gets better. Indeed, a thriving reef ecology may also have unforeseen benefits to the highly migratory species and at least one sea turtle, the loggerhead.

Species presently under management that utilize the areas for feeding, spawning and growth to maturity are: sea bass, tautog, lobster, loligo squid, scup, and summer flounder. Species that use these reefs for feeding are many and include numerous sharks, loggerhead turtle, bluefish and bluefin tuna. And, while locally extinct now, both codfish and red hake were once bountiful in these regions as well. Taking reef's production as important to the great predators is only a link or two away - especially if squid do indeed spawn upon hardbottoms as I believe they do.

Though not treated here, areas of dense tubeworm are strongly favored by sea trout and croaker.

At this time, hard-bottom reefs in the mid-Atlantic are considered rare. However, their importance to the regions bioeconomic model is directly evidenced by landings of lobster and sea bass.

Of the two routinely cited scientific studies concerning the mid-Atlantic seafloor, one failed to find any hard-bottom in the region. (Wigley and Theroux - 1981 - "Atlantic Continental Shelf and Slope of the United States - Macrobenthic Invertebrate Fauna of the Middle Atlantic Bight Region - Faunal Composition and Quantitative Distribution") The other, Stiemle and Zetlin - Revised 2000 - "Reef Habitats in the Middle Atlantic Bight: Abundance, Distribution, Associated Biological Communities, and Fishery Resource Use" mentions very few areas of natural substrate but concedes that "...more low profile hard bottom and reefs will undoubtedly become known or identified". (P. 37 3rd paragraph)

Hard-bottom is again briefly mentioned in the EFH Source Document for Tautog describing a large area of coral known to fishers as the Winter Quarter Coral Beds. (NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-NE-118 citing Eklund and Targett - 1990 - "Reproductive Seasonality of Fishes Inhabiting Hard Bottom Areas in the Middle Atlantic Bight.")

By my coordinates there are 219.6 square miles that contain hard-bottom patch reefs inside the 25 fathom line between Cape May and Winter Quarter. There are more reef areas offshore but I have no direct knowledge of them. The well known Cape May Rocks area is but one offshore example.

According to the 2002 publication of the National Research Council "Effects of Trawling and Dredging on Seafloor Habitat", the sensitivity and vulnerability of hard-bottom reefs is greater than of other habitats with the exception of tubeworm colonies.

Live-bottom coral communities meet all the criteria of Essential Fish Habitat and warrant protections that can be created within an area designated as a Habitat Area of Particular Concern.

The potential for accelerated recovery of fish stocks dependant on live-bottom habitat, as well as benefits to multiple other areas of the marine food web, should be of great interest to the region's fishery managers.

Decade by decade historical gear impact summaries could be created through interviews with long-time fishers. More modern impact assessments may be estimated through Fishing Vessel Trip Reports, video evidence of snagged/lost gear and actual habitat loss on substrates well suited for reef growths. There is a short video at www.morningstarfishing.com that shows local hardbottom habitats in conditions ranging from pristine to freshly trawled.

Over time, as management takes into account the sensitivity of habitat and acts to prevent damage to it, there will be a corresponding increase in marine production that will be of great benefit to the region's fishers.

A governing body charged with rebuilding populations of economically valuable mid-Atlantic species can hardly continue to ignore habitat's importance to the successful repopulating of overfished species; both directly through it's value as spawning and sheltering habitat and it's contributions to the prey base for feeding.

With enough effort, managers could one day calculate allowable landings based in part on the region's habitat footprint. Habitat holding capacity theory seems well thought out in other biological studies.

Given our present knowledge on the natural sequestration ~biofiltering~ of nutrients in estuaries, it seems likely that large areas of hardbottom in a mature state of growth would contribute to water quality in a similar fashion.

The many sets of coordinates that follow contain a variety of natural substrates including cobble, large rocks, boulder, hard clay and sandstone flats and ledges. The tubeworm colonies that I'm familiar with inhabit mud substrates and are not included here except in one overlapping area. Every attempt has been made to avoid including accidental shipwreck and artificial reef. Verification of habitat type was accomplished by underwater video camera. Each area has been assigned a value that indicates the ease with which reports of habitat loss because of gear impact could be found ~ in as much as fishers can document loss. A (1) means many reports are possible on a sliding scale to (5) where reports would be more difficult, but not impossible, to locate.

More simply, scientifically acceptable identification of habitat type in conjunction with known values of gear impact should be all that's needed.

