NSW Department of Primary Industries (NSW DPI) has put the State’s top fishing photographs in focus in the 2012 NSW Recreational Fishing Calendar. NSW DPI Fisheries Manager, Sarah Boyd, said the calendars are now available in print and online and showcase recreational fishing for what it is, a great recreational sport and leisure activity.

“Fishing remains a popular past time, with more than one million recreational fishers getting out and about every year to take part,” Ms Boyd said. “The photos featured in the calendar are a good example of what great fun can be had, hitting the water for a bit of fishing.

“This calendar has been produced through the support of the NSW Recreational Fishing Trusts and is being made available for free for all to enjoy. “We’ve had hundreds of entries for the calendar, and are really pleased with the quality of entries.

“The photos keep getting better each year and the printed calendars disappear very quickly so I recommend if you want one to get in early.”Orders for copies of the calendar can be placed by visiting the fisheries NSW DPI website at http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/fisheri es/recreational/info/photo-compet ition

This year’s winners include Max Beck of Dorrigo. Ms Boyd said she is looking forward to receiving the next round of photographs with entries now open for the 2013 Recreational Fishing Calendar. “I encourage all fishers to take the camera out next time they hit the water – and take a photo of their favourite fishing experience,” Ms Boyd said. “Judges will be looking for photos that can’t be easily recreated, that ‘special shot’ capturing a memorable moment.

“The competition is open to anyone who would like to illustrate their interest in recreational fishing through their photos.”Photos for the competition can be entered online and entries must be sent in by July 31, 2012.

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SCOTTISH fishermen’s leaders have reacted with fury to moves by the European Commission to impose even deeper cuts in the number of days they will be allowed to fish next year. Earlier this month the industry warned that plans to leave some trawlers fishing for as few as four days every fortnight as part of proposed changes in the cod recovery plan would “break the back” of the Scottish white fish fleet.

But yesterday they were left reeling after new regulations proposed by Brussels pointed to even more drastic cuts for Scottish white fish and prawn vessels, on top of the reductions already proposed for 2012.

Bertie Armstrong, the chief executive of the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation, warned that if the additional and “totally unwarranted” cuts were implemented, they would deal a “hammer blow” to the fleet.

He said: “This latest bombshell from the EC is totally incomprehensible and doesn’t recognise the real and tangible conservation efforts made by our fishermen that have resulted in the recovery of the cod stock. “The current level of cuts already proposed would cause critical damage to the fleet in its own right, but if these additional reductions came into force, then the impact would be unthinkable.”

Both Richard Benyon, the UK fisheries minister, and Richard Lochhead, the Scottish environment secretary, pledged swift action to address the industry’s mounting concerns. Mr Lochhead said the regulations had come “out of the blue” and that there was confusion over the figures published in the European Commission’s document.

He said: “It must be a huge mistake on Europe’s part and we are trying to get to the bottom of it. It would be absolute madness to provide our fleet with more quota next year for some of our key stocks, but then stop our fishermen leaving port to catch them. Cod only makes up around 5 per cent in value of Scotland’s catch. The other 95 per cent is made up of other types of fish. So it cannot be right to be reducing the days at sea available to catch that other 95 per cent.”

He added: “We will be seeking an urgent meeting with commissioner Maria Damanaki to sort this latest mess.”Mr Benyon said: “It is deeply disappointing that this regulation has been published while discussions are ongoing.

“We have been working hard to get clarification from the commission so that they understand the impact of this measure. We are committed to conserving fish stocks and to seeing important species such as cod recover, but the current cod recovery plan is in urgent need of review – it doesn’t allow fishermen to fish sustainably.”

A spokesman for Ms Damanaki defended the proposals. He said: “The UK has been informed about this situation in November last year. An inspection from EU inspectors in October 2010 found that there was overfishing due to the fact that effort was not calculated correctly. The commission is obliged under the control regulation to tackle this type of overfishing.”

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It's that time of year, when The Virginian-Pilot brings to a close another Fishing Forecast season. Today marks the final forecast of 2011. But it does not mean the end to The Pilot's coverage of fishing until the forecast returns in April. Because of the Internet, anglers can find plenty of information on the Pilot's interactive forecast map located at the top of our outdoors channel at www.hamptonroads.com/outdoors.

So just because Thursday's forecasts have concluded for a few months doesn't mean it's the end of fishing. Quite the contrary. That's the beauty of being an angler in southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina. We live in one of the few places on the planet where fishing opportunities are awesome throughout the year.

Among the most important for area economics is the winter striped bass fishery, which draws anglers from up and down the East Coast. Anglers also can enjoy what arguably is the best big speckled trout fishery in the country, with more double-digit fish caught from the waters of the Elizabeth River than from any of the supposed trout hot spots in Florida and the Gulf coast. Tautog and sea bass fishing are other bonuses for angers willing to go out and brave the winter.

Freshwater anglers can find outstanding "grab bag" action by bottom-bouncing minnows and worms along the edges and on the bottoms of creek channels. They also should look for schools of suspended fish over deeper waters. We live in a place with year-round opportunities. Take advantage.

forecast

Hampton Roads

With the bulk of striped bass season looming, anglers throughout the southern Bay are enjoying another fantastic speckled trout season. While most fish are still borderline keeper size, specks are plentiful and more big fish are showing every day. Look for them in Rudee, Lynnhaven and Little Creek inlets. They're available all along southern shorelines of the Bay as well.

But throughout the coming weeks and into next year, the place to catch more and bigger fish is in the Elizabeth River - and not necessarily the famed Hot Ditch. Until waters get really cold, fish will be swarming around lots of shoreline structure, especially anything around old oyster beds.

It's been a less-than-productive year for puppy drum in many of the same waters.

Tautog action is outstanding along the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, and just about any inshore bottom structure. Striped bass action is getting better and better around the three bridge-tunnel spans, and at just about any pier or dock that has lights. And the best is yet to come.

