[From the U.S. Government Printing Office, www.gpo.gov]
<f- - E NEW JERSEY'S FISHING INDUSTRY COASTAL NOTES NO. R-4 CENTER FOR COASTAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES RUTGERS UNIVERSITY-THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW JERSEY .F ,NEW BRUNSWICK I JERSEY DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION sH 2SH2 DIVISION OF MARINE SERVICES 222. .N5 OFFICE OF COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT B66 1977 . I .:' . Ill a. _ . 1 I I U. S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE NOAA COASTAL SERVICES CENTER 2234 SOUlTH HO(E'SCN AVENUE CHARLESTON , SC 29405-2413 THE FISHING INDUSTRY OF NEW JERSEY Coastal Notes No. R-4 by Susan Bonsall May, 1977 Property of CSC Library This pamphlet was prepared by the Center for Coastal and Environmental Studies at Rutgers - The State Univer- sity for the Office of Coastal Zone Management, Division of Marine Services, New Jersey Department of Environmen- tal Protection, with financial assistance from the Office ~. of Coastal Zone Management, National Oceanic and Atmos- pheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, under -c the provisions of P.L. 92-583. This pamphlet was prepared 2-in conjunction with the New Jersey Sea Grant Program. Ad- d of 0ditional single copies of this publication are available ;fFree from the Office of Coastal Zone Management and the " G Center for Coastal and Environmental Studies. New Jersey is fortunate to have a wide variety of finfish and shellfish available off the shores of the state. This pamphlet describes New Jersey's fishery resources and the people who utilize them. In addition, problems within the commercial and recreational fishing industries are discussed in conjunction with federal and state government programs. Fish in New Jersey Approximately 150 finfish species inhabit New Jer- sey's coastal waters or migrate through them, 30 of which are important to the fishing industry. Finfish catches vary with seasonal migration patterns and cyclic or spo- radic population changes. Many species migrate northward and inshore from continental shelf waters as the ocean water becomes warmer during the spring and summer months. The more important of these species include the Atlantic menhaden, weakfish (sea trout), scup (porgy), bluefish, fluke (summer flounder), Atlantic mackerel, black sea bass, puffer and butterfish. Further offshore the blue- fin tuna, bonito, swordfish, and white marlin move in a similar migration pattern but do not all move as far in- shore. In the fall and winter these finfish species move offshore and/or southward. Consequently the best fishing for these fish is during the warmer months from April to November. Another group of finfish, known as anadromous because they spawn in fresh water, moves into the estuaries and as- cends tidal rivers during the late spring and early sum- mer months. Included in this group are the striped bass, American shad, blueback herring, alewife, and white perch. Good fishing for these fish occurs during periods of their upstream spawning runs. A third group of finfish which includes the whiting (silver hake), cod, Atlantic herring, ling (squirrel or red hake), yellowtail flounder, and winter flounder, mi- grates southward and/or towards the coast during the fall and winter months. Therefore, good fishing for these spe- cies occurs during the late fall and early spring periods. A large range in water temperature offshore New Jer- sey allows this wide diversity of finfish. An enormous mass of cool bottom water usually extends from Montauk, Long Island to just south of Delaware Bay and is known as the Middle Atlantic Cold Cell. Summer temperatures in the Cold Cell are about 40OF to 50OF while surface waters of the Cell are 70OF to 750F. A layer of rapidly changing water temperatures between the two distinct masses is called the thermocline. Different species of fish favor each of these specific thermal environments in the Cold Cell. New Jersey's coastal waters support abundant shell- fish as well as finfish. The soft clam is abundant in the 'bays and rivers of the northern part of the state, espe- cially in Sandy Hook Bay, and the estuaries of the Nave- sink, Shrewsbury, Shark, Manasquan, and Metedeconk Rivers down to Forked River in Barnegat Bay. The hard clam, which is more widely distributed, can be found in virtually all bays and rivers throughout the coast extending from Rari- tan and Sandy Hook Bays in the north to Delaware Bay in the south. The surf clam or sea clam is found in offshore marine waters all along the New Jersey coast, but is par- ticularly abundant in the southern half of the state from Little Egg Harbor to Cape May Point. The ocean quahog or mahogany quahog is becoming an in- creasingly important shellfish for harvesting in the light of declining surf clam stocks. Ocean quahogs are found off the New Jersey shore at depths of 37 to 55 meters. Esti- mates of a standing quahog crop in New Jersey waters is 2.3 billion