Absence of bunker story of 2009
By Charles Walsh
CORRESPONDENT
Updated: 10/31/2009 05:53:53 PM EDT
If there is a big story about the 2009 fishing season in Long Island Sound, it is this: no bunker.
All summer, the lack of large schools of adult bunker has baffled anglers who endured an almost total absence of surface bluefish blitzes and meager bluefish catches in harbors and river mouths.
As any bait dealer will testify, not so long ago, Long Island Sound had so many bunker huge schools would regularly become trapped in dead-end harbors and estuaries, perishing by the million from oxygen depletion.
"Long Island Sound is famous for bunker," says Jimmy Orifice of Jimmy O's Bait and Tackle in Bridgeport. "This year, there has been no bunker between the Connecticut River in Old Saybrook and Greenwich Harbor. It's a mystery to me."
In the spring, the bunker appeared right on schedule in Hempstead Harbor on Long Island, but the fish never made their usual migration across to Connecticut's harbors. Basically the bunker (menhaden) just disappeared.
A number of theories, none backed by many facts, have been batted around on the bunker shortage. Here are a few:
n The schools of porpoise that entered the Sound in the spring, and that were spotted intermittently through the summer, spooked the bunker off. Instead of following their usual route into the Sound, the schools traveled off Long Island's south shore toward points north. This is somewhat supported by observations that traditionally bunker-shy places like Block Island Sound and Cape Cod saw increased numbers of bunker this summer.
n Something is affecting plankton levels in the Sound. Bunker feed strictly on plankton and when it not available, they will go where it is.
n Over-fishing by recreational anglers who use throw nets to capture live bunker depleted the schools.
n It was not so much a shortage of bunker, but a dearth of the kind of large bluefish that normally "lock' the bunker in the harbors and drive them into rivers and estuaries; in other words, a bunker prison break.
n The elimination of commercial bunker boats in the Sound eliminated the most commonly heard reason for past bunker shortages. On the other hand, it is possible that improved technology for netting massive bunker schools far out in the Atlantic Ocean has devastated the bunker biomass.
n It is just a seasonal quirk. The bunker will return in usual numbers next spring.
There are those who think that the big bunker may yet arrive sometime in November. But others think it's over at least for this season. I would like to hear other theories on where the bunker went. So if you have one, e-mail it to cwalsh@ctpost.com.
SALTWATER LICENSES -- Rhode Island lawmakers have voted to match Connecticut and other states in instituting a recreational saltwater fishing license. The license will cost $7 for Rhode Island residents and $10 for out-of-staters. The license will be required as of Jan. 1 for anyone fishing recreationally in the coastal waters of Rhode Island. Violators will be fined $10 for the first offense, $50 for the second and $100 each for subsequent offenses. The money raised by sale of the licenses will, according to a legislature spokesman, "fund administration." SALMON PROGRAM -- On Nov. 17, the Nutmeg Chapter of Trout Unlimited will feature Tim Wildman, a state fisheries biologist who will discuss the Naugatuck River broodstock salmon program. Wildman will also talk about the river's recovery from a polluted industrial sewer to its current nearly recovered state, holding both trout and salmon. The club meets at Fayerweather Yacht Club, 51 Brewster St. in the Black Rock section of Bridgeport. The 7 p.m. meetings are free and open to the public. DAM BYPASS -- Last week, I talked about fishing below the Tingue Dam on the Naugatuck River in Seymour, mentioning that it will be the site of a fish bypass. According to the DEP, the bypass will be the first of its kind and scale on the East Coast. It is expected to serve as a model for similar projects in other states. Constructed in 1763, the Tingue measures 150 feet across and 5 feet high. The fish bypass channel will complete the restoration of 32 miles of historic fish habitat on the river. The DEP expects more than 20,000 adult American shad and 30,000 adult river herring to pass upriver on the ladder. However, both American shad and river herring have been in extremely short supply in Connecticut rivers in recent years. -- CHARLES WALSH In the outdoors GOING BATS -- "Bats are one of the most misunderstood and under-appreciated wildlife species," said Jenny Dickson, a biologist for the DEP Wildlife Division. "With all the images of bats we see at Halloween, this is a good time to put fear aside and separate fact from fable with regard to these beneficial animals." Bats are quickly becoming a rare sight in the northeastern United States. An ecological disaster of unprecedented proportions, known as white-nose syndrome is quickly decimating populations of these beneficial creatures. Since its discovery in 2007, roughly a half-million bats have been lost as a result of WNS, with thousands more in danger as the devastating disease rapidly spreads. Information sheets on bats and building bat houses, as well as dealing with nuisance bat encounters, are available free of charge by writing to the Wildlife Division's Sessions Woods office at P.O. Box 1550, Burlington, CT 06013. -- CHARLES WALSH
By Charles Walsh
CORRESPONDENT
Updated: 10/31/2009 05:53:53 PM EDT
If there is a big story about the 2009 fishing season in Long Island Sound, it is this: no bunker.
