Fish science at its best

 

Ed Lombardo with a 20” trout caught during the Hex Hatch (mayfly hatch) on Wood River Monday.

Mahi-mahi and eight other species are now included in the Block Island Inshore Fishing Tournament.

Fish science at its best

Woods Hole and Sea Grant reach out to Falmouth youth

Last month, nearly 250 seventh graders from Falmouth Public Schools visited Woods Hole for an amazing day of ocean science.

Students enjoyed hands-on science activities at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and NOAA’s Northeast Science Center Woods Hole Lab.

At the Science Center lab, students dissected fish and learned about fish anatomy, toured the Aquarium, learned what fisheries observers do, tried on survival suits, and learned about at-sea safety.

The event was sponsored by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Sea Grant, and the Science Center.

Fish science rallying for cod

Fish science in this Nation is the best there is. In the case of cod, NOAA Fisheries and its science-based approach to fisheries is rallying to rebuild cod which has been overfished for many years.

To make it clear, humans have overfished cod to near extinction, so science alone cannot bring back cod.  It will take a lot of regulation discipline too.

In 2021 scientists from around the world came together to study cod and documented five distinct fish populations.  An offshore Georges Bank and four inshore populations from New Jersy to the Canada.

Fish biologist and fishers documented the differences.  The five cod stocks look different in that their shape, size and color differ.  And, their genetic composition, spawning behavior and migration patterns are distinct.

Once the stocks were identified, it was now a matter of drilling down and garnering more data to give fish managers the data needed to put in rebuilding plans.

NOAA Fisheries teamed up with members of New England’s recreational for-hire (charter boat) fleet, the New England Aquarium, Pelagic Strategies, and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission to fill data gaps. The pilot study is called the Recreational Biological Sampling Program, or RecBio.

From November 2023–2024, twelve for-hire captains collected data from 3,000 fish recording length with a photo to verify measurement, kept or released, date/time caught and the precise location.

With support from The Nature Conservancy, Harbor Light Software tailored the existing AnglerCatch fishing app as a portal for captains to enter data using a smartphone or tablet.

NOAA Fisheries, said, “When a fisherman harvests a cod, the participating captain gives it a unique barcode to match the data submitted to the app. The captain freezes the fish’s head at the end of the trip. The science team then extracts the otoliths (ear bones that contain growth rings). Scientists count the rings of the otolith to estimate the age of the fish. This allows them to understand the demographics of cod caught recreationally.”

Congratulations to NOAA and hats off to two local charter captains for taking leadership roles on this research project: Mike Pierdinock, New England Council member, President of the Stellwagen Bank Charter Boat Association and RecBio participant; and Rick Bellavance, chair of the New England Fisheries Management Council, President of the RI Party & Charter Boat Association, RecBio co-founder and participant.

Still time to register for the Block Island Tournament

The expanded Block Island Inshore Fishing Tournament is Saturday, July 26 and Sunday, July 27. You need not attend the awards ceremony to enter and win.  Fish photos are taken up against a tournament ruler and entries are submitted electronically via the GotOne fishing smartphone app.

The Tournament now includes nine species with an expanded fishing area south of the Newport and Jamestown Bridges including the Rhode Island southern coastal beaches to about fifteen miles south of Block Island itself.

Register at BI Inshore Tourney | bi-fishworks (sandypointco.com).

Where’s the bite?

Striped bass, bluefish and bonito. Chad Katch of Sam’s Bait, Middletown, said, “The bass have moved out of our Bays and are now out in front from the mouth of the Sakonnet and off Newport.  Anglers are hooking up with top water lures in low light conditions and during the day eels, trolling tube & worm and umbrella rigs are working.  We also have a good bonito bite at Lands End, Middletown and at the mouth of the Sakonnet River using epoxy jigs.”  East End Eddie Doherty, Cape Cod Canal fishing expert and author, said, “Long distance caster Bob “Bull” MacKinnon hopes for more productive days on the Big Ditch with the realization that there have been schools of silversides at Mass Maritime, bunker near the Sagamore Bridge and mackerel in the east end.  Last week started with Canal Sportsman’s Club member “Adirondack Jim” Cromme successfully chunking into an after-dinner slack tide on a beautiful night. A 40-inch striped bass bit down on his cut mackerel and a nice size bluefish attacked the same bait.”  “The salt ponds are producing good numbers of school bass in South County, mostly feeding on sand eels. You can catch these fish on topwater lures, soft plastics, and Alabama rigs that mimic the bait schools. Bigger fish are taking eels at night,” said Declan O’Donnell of Breachway Bait & Tackle, Charlestown.  Jeff Sullivan of Lucky Bait & Tackle, Warren said, “The striped bass bite at Block Island is lights out at night. Last weekend we caught fish in the 40-pound class using eels.  And, out in front of Newport 30-pound fish were typical with a lot of large blue fish there too.”

Summer flounder (fluke). “The fluke bite is in both shallow and deep water.  Anglers who put their time in are catching keepers,” said Jeff Sullivan of Lucky Bait & Tackle. “The fluke bite has been good but it has moved out in font in 70 to 90 feet water,” said Chad Katch of Sam’s Bait.  Declan O’Donnell of Breachway Bait & Tackle, said, “Most of the fluke are coming from 37-47 feet locally, some larger ones have been caught in 15-20 feet of water. The Block Island bite continues to be good.”

Freshwater.  Ed Lombardo, expert fly tyer, fisher, and instructor, said, ”Fished the Wood River for the Hex Hatch Monday night and the hatch was very good. We got several nice Bown trout, which were very aggressive. We started fishing from 6:30 p.m. to 10:15 p.m. Now that these fish have been seeing these great large mayflies one can still fish for them during daylight. But the Hatch will start at dark.”