pounds. Oyster beds are located in Raritan Bay, the estuaries of the Navesink, Toms, Mullica, Tuckahoe, and Great Egg Harbor Rivers, and in the upper Delaware Bay. Some of the beds in Delaware Bay are dedicated to seed oyster produc- tion and after several years growth, the young oysters from these beds are transplanted to the lower Delaware Bay where the water is more saline and conducive to growth. Bay scallops are found in Barnegat Bay from Barnegat Light south to Manahawkin Bay and Little Egg Harbor. The American lobster is another important shellfish found along the New Jersey coast from nearshore waters to the 200 fathom line. Major population areas include the Hudson Canyon, the slope of the Continental Shelf, and limited rocky inshore areas of the northern part of the state. Blue crabs are found in estuaries and nearshore waters along the entire coast.- Many of the foregoing finfish and shellfish species are highly dependent upon New Jersey's estuarine environ- ment. This environment is comprised of tidal wetlands and shallow estuary and bay waters. It supports a diver- sity of phytoplankton, zooplankton, and aquatic vegetation as well as finfish and shellfish. The estuarine zone is important for the linkage of natural energy flow pathways, -2- food production and storage, and food web relationships, all of which support and enhance the fishing industry. Fishing in New Jersey Two major groups utilize the fishery resources of New Jersey -- the commercial fishermen and the recrea- tional or sports fishermen. New Jersey's commercial fish- ing fleet consists of approximately 3,200 vessels and boats employing about 4,500 full- and part-time people. Eighty-six percent of these boats sail from three coast- al counties: Ocean (47%), Atlantic (30%), and Cape May (9%). The balance of the fleet originates in Cumberland, Monmouth, Salem, and Bergen counties. The principal com- mercial fishing municipalities within each county are Bel- ford and Highlands, Monmouth County; Point Pleasant and Barnegat Light, Ocean County; Atlantic City and Ocean City, Atlantic County; Wildwood and Cape May, Cape May County; and Port Norris and Bivalve, Cumberland County. Commercial fishermen operating from New Jersey landed 41.1 million pounds of finfish and 39.0 million pounds of shellfish, together valued at approximately $30.4 million in 1976. Eleven finfish species comprised 95 percent of the catch in weight and 90 percent of the dollar value in 1976. These fish include the menhaden, whiting, porgy, weakfish, fluke, sea bass, tilefish, Atlantic mackerel, bluefin tuna, bluefish, and red hake. Shellfish with greatest weight and dollar value in 1976 were the surf clam, hard clam, lobster, sea scallop, oyster, and blue crab. New Jersey ranked sev- enth nationally in commercial fisheries landings by weight and thirteenth by dollar value in 1973. What happens to the finfish and shellfish once they are caught? For the most part, the finfish are sold at the dock to be taken to the fresh fish markets in New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore. Shellfish are sold at the dock for the fresh market as well, but are also sold to a vari- ety of processing plants located along the New Jersey coast. Of the 43 processing plants in New Jersey, about half are devoted to processing shellfish. The remaining plants pro- cess finfish by filleting, freezing, canning, and smoking to produce frozen dinners, soups, sauces, gefilte-fish, and animal feeds. These plants employ about 2,000 people each year with Cumberland, Cape May, Atlantic, Essex and Camden Counties each employing an average of 300 people. New Jer- sey's processed fishery products were valued at $60 million in 1975. The other major fishing group in New Jersey is the -3- sports fishermen. Approximately 2.7 million fishermen en- gage annually in recreational fishing and shellfishing in New Jersey. Sixty percent of these people come from New Jersey and the balance comes mostly from Pennsylvania and New York. There are estimated 36.07 million fisherman trips per year in New Jersey. At $10.42 expenditures/trip, this generates about $375.8 million to the state's economy each year. Of this total, finfishing yields about $217.2 million and shellfishing $158.6 million. Twelve species comprise 95 percent of all the recrea- tional finfish species caught off the New Jersey coast. These include the bluefish, Atlantic mackerel, striped bass, weakfish, white perch, winter flounder, summer floun- der (fluke), black sea bass, porgy, cod, red hake (ling), and silver hake (whiting). Recreational shellfishermen en- gage mainly in clamming and crabbing. The fishing industry is beset with many problems which have evolved through the years since World War II. A major problem presently facing the industry is a diminished re- source base. Several factors have combined to produce this situation including heavy foreign fleet and domestic commer- cial fishing off New Jersey shores, a dramatic upsurge in recreational fishing, a