Look for flounder around mid-range wrecks like the Triangle, and many bottom features near the Chesapeake Light Tower. Anglers working the Triangles and beyond can also expect good numbers of large sea bass.

Deep-water bottom-bouncers working around the edges of the Norfolk Canyon can expect continued success with grouper, tilefish, sea bass and other bottom dwellers. While patrolling blue water, anglers should keep an eye out for migrating bluefin tuna.

Eastern Shore
While speckled trout currently rule the roost, anglers soon will shift to an emphasis on striped bass. Specks should be available around Bay-side creeks for a few more weeks. Striper will begin to show in better numbers from Fisherman's Island through the high rise spans of the CBBT, around Kiptopeke, and up towards Cape Charles. As waters get cooler, schools will start to show along the Atlantic coast. Look for tog around near-shore wrecks and artificial reefs.

Outer Banks
It depends on what inlet you're leaving out of as to what you'll catch, but fishing is good for this time of year on both fronts. Yellowfin tuna action has been outstanding out of Oregon Inlet. Some of the schools should start to show off Hatteras soon. Currently out of Hatteras, king mackerel and wahoo action has been tops. Blackfin tuna and a few dolphin have shown. Inshore up and down the OBX, look for speckled trout in deep coastal shorelines. Puppy drum and small black drum could be available. Big red drum and bluefish should be available around the Point until waters get really cold. Also look for striped bass to begin to show in the coming weeks.

In the sounds, the best bet is going to be speckled trout. Look for them around the inlets and along most deeper marshy shorelines. School-sized striped bass, if not already, should be showing around bridges as they move into tidal river systems.

Pier and Surf
Along Virginia beaches, striped bass and speckled trout are the best bets. Any locations on the Elizabeth River where you can wade the shoreline could produce a few quality specks. Look for striper around any structure with lights.

Also look for fish around the mouth of Lynnhaven Inlet and at the base of the CBBT. In North Carolina, bluefish and big red drum could move shallow enough for anglers at the Point to enjoy action. And there are times during the winter when striped bass also move in close. There also could be a few puppy drum and speckled trout until waters get too cold.

Freshwater
Largemouth can be available all winter long, but anglers must slow their presentation around deeper structure. Live bait is a good bet. Crappie will be around deeper hurdles or suspended over deeper waters. Bottom-bounce live baits along the edges and in the bottoms of creek channels in water supply reservoirs.

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The bidding starts early at the seafood auction in Gloucester, Mass. Each day about 30 tons of fish—mostly cod, haddock, and flounder—come in by boat on Cape Ann, a fist jutting into the Atlantic Ocean. Fishermen motor up to the concrete docks behind the beige-and-white warehouse, then wait while workers in rubber boots hoist their catches and weigh them out on a stainless-steel digital scale. At 4 a.m. grocery store buyers, restaurant owners, and distributors file in to inspect and bid on the haul.
The traders and graders were wrapping up their business just after 9 a.m. on Dec. 7, 2006, when 16 federal agents in Crown Victorias and Ford Expeditions pulled into the parking lot. They entered the building in pairs. Although most of them worked for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, they wore bulletproof vests and carried Glock pistols, according to interviews with participants and the NOAA investigative report.

They were looking for the auction’s founder and chief executive officer, a mustached man named Larry Ciulla. When they found him in an office off the auction floor, they officially informed him of their search warrant. They suspected he had illegally bought and sold cod, one of the world’s most valuable, most threatened, and closely watched stocks of fish. The agents were there to seize the auction’s last three years of records and had rented a U-Haul for the mountain of evidence they intended to truck away. In raiding the Gloucester Seafood Display Auction, the largest fish dealer on the Gulf of Maine, which extends from Cape Cod up to the southern tip of Nova Scotia, they hoped to send a message to the fishermen of Gloucester: Overfishing doesn’t pay.

Within minutes the feds herded everyone—longtime auction employees, Central American dockworkers, and three generations of Ciullas—to the auction floor, a high-ceilinged room with rows of folding desks outfitted with laptops. Drivers loading trucks with frosty cod, haddock, and flounder were told to turn off their engines. Restrooms were off-limits for fear papers would get flushed down toilets. While some agents went looking for records, others stood guard at the docks.

The auction’s curly-haired bookkeeper, Nina Jarvis, was printing invoices from the morning’s sales to Whole Foods Market and other buyers when two agents strode in. They asked whether any records were kept offsite. “I’m not saying anything,” she replied, according to the NOAA investigation report. The agents hunted under the stairs and in rooms around the auction floor before discovering that an entire year, 2004, was missing. “We need to see those records,” they demanded of Ciulla. Eventually they found them at a nearby self-storage facility and loaded 38 boxes into their truck.

All day the agents checked in with their boss, Andy Cohen, the man responsible for policing NOAA’s northeastern fisheries. Cohen was at a fish farming conference in Connecticut, but even from a distance he sensed that things might not work out the way he had hoped. Several local politicians had shown up at the auction house. The Ciullas’ friends were bringing the family sandwiches. The Gloucester mayor sent a veteran police detective to watch over the feds. A representative from Democratic U.S. Representative John Tierney’s office had stopped by for half an hour.

Cohen knew that fishing was the business of Gloucester, but the next five years would reveal just how powerful the industry could be. The battle between Cohen and Ciulla had begun many years earlier and would end this past summer with NOAA’s enforcement powers severely compromised and with Cohen out of a job. Starting that day in Gloucester, much would be revealed about the balance between the world’s fisheries and the businesses that harvest them. “I don’t think the fishing industry is ever going to be the same,” says Cohen.
 