Let the study begin...

posted by Monty # Monday, March 05, 2007

Fish Report 2/26/07

Retreat!

Hi All,

Last Thursday's trip was ho-hum at best. A beautiful day, calm, but the bite was tempered, I believe, by cold water. The area I was fishing should have treated us far kinder.

The forecast had been bumped up to 40 to 50 knots when the front arrived. Instead of putting in extra effort late in the day, I elected to tighten up to the beach ~ that gnawing feeling in the gut sort of move. Bugles blowing, a retreat.

Get it right once in a while! Dogoned February thunderstorm just as we were coming into the marina...

It's very short notice, but I've had my fill of long range forecasts changing for the worse.

Tuesday & Wednesday then, the last two days of February - Going Toggin' - 7 to 3 - crabs provided (clams too if I can find some) - reservations needed - 12 head sells out the rail - leave at 6:30 if everyone's there.

The forecast calls for less than 10 knots of wind and air temps nearing the 50's. It's as good as we're going to get!

A brutally slow day is possible - then again so are some memorable fish!

Regards,

Monty

Capt. Monty Hawkins
mhawkins@siteone.net
Party Boat "Morning Star"
Reservations 410 520 2076
www.morningstarfishing.com

Comment on Status of White Marlin: Capt. Monty Hawkins 2/19/07

On a fine day in August 1968 a charter boat, the Sunshine, put 2 white marlin on the dock. One of the fish was still alive. The fish had been caught at Great Gull Shoal scarcely 5 nautical miles south-east of Ocean City Maryland's inlet. Among the few boats trolling there that day, 7 fish were caught.

Numerous accounts of white marlin caught within sight of land can be found. Before there was an inlet, 1933, when boats were launched from the beach, marlin were a nuisance ~ to be avoided because of their ability to wreck gear.

That marlin were once common on inshore grounds must be factored into rebuilding efforts. Yes, the fishers of the earlier eras were not big on catch and release. Still, the manager must ask what else is missing besides the fish.

While overfishing remains the most common thread amidst depleted fisheries management and rightly so, here there is a case to be made for the effects of diminished habitat.

Below I have listed coordinates of some of the places where marlin were targeted before the era of 'canyon' fishing. Those coordinates are being overlaid on a GIS charting project of various nearshore seafloor habitats with Jay Odell, Gwynn Crichton and Chris Bruce of TNC's Virginia Program. Though not complete, the work already offers some insight. Using my own coordinates, there are 219.6 square miles that contain hard-bottom patch reefs, or substrates suitable for reef growth, inside the 25 fathom line between Cape May and Winter Quarter. What's striking for the purposes of this comment is the proximity of these reefs to historical marlin fishing grounds.

Why. Other than an overall increase in marine productivity, and certainly a crucial importance to demersal species, why would meadows of sea whip and other reef types influence the migratory patterns of billfish?

I think part of the answer is squid. Numerous times I have found large concentrations of squid (loligo) on hardbottom reef. I believe that their behavior indicates spawning. Spawning concentrations of any species attract predators. According to several papers, cephalopods represent a large percentage of the stomach contents of billfishes.

Squid too are depleted in the mid-Atlantic. However, if these reef's life cycles were interrupted by various fishing gears -and perhaps the occasional category 4 hurricane- then it stands to reason that spawning habitat loss could play a role in the region's diminishment of squid. No bait concentrations~ no predator concentrations.

That's one reason. Another missing piece of the food web may come from the tops of the shoals. According to the Canadian DFO's web page on sand lance (sand eel - A. americanus) these prey fish prefer shallow marine waters, especially the tops of shoals. Unfortunately, so do surf clams ~ The peak of the unregulated 'gold rush' clam fishery coincides with the loss of billfish and other species at numerous locations. Admittedly, modern stomach content analysis papers do not show sand lance as a major prey item of billfish. They are, however, consumed by many or all of the fish that marlins might eat. It's a step away.

Going back a few years brings the issue into sharper focus. Einarsson (1951) found sand eels an important prey item of white marlin. Direct observations by fishers on the inshore marlin grounds through the late 60s offer numerous accounts of sand eels being spit up by white marlin. Observations of today's offshore fishery have turned up none.

Perhaps as the shoals were hydraulically harvested for surf clam -and this beneath the 'high energy zone'- the composition of the sand was altered unfavorably for sand eel settlement/survival.