sharp increase in estuarine water pollution, and disease. A corollary problem is the indus- try's slow reaction to meet changing consumer preferences for fish and fish products in New Jersey and the United States. Foreign fleet inroads into domestic waters is demon- strated by the fact that although the volume of fish being harvested off the United States coast has almost trebled since World War II, landings by domestic vessels have re- mained nearly constant. The United States doubled its consumption of seafood in the past twenty years, but this demand has been met by imported fish that are often har- vested and processed in United States waters by the for-. eign fleet. In 1974, 62 percent of U.S. fish products were imported which created a trade deficit of $1.4 bil- lion. One reason that imported processed fish have sold well on the U.S. market is a change in consumer pre- ferences. Our fishermen return to the dock with fish to be sold at the fresh fish market. However, the demand for fresh fish has been declining. Instead, the consum- er wants a processed and packaged fish that is easy to prepare and serve. New Jersey does not have adequate pro- cessing facilities to meet this new consumer demand. Further, 'it does not have the necessary cold storage fa- cilities that would enable the fishing industry to in- sure a consistent supply of fish to the market. While the commercial catch and market for finfish has declined through the years, the surf clam harvest has--'grown. In 1976 the surf clam was first in dollar value ($10,829,520) and weight landed (24,377,864 lbs.) over all other fin- and shellfish. The demand for surf clams is going up each year since it is the cheapest a- vailable shellfish which can be processed to fulfill new markets. Yet problems do exist for the surf clammer as they do for their finfishing counterparts. During the summer of 1976, a large algal bloom created anoxic water condi- tions. With no oxygen available in the water, bacterio- logical anaerobic metabolism released hydrogen sulfide into the water. These conditions suffocated and poi- soned many shellfish including the surf clam, as well as killing hake, fluke, winter flounder, and sea bass. The financial loss incurred as a result of these conditions is estimated at $1.5 million for commercial fishing and $1.75 million for sportsfishing. In part, algal blooms may be caused by human activities such as massive addi- tions of nutrients to the ocean waters off New Jersey through ocean disposal of sewage sludge and dredge spoils. Bay shellfishermen are also subject to the same type of problem. Increased pollution of estuarine waters has drastically reduced the amount of waters suitable for shellfish harvesting. There are approximately 395,000 a- cres of estuarine waters along the New Jersey coast, but approximately 25 percent of these waters are condemned either fully or seasonally due to high bacteriological counts for the taking of clams, scallops, oysters, and mussels. In addition, diseases periodically affect shellfish populations. For example, the oyster population in Dela- ware Bay was reduced by 90 percent in 1957 by a sporozoan parasite. The disease-related population reductions to- gether with over-harvesting have made recovery within the oyster industry slow. However, with careful controls, the oyster production in Delaware Bay has been brought back to pre-1957 levels. The great increase of sports fishermen in recent years has had two effects on the commercial industry: 1) it has contributed to stock depletions since many sportsmen seek the same species as the commercial fisher- men; and 2) it has helped oversupply the market with fresh fish since, beyond supplying themselves, many -5-5 sportsmen sell their excess catch at the dock for prices below those of the commercial fishermen. Thus, problems troubling the New Jersey commer- cial fishing industry include: 1) a diminishing re- source due to overfishing, pollution, and disease; and 2) an inadequate product for the American market. These problems are not endemic to New Jersey fishermen, but are being experienced on a national scale. There- fore, changes in the industry will have to take place both locally and nationally. To combat the overharvesting of our fishery re- sources, we must restore and manage the fish populations important to our nation. To this end the Fishery Manage- ment and Conservation Act of 1976 was enacted by Congress and made effective March 1, 1977. This act establishes a 200-mile fisheries zone off the coasts of the United States which will restrict fishing by foreign and domestic fleets to an optimum yield level. The optimum yield for each spe- cies will be specified in the fishery management plans drawn up by Regional Fishery Management Councils. More specifically oriented to the New Jersey fishing industry are the activities of the New Jersey state govern- ment. Statutory authority to promulgate regulations rests entirely with the State Legislature. Laws pertaining to fishing