At the time of the raid, cod, haddock, flounder, and other groundfish, which are all caught by dragging a net along the ocean bed, were being harvested so heavily that the stock was in danger of collapsing, as it seems to have in the much larger Georges Bank off Newfoundland. Dennis M. King, an economist at the University of Maryland, estimated that 12 percent to 24 percent of the total trawl catch in the Northeast was illegal. One-third of the fishermen King surveyed in 2007 believed that illegal fishing was “significant enough to reduce long-term economic returns from fishing.” The Gloucester community had its share of habitual offenders, but the low likelihood of getting caught made it more tempting for otherwise honest fishermen struggling to profit from depleted stocks. “There’s a fine line when it comes to breaking the law,” says Jack Lakeman, whose family has owned and fished from dozens of boats over the years. “You’re trying to make a living.”

Gloucester, founded in 1623, is the nation’s oldest fishing port. Small family-owned boats catch lobster, scallops, and the occasional shark, but mostly they trawl for cod, a species with flaky white flesh that fed humanity for millennia and was once the most important industry in Massachusetts. Globally, the cod harvest peaked in 1968, when bottom trawlers gathered up 3.9 million metric tons. Gloucester’s fishermen saw their fortunes crest in 1981 with a catch of about 81 million pounds of groundfish. By the spring of 1992 they were returning to port with their hulls three-quarters empty. Cod stocks had dropped to less than 5 percent of their historic levels, and Canada completely shut down fishing on much of the Georges Bank, 62 miles off the coast.

With a catch worth $56 million per year, Gloucester is second only to New Bedford, Mass., in the Northeast. Just as the cod fishery collapse has become a textbook example of the limits to the ocean’s bounty, success in rebuilding it through effective law enforcement could make it a model for a world trying to solve the overfishing crisis.

From his office in Gloucester, Andy Cohen oversaw an industry he considered self-destructively lax. “Our focus was about protecting the resource for the industry,” he says. “We were after people who steal from their competitors.” Cohen, now 55, had grown up in Rockaway in Queens, N.Y., and worked as a park ranger in the West before joining the fisheries agency in Seattle in 1987. He once went undercover during a month-long organized crime sting, buying $1.3 million worth of illegal salmon on the high seas from a Taiwanese fleet. The bust ended with a chase across the North Pacific. After moving to Gloucester in 1998, Cohen fished, too, from his kayak, and enjoyed diving for lobsters in the summer.

His skill in handling complex cases led to his promotion to special agent in charge of the Northeast in 2002. Among his first moves, Cohen converted his regulatory officers into investigative agents, getting them a fleet of unmarked vehicles and sending them off for training in analytical techniques, such as detecting fraud, and criminal-investigative strategies such as wiretaps and warrants.

Cohen also worked closely with Charles R. Juliand, a fisherman-turned-government attorney who donned a beret for work every day and whose determination to stop overfishing seemed to equal Cohen’s. He scribbled sarcastic notes on his case files about fishermen’s lame apologies and legal defenses, and he wrote, often in unprintable terms, about “whacking” violators with hefty fines.
In the first years the two worked together, Juliand litigated a precedent-setting case against a scalloper named Larry Yacubian, who was accused of fishing in closed waters. The case was the first to use satellite technology to track the position of fishing boats. Yacubian settled with the agency for $430,000, a loss that forced him to sell his boat and home. It was a major coup for NOAA and was supposed to mark the beginning of a new, more accountable fishing industry. “They have gotten some of the most sophisticated cases with some of the highest sentences I have seen in wildlife crime cases,” says Elinor Colbourn, a U.S. attorney in the Justice Dept.’s environmental crimes section.
 
Larry Ciulla, 53, had grown up in an imposing Victorian house with a commanding view of Gloucester Harbor. He was a thrill seeker and the envy of the town, buying a Corvette, taking flying lessons, and risking life and limb in the greasy pole competition each June at the St. Peter’s Fiesta in Gloucester. He married the former Ms. Massachusetts Petite America and became a spectacle when he and his then-ex-wife sued the Gloucester Police Dept. and the city, alleging that she had been illegally strip-searched. A federal judge awarded them nothing, noting that the suit was “founded on lies.” In 1997 Ciulla secured $3 million in loans from the state and city to build an auction house on the waterfront. His sister opened Captain Carlo’s, an adjoining restaurant named after their grandfather. Some of the
Ciullas’ competitors closed up shop; others bought from them.

The tighter regulations particularly stung the Ciullas, who had cornered Gloucester’s groundfish trade. The family had grown wealthy running a company called Star Fisheries, offloading vessels, filleting fish, and brokering deals with sellers for more than three decades. They thrived on volume and were always looking for more cod. And fishermen were always desperate to sell their overages.

So began a series of incidents that would culminate in the raid on the auction. In July 2000 a boat called Gloria Jean slipped into the Gloucester Auction’s docks under the cover of night and, according to an NOAA investigation report, unloaded three times the federal limit on codfish. Two fishermen and an auction employee reported some of Gloria Jean’s catch as coming from a rotting boat that had been tied to the auction’s docks. Later, according to the investigation report, they expanded this approach to include other broken-down boats. The fishermen told investigators that Ciulla was aware of the scheme and that he warned them when the “federal guys” showed up. Ciulla, who was interviewed for this story in May, could not be reached for comment on this matter.

Ciulla ultimately accepted responsibility for purchasing 20,691 pounds of illegal cod, settling with the government for $80,000 while denying direct involvement. Five months later a pair of state officers inspected the auction’s refrigerated display room around lunchtime. They noticed five totes stuffed with codfish from the Karoline Marie. Although a yellow label on the totes said they contained 500 pounds—the legal limit—the officers, along with one of Cohen’s agents, weighed them again on the auction’s digital scale and determined that they contained 575 pounds. The captain settled with NOAA, but Ciulla vowed to fight his own case.

When Juliand scoured the auction’s weekly reports, he found it remarkable that out of 395 cod landings recorded that month, 289 were exactly 500 pounds. “What is possible—in fact, assuredly so—is that [the auction] ‘fudged’ the numbers,” he wrote in a legal response.

