Skip at Skippy's Bait and Tackle in Laurence Harbor, NJ recently tipped me off about what he sees as
an alarming issue for all fishermen in Raritan Bay...a significant lack of Bunker.
First, let's look at the species. Here's an exerpt from Captain Steve Byrne's article on Raritan Bay bass
fishing on Noreast.com:
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"“As coastal waters warm, schools of menhaden, a.k.a. bunker, make their way up the coast, invading estuarine waters along the way. Menhaden can spawn year-round, and while they spawn offshore from December to March, spawning grows increasingly closer to coastal waters in the spring, eventually winding up in the many bays and harbors along the coast. The peak of the spring spawn occurs before June, and most menhaden will take up residence in our local waters well before then.
Jamaica Bay, New York Harbor, and Raritan Bay each get their fair share of the bunker population. But why does so much of the menhaden population wind up in Raritan Bay? A quick look at the chart reveals the reason. Menhaden migrate north and west at the same time. Once they reach the tip of Sandy Hook, the coast falls away to the west and the fish wind up in Raritan Bay. After arriving in the Bay, the fish will find their way into the various harbors that boaters use to access the Bay. Menhaden are filter-feeders, and these harbors are rich in plankton; the food source that menhaden need to survive. As a food source for stripers, bluefish, weakfish, king mackerel, bluefin tuna and sharks, menhaden serve as a direct link in the food chain between plankton and top predators.
Keyport Harbor, Great Kills Harbor, the sheltered waters of Union Beach, Laurence Harbor, Seguine Point, and Prince's Bay can all attract and hold good numbers of bunker in the spring. Once the schools of bunker come in, they will usually remain in the area for some time. It is not uncommon for a school to settle into the same harbor for weeks at a time.”
Skip, who's not only a shop owner, but a resident, had some stunning revelations.
"I've lived on this bay for most of my life, and I can remember just two years ago seeing schools of bunker hitting the bay every day, and you'd know...because you'd watch the seagulls bombing them as they come
through. Now? I might have seen FOUR schools all season. Something's wrong."
Skip believes the missing bunker could be from one of two things:
1) Commercial overfishing at the mouth of the bay. Manufacturers have a variety of use for this fish, including lipstick.
2) Environmental conditions in the Bay. We've already seen this year recommendation about the hazards of PCB's:
>>>"
Union Beach, NJ --- U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) was joined today by environmentalists and fishermen to demand General Electric (GE) end years of stall tactics and begin cleaning up contamination it dumped in the Hudson River over three decades.
Today's demand comes after the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) issued a consumption advisory warning people not to eat more than one serving per month of winter flounder caught from Raritan Bay. Pallone said the flounder in the Raritan Bay are contaminated with PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) left by GE in the Hudson River, which flows into Raritan Bay."
http://www.house.gov/list/press/nj06_pallone/pr_apr12_hudsoncleanup.html
It's actually pretty simple. NO BUNKER = NO GAMEFISH, so I'd get in touch with your local congressman
to find out if he or she is aware of the situation in the Bay.