This clam fishery was not the fishery of today. No harvest caps, no permits and no end for consumers want of clam strip dinners kept a growing fleet of boats working. The fishery peaked around 1973. Clam fishers of the era have related to me how they would often see 'dozens of clam boats working within sight of one another'. It is certainly possible that the hydraulic liquification of so much bottom had an adverse effect on the benthos. Indeed, most fishers with historical experience in the bluefish, marlin, or sea bass fisheries point to clamming as the primary reason for the decline of the inshore fisheries.

The damaging sequence of overfishing and habitat loss leading to prey reduction may have led to the extirpation of nearshore marlins. Habitat/feeding/spawning site fidelity may have further exacerbated this situation. Showing up in many species; the instinctual or learned behavior of fish returning to the same areas each year is common. While unable to find works on the subject concerning billfish, it seems likely in marlins as evidenced by anecdotal accounts; especially a blue marlin that was seen numerous years on the bass grounds until it was harpooned and lost. There have been no reports of blue marlin there since.

Surely, were there a collapse of prey the marlin that remained of the inshore stock would have moved on to better feeding areas. Offshore perhaps ~ their numbers concentrating in regions with abundant prey. Once these places of improved forage were learned by -or imprinted on- the stock, they would have returned annually. When these areas were discovered by fishers it furthered the cascade.

Habitat and prey availability's function in the fisheries is poorly understood and, in this region, unmanaged.

Perhaps a closer examination of their effects could shed light on other problematic fishery declines as well.

Finally, there is water quality. Every single fisher I've interviewed about historical fisheries has decried the loss of blue water on the inshore grounds. Numerous effects of pollution and eutrophication are causing a degradation of marine waters.

We know of the oyster's ability to filter water and sequester enrichments. Water quality will remain the focus of those who are trying to restore our rivers and estuaries. Still, we do not know what similar effect a thriving tube worm colony 7 miles long by 1-1/2 miles wide might have. We do not know how much sea whip meadows might filter either. Perhaps these complex habitat forming animals offer no effect on water quality. But, if any - it could be multiplied many times over if left to flourish.

Catch location data below.

Regards,

Capt. Monty Hawkins

Historical White Marlin Catches: DelMarVa Region (Almost all can be anecdotally confirmed by fishers still alive)

NW DE Light. 38d41.5 ~ 74d55.4 Catches to late 60s.

DE Light 38d27.1 ~ 74d55.5 Catches as late as mid 80s. Rarely to present.

SE DE Light 38d22.3 ~ 74d35.3 Catches to mid 80s - possibly to present.

Great Gull. 38d16.6 ~ 75d00.0 to 38d13.5 75d03.2 Catches from 1920s (From son of surf boat fisher and another capt. that started in 1934 when the inlet was opened - both deceased) to late 60s.

Fenwick Island Shoal - Located 5 miles offshore MD/DE line. Catches to early 60s.

Bass Grounds. 38d18.6 ~ 74d52.8 to 38d16.8 ~ 74d55.2 Catches from the mid 30s/early 40s to late 60s. Last blue marlin harpooned there circa 1988. (habitat fidelity almost a certainty - fish was seen numerous years)

Second Lump. 38d16.7 ~ 74d49.6 to 38d14.7 ~ 74d52.7 Catches to late 60s.

Third Lump 38d16.7 ~ 74d46.8 to 38d15.4 ~ 74d52.7 Catches at least to late 70s - maybe some later.

SE Ridge. 38d04.6 ~ 74d54.4 to 38d08.2 ~ 74d52.2 Catches to early 70s.

Sugar Lump. 38d04.8 ~ 75d00.5 to 38d03.2 ~ 75d02.5 Catches to early/mid 70s.

Inshore Winter Quarter 38d59.9 ~ 75d00.9 to 37d58.9 ~ 75d02.5 Catches to at least mid 50s - could probably find later reports to late 60s early 70s.

Offshore Winter Quarter 37d55.7 ~ 74d55.6 Catches to early 80s.

Jackspot Shoal 38d06.0 ~ 74d45.8 SE to 38d05.1 ~ 74d44.9 SW to 38d03.2 ~ 74d48.5 NW to 38d04.7 ~ 74d49.6. Catches (rarely) to present. Was literally world famous amongst billfishers into the late 70s.

Great Eastern Reef: Constructed in mid 1990s - first marlin in 05...

posted by Monty # Thursday, March 01, 2007

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