The first judge who handled the case found in favor of Ciulla in 2006, agreeing that mistakes could be made in the process of handling such a large volume of fish. “Did we celebrate? Heck, no,” says Ciulla. “If we had lost, we’d be out of business, but we also had a feeling, collectively, that there were going to be repercussions.”

He was right. With just 30 investigators handling all fishing from North Carolina to the Canadian border, Cohen had managed to make the Northeast one of the best-policed fisheries regions in the country. His office was handling more than 100 cases per year with fines worth as much as $1 million, more than twice as much as any other region.

Even as Cohen tightened the screws on lawbreakers, he realized that not all the rules were really working. “Frankly, some of the regulations are wacky,” he says. “They are very convoluted, they are constantly changing, and sometimes they don’t make a lot of sense.” By 2006 tensions between Cohen and Ciulla were growing. Cohen’s agents popped into the auction, measuring fish lengths down to the quarter-inch and taking part in a multi-agency training drill called Operation Blitz. Some agents felt Ciulla was not always cooperative in handing over records. For his part, Ciulla felt like he was being unfairly targeted and was living in a “police state.” He launched a counteroffensive, orchestrating a meeting between Tierney, the congressman whose district includes Cape Ann, and Cohen’s boss outside Washington, Dale Jones. The meeting fell through, however.

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The European Commission presented draft legislation forbidding shark finning by all vessels fishing in EU waters, and all EU-registered vessels operating anywhere in the world.

The proposals aim to close a loophole in EU rules, which ban finning but allow fishermen to land shark bodies and their more valuable fins at different ports, provided they comply with a fin-to-carcass weight ratio of 5 percent.

Shark conservation groups have campaigned for years against the EU ratio, saying it is among the most lenient globally and allows European fishermen to dump large numbers of finned carcasses at sea each year.

"By closing the loophole in our legislation, we want to eradicate the horrendous practice of shark finning and protect sharks much better," EU fisheries chief Maria Damanaki said in a statement.

Under the proposals, fishermen would have to land all sharks with their fins attached, though they would be allowed to slice partly through each fin and fold it against the carcass, to facilitate storage and handling.

The draft rules must now be approved by a majority of EU governments in the European Council and lawmakers in the European Parliament before becoming law.

"A stronger ban on shark finning will bring significant benefits for shark fisheries management and conservation, not only in Europe, but in all the oceans where European vessels are catching sharks," said Allison Perry of conservation group Oceana.

"We trust that the European Parliament and Council will support the Commission's proposal," she said in a statement.

In 2009, EU fisherman landed more than 110,000 tonnes of sharks and rays worldwide, giving Europe the second-biggest shark catch globally behind India, data from the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization showed.

Between them Spain, France, Portugal and Britain account for more than 90 percent of EU shark catches, with Spain alone accounting for more than half the total.

China is the world's largest importer and consumer of shark fins, which are the main ingredient in shark fin soup, and can fetch up to 1,000 euros ($1,352) each. The EU is the largest supplier of fins to China.

Booming demand for fins has contributed to a third of all European shark species being threatened with extinction, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Critically endangered species including the Portuguese spiny dogfish and the porbeagle shark.

As predators, sharks play a key role in maintaining the balance of marine ecosystems, but are particularly vulnerable to over-fishing because of their slow growth rate and small number of young. ($1 = 0.739 euros)

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Since my last column three weeks ago, I have spent seven days out on the water, including my annual fall trip to Tobin Lake, Sask. Timing plays a major role in fishing success and if you happen to be in the right place at the right time, chances are you will enjoy some great success. That said, every year Jim Price and I try to time our trip up to Tobin for the end of October. We feel with the reduced water temperatures, the walleye will head to the river section of this system chasing the baitfish that move in at this time of year.

While we caught some nice walleye this year, it was nowhere near as good as the previous year. Why? Nobody knows for sure, but a lack of current combined with limited forage could be responsible. This certainly seems like the case up at Pine Falls, where, with a flow down about 80 per cent from 2010, there are no big numbers of fish in the system.

Price and I went for a day and managed 10 walleye when most around us were having trouble catching any fish. That is another reason the Red River fished so well this fall -- an increased current flow from previous years brought the walleye back in good numbers. It should also make for a great first ice season this year. I can hardly wait. Many people I talk to over the course of year ask me what I do in the winter. I ice fish, of course. Some give a look of amazement. How could that possibly be fun!

Not only is it fun, but it is a recreational pursuit that anyone can afford. That would explain why over the last 10 years this segment of the sport fishing industry has seen the largest growth. What does a person need to start catching fish through the ice? There is a pretty simple answer: enough good ice to make it safe to venture out on. The standard guidelines are four inches to walk, and when you do go, bring someone along.

Also early in the season you will want to travel light. Don't haul a heavy auger around if you don't have to. A simple hand auger will usually suffice early in the year or even a spud bar (heavy metal bar with a sharp nose) can easily make holes. Carry all your equipment on a toboggan or sled and bungee cord them down if you are going over some rough terrain. You should also have along a five-gallon pail to sit on, along with an ice skimmer to clean the holes that you make in the ice. Into this bucket you can fit a small lure kit, along with skimmer ice rods, bait and some snacks.

Wear boots that are waterproof if possible. I have had the same pair of rubberized, insulated boots for 10 years and my feet have never been damp once. I do recommend ice cleats, especially early in the year with little snow cover. It can be darn slippery and bones have been broken. These cleats will fit over your existing footwear and give you the stability you will need.

While it's hard to cover as much area ice fishing as from a boat, there are certain things you can do to increase your chances of contacting fish. It sure pays to bring along a portable GPS with the waypoints locked in to the areas you were catching fish in open water. After establishing location, check depths through the ice with your portable fish finder.

