History, Natural History & the Arts
The waters around Long Island were long known for their bounty. Fish and oysters sustained the indigenous population long before the coming of Europeans.
The settlers developed full-fledged oyster (Crassostrea virginica) and then hard clam (Mercenaria mercenaria) industries and fished striped bass, bluefish, flounder (fluke), and weakfish. [Read more…] about Long Island Baymen & Great South Bay Seafood
An angler caught in the act filleting his illegal catch, and a large group ticketed for poaching more than a dozen striped bass are just some of the cases NYS Environmental Conservation Officers (ECOs) encountered in recent weeks.
The most surprising occurred on Sunday morning, May 10th, ECOs Brown, Dorrett, Heckler, and Hilton were using a robotic wild turkey decoy to catch people illegally road hunting in Williamstown, Oswego County, NY– it didn’t take long. [Read more…] about Fake Turkey Shot From Road; Poaching Canada Geese; Illegal Fishing
New York State Environmental Conservation Officers (ECOs) have been very busy dealing with more than a dozen wildlife poachers across New York State, including hunters illegally taking whitetail deer, songbirds and numerous varieties of fish. [Read more…] about Conservation Officers Kept Busy Ticketing More Than A Dozen Poachers
Each summer as the migratory striped bass spawning run tapers off, juvenile bass hatch from eggs in the upper reaches of the Hudson River Estuary and begin a downriver journey of growth and survival.
These tiny fish quickly reach several inches in length over a few months, then spend time in the lower estuary and coastal ocean until they are large enough to join the coastal migratory stock. [Read more…] about Seining for Striped Bass: Forty-five Years of a Hudson River Survey
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced a two-year study to monitor the health and contaminant loads of Atlantic striped bass in New York’s marine waters.
The survey will collect samples of striped bass to measure levels of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) and other contaminants to update commercial fishery restrictions and the State Department of Health’s consumption advisories for recreational anglers, as well as enhance the understanding of New York’s striped bass population. [Read more…] about Survey to Monitor Striped Bass Health in New York
According to a press release issued by DEC, on the early morning hours of April 21st, NYS Environmental Conservation Officer (ECO) Pabes responded to a report of multiple anglers keeping excess and undersized striped bass in the village of Great Neck, Long Island. [Read more…] about Spring Striped Bass Detail Nets Poachers
New York State Environmental Conservation Officer DEC Franz reported that on July 19th, they responded to a call regarding individuals using a gill net to catch fish in the town of Cortlandt, Westchester County. [Read more…] about Poachers Caught With Hundreds of Illegally Caught Fish
Striped bass (Morone saxatilis), an ecologically, recreationally, and economically important species of migratory fish found in from the St. Lawrence to North Carolina, are in decline according to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.
Last fall the Commission completed a coastwide assessment that overfishing was a contributing factor in the decline.
[Read more…] about With Stripers In Decline, It’s Time For Anglers To Act
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has released a new proposed regulation for public review and comment that would require the use of circle hooks when recreational fishing for Atlantic striped bass. [Read more…] about DEC Proposes Circle Hook Requirement For Striped Bass
According to a report issued by DEC, on May 7th, a retired New York State Trooper fishing on the Hudson River near the Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge observed a gill net with several striped bass being hauled into a small vessel. [Read more…] about Striped Bass Poachers Caught with Gill Net
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced the adoption of new regulations for recreational and commercial fishing for Atlantic striped bass. These regulations, which take effect immediately, are to reduce state commercial and recreational harvests by 18 percent as required by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC). [Read more…] about Striped Bass Regulations Have Changed
Ever wonder what pristine runs of migratory fish in Atlantic rivers looked like to early colonists? Some saw so many salmon, shad, alewives and other species that they said the waters “ran silver” with fish as they swam upstream to spawn.
John Waldman’s Running Silver: Restoring Atlantic Rivers and their Great Fish Migrations (Lyons Press, 2013) covers the biology, history, and conservation of shad, salmon, striped bass, sturgeon, eels and the others that complete grand migrations between fresh and salt waters. [Read more…] about Environmental History: The Great Atlantic River Fish Migrations
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