All summer, the lack of large schools of adult bunker has baffled anglers who endured an almost total absence of surface bluefish blitzes and meager bluefish catches in harbors and river mouths.
As any bait dealer will testify, not so long ago, Long Island Sound had so many bunker huge schools would regularly become trapped in dead-end harbors and estuaries, perishing by the million from oxygen depletion.
"Long Island Sound is famous for bunker," says Jimmy Orifice of Jimmy O's Bait and Tackle in Bridgeport. "This year, there has been no bunker between the Connecticut River in Old Saybrook and Greenwich Harbor. It's a mystery to me."
In the spring, the bunker appeared right on schedule in Hempstead Harbor on Long Island, but the fish never made their usual migration across to Connecticut's harbors. Basically the bunker (menhaden) just disappeared.
A number of theories, none backed by many facts, have been batted around on the bunker shortage. Here are a few:
n The schools of porpoise that entered the Sound in the spring, and that were spotted intermittently through the summer, spooked the bunker off. Instead of following their usual route into the Sound, the schools traveled off Long Island's south shore toward points north. This is somewhat supported by observations that traditionally bunker-shy places like Block Island Sound and Cape Cod saw increased numbers of bunker this summer.
n Something is affecting plankton levels in the Sound. Bunker feed strictly on plankton and when it not available, they will go where it is.
n Over-fishing by recreational anglers who use throw nets to capture live bunker depleted the schools.
n It was not so much a shortage of bunker, but a dearth of the kind of large bluefish that normally "lock' the bunker in the harbors and drive them into rivers and estuaries; in other words, a bunker prison break.
n The elimination of commercial bunker boats in the Sound eliminated the most commonly heard reason for past bunker shortages. On the other hand, it is possible that improved technology for netting massive bunker schools far out in the Atlantic Ocean has devastated the bunker biomass.
n It is just a seasonal quirk. The bunker will return in usual numbers next spring.
There are those who think that the big bunker may yet arrive sometime in November. But others think it's over at least for this season. I would like to hear other theories on where the bunker went. So if you have one, e-mail it to cwalsh@ctpost.com.
SALTWATER LICENSES -- Rhode Island lawmakers have voted to match Connecticut and other states in instituting a recreational saltwater fishing license. The license will cost $7 for Rhode Island residents and $10 for out-of-staters. The license will be required as of Jan. 1 for anyone fishing recreationally in the coastal waters of Rhode Island. Violators will be fined $10 for the first offense, $50 for the second and $100 each for subsequent offenses. The money raised by sale of the licenses will, according to a legislature spokesman, "fund administration." SALMON PROGRAM -- On Nov. 17, the Nutmeg Chapter of Trout Unlimited will feature Tim Wildman, a state fisheries biologist who will discuss the Naugatuck River broodstock salmon program. Wildman will also talk about the river's recovery from a polluted industrial sewer to its current nearly recovered state, holding both trout and salmon. The club meets at Fayerweather Yacht Club, 51 Brewster St. in the Black Rock section of Bridgeport. The 7 p.m. meetings are free and open to the public. DAM BYPASS -- Last week, I talked about fishing below the Tingue Dam on the Naugatuck River in Seymour, mentioning that it will be the site of a fish bypass. According to the DEP, the bypass will be the first of its kind and scale on the East Coast. It is expected to serve as a model for similar projects in other states. Constructed in 1763, the Tingue measures 150 feet across and 5 feet high. The fish bypass channel will complete the restoration of 32 miles of historic fish habitat on the river. The DEP expects more than 20,000 adult American shad and 30,000 adult river herring to pass upriver on the ladder. However, both American shad and river herring have been in extremely short supply in Connecticut rivers in recent years. -- CHARLES WALSH In the outdoors GOING BATS -- "Bats are one of the most misunderstood and under-appreciated wildlife species," said Jenny Dickson, a biologist for the DEP Wildlife Division. "With all the images of bats we see at Halloween, this is a good time to put fear aside and separate fact from fable with regard to these beneficial animals." Bats are quickly becoming a rare sight in the northeastern United States. An ecological disaster of unprecedented proportions, known as white-nose syndrome is quickly decimating populations of these beneficial creatures. Since its discovery in 2007, roughly a half-million bats have been lost as a result of WNS, with thousands more in danger as the devastating disease rapidly spreads. Information sheets on bats and building bat houses, as well as dealing with nuisance bat encounters, are available free of charge by writing to the Wildlife Division's Sessions Woods office at P.O. Box 1550, Burlington, CT 06013. -- CHARLES WALSH