Look for the edge of the drop-off combined with both points into deeper water as well as inside turns, then start drilling holes in a grid pattern and spread out. That's why it's so much better to make ice fishing a social event, the more anglers the better in many cases as it shortens the time it takes to find fish and figure out what they might bite on that particular day.

On your first trip to the lake, start out at daylight so you can figure out just how much ice you do have. That's why you bring along basic survival gear such as rope, axe, waterproof matches, whistle, first aid kit, ice picks, and cell phone just in case the unexpected happens and you get stranded. As you start exploring the lake to find active fish, you might have to try a number of different areas and depths, but once you do make contact, drill a number of holes near the productive spot and get ready to catch some fish.

Weather also plays a factor, and if the daytime bite is slow, there might be an opportunity for a pretty impressive night bite on the same body of water. Using an underwater camera in conjunction with portable electronics can really help in understanding what is happening down below your ice hole. These are just a few of the aids now available on the market.

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Increase in limits is a ‘success story’ for abundance of these types of fish The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission this week voted in some important changes for brackish-water fishermen. Here are the highlights:

¦ In less than three months the recreational limit on redfish doubles from one fish to two.

¦ The February closed season on speckled seatrout will end.

¦ And the bag limit on seatrout will increase from five fish to six.

This is good news on two fronts. First, more neighbors can attend your fish fries. But more important, FWC biologists have determined that both populations of fish are sufficiently healthy to warrant a more liberal take. And, in the case of trout, that applies to both the recreational and commercial fisheries.

“What we are trying to do is be fair in a fishery that’s in abundance, and in some cases, way in abundance,” said FWC Chair Kathy Braco of Jacksonville. “We are dealing with a success story,”

Seatrout

What FWC biologists look most closely at in determining the health of this particular fish stock is its Spawning Potential Ratio (SPR). For the seatrout, the management goal has historically been 35 percent. That ratio compares the spawning ability of a stock undergoing fishing to that in an unfished population.

A 20 percent SPR is what scientists determine to be the biological threshold for the species — below which it’s no longer sustainable. The 2010 seatrout stock assessment demonstrated that the SPR was exceeded in each of the state’s four regions.

Happily for us, the Northeast region has by far the healthiest stock in the state with an SPR of 67 percent — almost twice the benchmark. Other regions were: Northwest, 37 percent; Southwest, 49 percent; Southeast, 45 percent.

Because of these new numbers, the FWC determined that the February closed season on the First Coast, meant to protect spawning stocks, is no longer needed. And that bag limits could increase.

Size limits have not changed. Recreational limits remain in a slot between 15 and 20 inches total length — pinched tail. Anglers may keep one fish over 20 inches within the six-fish limit.

Commercial interests got some good news as well — but not all the good news they wanted. The commercial season was expanded based upon region. Locally the season jumped from three to six months — June 1 to Nov. 30. The season this year was June 1 to Aug. 31.

The seasons are shorter in other regions of the state. Vessel limits are 150 fish per day with two or more licensed fishermen on board. Slot limit is 15 to 24 inches. Daily harvest limit is 75 fish per person or per vessel per day — whichever is less.

What the commercial interests did not receive was the go-ahead to use beach and haul seine nets to reach those limits. It is significant to note that FWC studies show that the commercial take of spotted seatrout is just 2 percent of the overall catch in Florida waters.

Redfish

The expansion of the redfish limit was opposed by several groups and led by the Coastal Conservation Association of Florida. There was a surprising lobbying effort to keep the one-fish rule in effect. But in the end the FWC stuck to its data in determining the bag limit.

FWC biologist Carly Canion said commission’s goal was to give average fishermen more opportunity to catch and take fish. “They wanted to give back in a time when a lot of fishing opportunities are being taken away,” she said.

The FWC employs a different yardstick in measuring the health of the redfish stock, she said. Rather than Spawning Ratio, it uses Escapement Rates. Escapement is the ratio of fish in a stock — whether fished or not — that live to age 4. The goal is 40 percent for redfish. Again, Northeast Florida has the strongest stock with an estimate of 70 percent escapement since 1980. The other areas of the state are much closer to the 40 percent level.

Because this rate has been met or exceeded for two decades, the FWC doubled the bag limit. It’s significant to note, too, that Florida’s bag limit remains below most of our neighbors. In Alabama and Texas the limit is three. Georgia and Louisiana allow five per person. South Carolina’s limit is two.

Florida’s slot limit remains the same — between 18 and 27 inches. Randy Guy of Avid Angler tackle shop thinks the new rules are great. “It shows somebody’s listening to the people for a change.”

Captain Guy Spear of MisStress Sportfishing Charters has mixed thoughts. He sees no problem with the new trout rules, but thinks the redfish rules could cause problems. “I’ve done four charters in the past two weeks. Let’s say I have four people on the boat, that’s 64 fish being taken out of the water… We’ll see. Ask me again in three years.”

Henry Miles owns Devil’s Elbow Fishing Resort in Crescent Beach. He also says the trout rules are no big deal. But he’s heard that eight out of 10 guides are against the redfish rules. “Some of them are just protecting their special schools of fish. Some of them may not want to clean that many fish. To tell you the truth, the economy is so bad and so few people are able to fish, it probably won’t make a difference either way.”

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Countries involved in bluefin tuna fishing need to do more to protect the collateral killing of sharks, an environmental group said Tuesday. Three-quarters of migratory shark species that inhabit bluefin fishing areas are threatened with extinction, the Oceana group warned the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT.) "The fishing countries of the Atlantic can no longer ignore that shark populations are being decimated by ICCAT fisheries," Oceana manager Elizabeth Griffin Wilson said.

Representatives from dozens of bluefin tuna fishing nations are meeting in Turkey to discuss ways to improve protection for the endangered fish, savoured by many sushi eaters for its firm meat. Oceana wants the 48 commission members to prohibit the retention of endangered or other particularly vulnerable species, including porbeagle and silky sharks. The commission already has introduced protections for the bigeye thresher, hammerhead and oceanic whitetip sharks.

