NO A A PROFESSIONAL PAPER 11 



Bank, then off Atlantic City Ridge, and later off Barnegat 

 Ridge. The sequence of anglers' catches indicates that the 

 normal northward migration of bluefish was proceeding 

 as expected. 



On June 25, about 2 weeks after tagging, the first of 

 these tagged fish was recaptured off Cape Henlopen, Del. , 

 more than 157 km south of where it had been released. 

 On June 29, a second bluefish was recaptured off Avalon, 

 N.J., 111 km south of where it had been released. On 

 August 20 and 22, the third and fourth bluefish were re- 

 captured 4 km and 83 km south, respectively, of where 

 they had been released (about 28 km east-northeast of 

 Barnegat Inlet). Where and when these specimens were 

 captured is contrary to what might be expected of north- 

 ward-migrating fish. 



As a continuing program, members of the American 

 Littoral Society tagged a number of bluefish along the 

 New Jersey coast during the summer of 1975 and 1976. 

 Two specimens, weighing about 1.4 kg each, were recap- 

 tured off New York City during 1976. Both had been 

 tagged off Manasquan Inlet: one on June 16, 1975, the 

 other on August 1, 1976. These small bluefish were re- 

 captured north of the tagging site, as might be expected 

 for northward-migrating fish. 



Catch data regarding various species of fishes along the 

 New Jersey coast during 1975 and 1976 are known from 

 charter boat and party boat anglers (Freeman et al. 1976). 



In certain areas where bluefish had been abundant off 

 New Jersey in previous years, they were notably absent 

 in 1976. Those areas coincided for the most part with the 

 low D.O. water. 



Commercial Lobster Fishery Survey 



From 1971 through 1974, the lobster industry in New 

 Jersey remained fairly stable, with commercial landings 

 of 581, 590, 621, and 539 metric tons (t), respectively. In 



1975 the landings dropped to 386 1. The first 4 months of 



1976 suggested a comeback, as the landings were 22 per- 

 cent greater than the same months in 1975. The May 1976 

 landings were down about 3 percent from May 1975 land- 

 ings. June, July, August, and September, normally the 

 most productive months of the year, showed decreases in 

 the commercial landings of 28, 41, 30, and 16 percent, 

 respectively, compared to the 1975 landings for the same 

 period. At the end of September the 1976 cumulative com- 

 mercial catch was down about 18 percent from the first 

 9 months of 1975 (table 13-5). 



The inshore pot fishery, from to 22 km offshore, was 

 hit the hardest. The inshore landings for Ocean County 

 decreased from over 52 t in the first 9 months of 1975 to 

 less than 12 t for the same period in 1976. That represents 

 a decrease of better than 75 percent for 9 months, when 

 the 1976 catch was actually up 23 percent for the first 6 

 months. Most of the Ocean County landings are from the 

 ports of Belmar, Point Pleasant, and Barnegat Light. Data 

 on the catch per unit of effort in table 13-6 were collected 

 aboard several commercial vessels of inshore lobster pot 

 fishermen from the Belmar-Point Pleasant area over the 

 past 2 years. These data show that the catch per unit of 

 effort had decreased at about the same rate as the landings 

 during July, August, and September 1976. 



Much of the inshore pot fishing grounds for the Mon- 

 mouth County ports of Belford and Atlantic Highlands 

 are west and north of the area hardest hit by the low- 

 oxygen conditions, and the 9-month catch showed an in- 

 crease of about 42 percent over the same time period in 

 1975. Personal communication with lobster fishermen 

 from this area, however, indicated that the consensus was 

 that the "bad water" condition had adversely affected 

 lobster fishing in that area. Local lobstermen contended 

 that there were fewer offshore immigrants after the anoxic 

 water conditions had been established. Offshore lobsters 

 make up a fair proportion of the inshore catch, and lobs- 

 termen can often distinguish them by the lighter, redder 

 color and generally larger size. A closer look at the catch 

 data on tables 13-7 and 13-8 supports this contention to 

 a great extent. The 1976 landings through June showed 

 an increase of about 124 percent over the 1975 landings 

 for the same period. The 1976 landings from July through 

 September, however, showed a decrease of 15 percent 

 compared to the 1975 landings for the same period. A 



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