and shellfishing are found in a volume entitled New Jersey Fish and Game Laws in sections 23:3-41 et seq., 23:5-1 et sea., and 23:9-1 et seq. This book may be ob- tained W-hom-the Division ofFish, Game, and Shellfisheries. The laws cited regulate licensing, seasons, size limits, fish quotas, bait limits, net size, and penalty procedures. Laws pertaining to shellfishing (except for lobsters and crabs) are found in Title 50 of the New Jersey State Law. The Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection has the final authority for all legislation and regulations promulgated to control and regulate the state fishing industry. The Division of Fish, Game, and Shellfisheries within the DEP administers all programs un- dertaken by the state with regard to the industry. The Fish and Game Council, composed of eleven citizens ap- pointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the State Senate, make recommendations about the protection and propagation of fish and wildlife to the Director of this Division. The Maurice River Shellfisheries Coun- cil advises the Division. in matters relating to shell- fish management in the Delaware Bay area and the Atlan- tic Coast Shellfisheries Council functions similarly for the Atlantic coast shellfisheries. -6- A shellfish program has been-initiated by the Water Resources Division of the Department of Environmental Pro- tection. The Shellfish Control Section has classified all of New Jersey's waters according to extent of bac- teriological contamination. Some waters have been closed to all shellfish harve~ting; others have been closed from May I to December 31/~-;the months in which high bacterio- logical poun~ts are found; and others are open to harvest- ing provided the harvest is processed. Hard clams may bl' harvested by hand in contaminated waters and then depo ited on state-leased ground in non- polluted waters. The clams remain there for 30 days, af- ter which time they are in~spected by Shellfish Control Sec- tion personnel and then released to lease holders for sale to the public. Harvested soft clams are cleansed at two depuration plants to make them safe for public consumption. Seed oysters that have developed on state seed beds in low saline estuaries are transplanted by shellfishermen to their 30,000 acres of leased grounds in the lower Delaware Bay. The fishing industry is a major commercial and re- creational industry in coastal New Jersey which provides income, employment, food, and recreational opportunities. Both the national and state governments recognize the pro- blems facing the industry and are responding to them through programs to aid the resource, the commercial fisherman, and the recreational sportsman. With con- siderable coordinated effort, New Jersey's potential as a major fishing state can be realized. SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Freeman, Bruce L. and Lionel A. Walford, Angler's Guide to the United States Atlantic Coast, Section III, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service, Department of Commerce, Washington, D.C., 1974. 2. Kantor, Richard A., Estuarine and Wetland Resources: A Staff Working Paper, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Marine Sci- ences, Office of Coastal Zone Management, Trenton, New Jersey, Jan. 1977. 3. Kantor, Richard A., Ocean Resources: Living, A Staff Working Paper, New Jersey Department of Environ- mental Protection, Division of Marine Services, Office of Coastal Zone Management, Trenton, New Jersey, Jan. 1977. 4. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service, Fishery Statistics of the United States, 1972, Statistical Digest No. 66, De- partment of Commerce, Washington, D.C., 1972. 5. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service, Fishery Statistics of the United States, 1974, Current Fisheries Statistics No. b400, Department of Commerce, Washington, D.C., 1974. 6. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, New Jersey Landings, Current Fisheries Statistics No. 7182, Department of Commerce, Washington, D.C., December, 1976. 7. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service, The United States Marine Fishery Resource, MARMAP Contribution No. 1, Depart- ment of Commerce, Washington, D.C., March, 1974. 8. New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Shell- fish Control Section, Condemned Area Chart, Depart- ment of Environmental Protection, Trenton, New Jer- sey, 1977. 9. New Jersey Division of Fish, Game & Shellfish and the New Jersey Bureau of Geology and Topography, En- vironmental Map of New Jersey: Fisheries Resources, Department of Environmental Protection, Trenton, New Jersey, 1976. 10. Ridgely, John L. and David A. Dauel, Participation in Marine Recreational Fishing, Northeastern United States 1973-74, Current Fisheries Statistics No. 6236, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad- ministration, National Marine Fisheries Ser- vice, Department of Commerce, Washington, D.C., January, 1975. // --9--