The US Pew Environment Group wants fishermen to use new materials that allow sharks to escape, such as nylon fishing lines that can be severed by a shark but not a tuna. "Banning wire leaders and not allowing vessels to retain certain species would help reduce the vast number of sharks caught and killed in Atlantic fisheries," said Pew shark campaign manager Jill Hepp. Pew says 73 million sharks are killed each year, mainly for their fins, which are used in soup in some Asian countries.

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Barrett: Closed. Open to waterfowl hunting every Wednesday and Saturday starting Oct. 22. Chollas: The Joe Bain Memorial Fishing Pier is a great place for kids to fish. Open daily to youngsters 15 and under. San Diego Fly Fishers sponsors a Lend-A-Rod program on Sundays from 10 a.m.-2 p.m., and it includes free bait and tackle and fishing tips. Good perimeter hiking trail, shady spots for picnicking.

Corona Lake: The lake is open seven days a week with fishing allowed from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. on day passes or from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. on an evening pass. Each of these passes is $22. Seniors pay $20. All of these passes have a five-fish limit. For kids 4 to 13, a three-fish pass is $9. The 24-hour passes are available every Friday and Saturday night. These passes cost $60 and anglers can bring a spouse and up to three kids to help fill the 24-hour pass 15-fish limit. Camping at Corona Lake is also free with a 24-hour pass.

Cuyamaca: Heavily stocked all year with trout. Mt. Lassen, Jess Ranch and the Department of Fish and Game. A special plant of Alpers trout went in Nov. 9 and should have some shelf life. Jess Ranch will stock 1,200 pounds of trout next week, and Mt. Lassen will add 1,000 pounds on the Nov. 21, followed by the DFG’s stocking of 1,000 pounds on the Nov. 22. Don’t ignore the big bass action here. Melvin Langhorn, Chula Vista, caught and released seven bass last week, with all of them topping 5 pounds. He used swimbaits and Senkos. Other top catches included Jason Sokoff, Oceanside, 5 trout, with the heaviest at 2 pounds, night crawlers, Lone Pine. Scott Copeland, Shelter Valley, 1 trout and a limit of catfish, with the heaviest going 2-8, night crawlers, T-Dock. Thomas Aranda, Imperial Beach, 5 trout, mini-jigs and chartreuse Power Bait, North Finger Jetty. Aranda returned Thursday with Louis Arce, also of Imperial Beach, and caught 10 trout, with the largest going 2 pounds in the double-limit. They used chartreuse Power Bait and mini-jigs. Jim and Samantha Leibold, Lemon Grove, 10 trout, with a 2-pounder the biggest, night crawlers and Power Bait, Dike area. Mike O’Mara, Chula Vista, 5 trout, with a 1½ pounder the best, Pumphouse Cove. Thomas and Faustina Aranda and Tony Wiggins, Imperial Beach, 15 trout, with a 2-pounder the top catch, white Trout Teasers, Dike area. All private boats must be sprayed and decontaminated to prevent the spread of quagga mussels in the lake. Cost is $10. Applies to canoes, kayaks, float tubes and waders. Campers now have the use of showers on the North Shore. Condos and sleeper cabins available at the lake. Excellent hiking opportunities, with trails leading into Rancho Cuyamaca State Park.

Diamond Valley Lake: Hikers will find very good hiking trails and shoreline access for fishing. Open daily.

Dixon: The giant plant of 6,000 pounds of Nebraska Tailwalkers has ignited fishing here. Curt Cardenas, Rancho Bernardo, 11-pound, 6-ounce rainbow trout, night crawler, Whisker Bay. There also was another 11-pounder caught by an Oceanside angler. The next plant of trout will be Nov. 22. For information about the lake, call (760) 839-4680. The city of Escondido was granted an aquaculture permit that now allows anglers to fish the lake without a state fishing license. All anglers 8 years old and older still need a daily fishing permit to fish at Dixon. Daley Ranch has a network of excellent trails for biking and equestrian. Open daily.

El Capitan: Summer/fall schedule in effect with water contact and fishing permitted Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Sunday is water contact only, no fishing. Monday is fishing only, no water contact activities. Rental boats available Thursdays through Monday for fishing and boating. Concession is now open. Water contact activities include water-skiing, wake-boarding, Jet Skis, towing inflatables. All persons entering reservoir property must purchase a day use permit.

Henshaw: Lake now open from 6 a.m. to sunset daily. Motorboats go for $35 a day, $30 after 1 p.m. Crappie still biting, but not in big numbers. Fair shoreline access on the west side toward the dam. Good hikes in surrounding Cleveland National Forest. Open daily.

Hodges: Closed. Rental boats available on open days, Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday. Network of trails includes the San Dieguito River Park and a pedestrian bridge connecting the south and north shores in the eastern part of the lake.

Irvine Lake:

Jennings: Fair fishing for trout, with the rainbows showing close to shore at Eagle Point and Hermit Cove. Catfish also were sparked by the recent runoff from the heavy rain, and they bit some in Hermit Cove. Bass are at 30 to 35 feet, and supervising ranger Hugh Marx recommends fishing uphill and paying extra close attention to the bait as it reaches the grass line. The lake will get planted with another 1,000 pounds of trout before Friday. Shore fishing is available every day here by purchasing a permit at the campground. The Lake Jennings Free Fishing University is in session every Sunday at 1 p.m., your Charger football alternative, and don’t we all need something like that these days? This Sunday’s session will cover the use of floating bait for catching those elusive Sierra ‘Bows, which is a lot more entertaining than watching the Chargers gag another game. Very good hiking opportunities on perimeter road and on trails.

Lindo Lake: Lakeside fishery has mostly channel catfish and carp, but some bass and bluegill and has been stocked with trout this fall by the Department of Fish and Game.

Loveland: Open daily to hike-in fishing only on a limited area of shoreline. No permits required. Fishing license is required. There’s a 140-foot fishing pier on the west side of the fishing cove.

Miramar: Concession is closed until April, so there are no more boat rentals or supplies available. No trout stocks this year due to budget cuts in the city of San Diego. Vehicles may be driven to the north shore of the lake Saturdays through Tuesdays to access more secluded fishing areas on the other side of the lake. Perimeter road is paved and used by walkers, runners, rollerbladers and bicyclists. If you use this road, stay to the far right to avoid collisions. This place is a parade on weekends. Picnic area on the southeast side of the lake and a few spots on the northwest shore. Get there very early to secure a spot. Pay fees at iron ranger or electronic pay station near the concession building or when it’s open on weekends. Boat rentals available on weekends. Launch ramp for private boats is open.

Morena: Department of Fish and Game stocked here recently and will stock again this week. The county of San Diego will stock Mt. Lassen trophy-sized trout early in December. Carp still active in the shallows and still being caught there. Bass are in the coves chasing the DFG planters. All boats launched here are subject to a quagga mussel inspection. If the boat doesn’t pass, it doesn’t launch. The Pacific Crest Trail, which starts south of Campo at the U.S. Mexican border, cuts through the eastern side of the park. Very good hiking around the lake and a great campground.

Murray: Stocked this week with trout from the Department of Fish and Game. Concession is now open Wednesday through Sunday. Boats available for rent. Perimeter road is mostly paved and frequented by walkers, runners, rollerbladers and bicyclists. Stay to the right to avoid collisions. Cowles Mountain, the highest and most-hiked peak in the city, gets a lot of visitors and is a parade off Golfcrest. The fire road that gets graded often for the utility and city of San Diego vehicles on the east side is much more hiker-friendly with much less use. Open daily to fishing and boating. Pay fees at iron rangers near the concession building or in the concession when it’s open.

Otay, Lower: Concession is open and boats are being rented every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday. The North shore has some good spots. Fishing pier located on west shore, north of the boat dock. Access road on the west side reaches fishing pier and some shoreline fishing areas. Open Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday. Pay fees at iron rangers near the boat launch or at concession stand, where there are boat rentals.

Otay, Upper: No boats permitted here, so float-tubing, wading and shoreline fishing are good options. Great hike around the lake’s perimeter. Open Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday for fishing, sunrise to sunset. Upper Otay is a catch and release only fishery. Bait is not permitted, only artificial lures with barbless hooks.

Poway: For fishing and boat rental information, call the Lake Poway Grill and Tackle Shop at (858) 486-1234. No fishing license required here, but fishing permits necessary. Excellent hiking opportunities, with trails connecting to Poway’s massive network of trails that include Mount Woodson and Iron Mountain. The trails are open daily, as is the lake park. The lake is open to fishing Wednesday through Sunday. The following items are prohibited at Lake Poway in order to prevent the spread of quagga mussels: float tubes, private motors and anchors, live bait containers, fish finders, floating catch baskets, live bait from any source other than the Lake Poway concession, any items the staff considers to be potential contaminants.

Santee Lakes: Exceptional trout fishing here for trophy-sized rainbows. The lakes were stocked heavily, but 32 tagged trout remain in the lakes. Anyone catching a trout 5 pounds or better will be entered in the drawing for a flat screen TV next April. Big news this week is that the camping lakes, 6 and 7, will split a stocking of 1,000 pounds of rainbow trout. The lake is open exclusively to registered campers. Bill Skinner and Allan Villeneuve, 4 trout, with the heaviest at 6 pounds, 7 ounces, night crawlers and marshmallows, Lake 4. Charles Harvey, 5-8 trout, Power Bait, Lake 3. Marc and Adam Asuelo, 3-4 trout, rainbow Power Bait and salmon egg combo, Lake 3. Brian Garegnani, 3-0 trout, Power Bait, Lake 3. Hector Galan, 3-0 trout, green Power Bait, it was a tagged fish, so Galan won a Mitchell reel. Bruce Pham, 4 trout and 1 catfish, rainbow Power Bait and night crawler combo, one of the trout was tagged, so Pham won a camping tent. Lisa Nassar, 2-8 trout, night crawler and chartreuse Power Bait, tagged fish earned her a rod and reel combo. Luon Sangsanoy, Lakeside, 2-8 trout, Power Bait, Lake 3, tagged fish worth a rod and reel combo. Kimberly Foster, 2 trout, Lake 2, Power Bait and night crawler combo. Justin Delorenzo, 2-4 trout, night crawler, Lake 3, a tagged fish worth a tackle box. David Baxley, 1-8 trout, orange Power Bait, Lake 4. Anglers who ask for a “Carp Card” are eligible for a reward after catching 10 carp. Catch 10 carp, record them and get a free day of fishing at the lakes. No California state fishing license required to fish Santee’s chain of lakes. Very good hiking opportunities around the seven lakes. Lakes 6 and 7 are reserved for campers.

San Vicente: Closed. For construction schedules and information on the Emergency Storage Project, go to the San Diego County Water Authority's web site at www.sdcwa.org and click on San Vicente Dam Raise.

Santa Ana River Lakes: Trout opener is set for Friday following the stocking of five different varieties of rainbow trout. Mt. Lassen Trout Farms will stock its “Super Trout,” in the 20-pound class. The hatchery also will stock “Big Bad Reds,” the full-finned, pink-flesh rainbows from 12- to 18 pounds. The lake also will get Nebraska Tailwalkers from the Chalk Mound Trout Ranch in Nebraska, and Mt. Lassen will add Sierra ‘Bows. Jess Ranch finishes it off with Ruby Reds. If that’s enough fish, the lakes also will be planted with trophy broodstock silver catfish from 6- to 15 pounds. Trout action has been fair off the first plants of the season. There is 24-hour fishing every Friday and Saturday night. The “family special” applies to the 24-hour passes, open to mom and dad and up to three kids under 12. All can fish on the same permit to fill up the 15-fish, 24-hour permit limit. Cost is $60. Lots of channel catfish planted this summer. Santa Ana River Lakes is open seven days a week with fishing allowed from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. on day passes or from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. on an evening pass. Each of these passes is $22. Seniors pay $20. All of these passes have a five-fish limit. For kids 4 to 13, a three-fish pass is just $9. Camping at SARL is free with a 24-hour pass.

Sutherland: Closed to fishing and all access for the season. Turkey hunting here through Nov. 20.

Sweetwater: Open Saturday, Sunday and Monday to limited shoreline fishing only.

Wohlford: Fishing has been slow here, except for an occasional bass or channel catfish. Clement Miner, 6.15 bass (released), swimbait, Bass Point. Few crappie biting early. Open Saturday and Sunday only until trout are stocked in mid-December. There’s a $20 special for all-day rentals on motorboats for seniors every Tuesday and for active military every first and third Saturday of the month. The Lake Wohlford Café has the DFG’s Automated License Data System. All types of fishing and hunting licenses may be purchased at the Café, noted for its great breakfast, lunch and dinner items. To-go orders may be made for picnic lunches while fishing. Very good hiking trails, with paths through an oak grove on the southeast side. Ban on private boats remains in place due to the threat of quagga mussels. Other banned equipment include canoes, kayaks, float tubes, trolling motors, fish finders, anchors, etc. Rental boats available.

DFG plants: The DFG trout truck will stop at Morena and Murray in San Diego County and Sunbeam and Wiest lakes in Imperial Valley.

Bay Bass Tournament: The San Diego Anglers Open Bay Bass Tournament, sponsored by Vessel Assist, is set for Feb. 4 at Shelter Island Launch Ramp. The largest five-bass sack (calico, sand or spotted bay) wins first place of $1,500. Second-place earns $750, with $$500 for third and paydown to 25 places. There will be a $250 prize for the largest bass, and a $150 prize for the heaviest spotted bay bass. Cost is $135 per two-angler team. It’s $65 per kayaker, and there will be a $500 gift certificate given to the kayak angler with the best five bass.

Groundfish regulations: Remember, the DFG has changed the regulations for groundfish fishing off Southern California. It changed groundfish regulations for state waters to 3 nautical miles out, effective June 9. The Southern California area from Point Conception to the U.S.-Mexican Border is open through Dec. 31 for groundfish in depths less than 360 feet. The new regulations include a new lingcod minimum size limit from 24 inches to 22 inches; removal of the lingcod fishery closure in December and January through March; an increase in the recreational bag limit of cabezon to three fish, within the 10-fish combined bag limit for rockfish, cabezon and greenlings; an increase of the fishing depth constraint to 60 fathoms year round for California scorpionfish (sculpin).
Waterfowl hunting: Wister Unit of the Imperial Wildlife Area: Wed., 95 hunters, 324 ducks and 2 white-front geese and 8 snow geese; Sat., 204 hunters, 662 ducks, 10 snow geese and 4 Ross;’ Sun., 108 hunters, 135 ducks and 2 snow geese. Ducks shot were mostly shovelers, American wigeon and pintail.

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Lipstick glides on smoothly, specialized paints repel water and metals resist rust thanks, in part, to menhaden. The small fish, known locally as bunker, is no longer popular dinner fare, but is valued for its commercial uses.

Fisherman between Maine and Florida harvest more than 200,000 metric tons annually, with New Jersey accounting for about 10 percent of that. About 40 percent of the catch is sold as bait, mostly for stiped bass and bluefish. The rest wind up at reduction plants and are processed into fish oil for nutritional supplements or consumer products and fishmeal for livestock feed and pet food.

This week, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission decided to provide more protection for the species, which is ubiquitous in consumer products and hunted by nearly everything that lives in water or flies near it. A review of 2009 data and showed that only 8 percent of spawning adults escaped nets and predators, according to the commission.

Member states along the East Coast agreed to regulate their fisheries to preserve at least 15 percent of the spawning Atlantic population each year. New Jersey’s stake in the menhaden industry may be small, but the changes could impact its coastal economy.

"If there’s a reduction in the bait fishery," said Toni Kearns, one of the commission’s management coordinators, "there is a potential there will be fewer available for commercial fishermen to buy and fewer for bait and tackle shops. But we don’t know yet."

New Jersey fishermen who net bunker can typically sell them for 10 cents per pound frozen and $1 to $1.50 each live, said Jeff Kaelin. He handles government relations for Lund Fisheries in Cape May, which employs up to 150 fishermen during peak summer months. By his count, the fish netted roughly $5 million for commercial fishers in New Jersey last year. Loberstermen in New England and crabbers to the south buy New Jersey menhaden, he said. Tom McCloy, head of New Jersey’s Marine Fisheries Administation, said the states will likely phase changes in over a few years.

It’s hard to predict the implications, he added, but a rough analysis by McCloy’s administration shows that the conservation initiative could cut a harvest like last year’s 50 million pounds by more than 30 percent.
Although new regulations won’t be passed in time for the 2012 season, recreational anglers in the state have probably already felt the effects of an overfished bunker population. The Jersey Coast Angler’s Association represents the saltwater fishing clubs along the state’s shore that use menhaden as bait to catch bluefish, flounder, striped bass and tuna.

"In our opinion, the 15 percent threshold is set too low," said Bruce Freeman, the association’s researcher. "Menhaden is a major forage species. If you fish for it at high levels, there isn’t sufficient food for the bigger fish that eat it."Jung Kim sells them at his shop in South Amboy, Fred’s Bait and Tackle. Over the last ten years, he said, the price for them has gone from $8 per dozen to $15 per dozen. "They’re the standard for all game fishers around here," said Kim. "One way or another everybody eats menhaden."

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