31 



We were major suppliers of sand eels to recreational bait purvey- 

 ors. 



I can tell you firsthand that the boat stopped sand eeling as of 

 four or five years ago after four to five years of unsuccessful sand 

 eel fishing. It was because of a major shift in this forage fishery. 

 It is one of the most significant bait shifts that we have seen in 

 the course of 60 to 70 years, which is how long my family has been 

 involved in this fishery. 



Again, the one bait boat in the two states that had to stop fishing 

 for sand eels — a major, major circumstance. Sand eels are not the 

 only primary forage fish which have changed. We have seen other 

 changes in patterns, such as river herring, bunker, et cetera. 



The striper issue, when we talk about predation, we are not talk- 

 ing about predation on juvenile bluefish. I heard that referred to 

 in the prior panel. That is not the problem. Stripers are one of the 

 only fish in the Atlantic Ocean which can compete with bluefish as 

 predators. Thus, we do not contend that they are eating the signifi- 

 cant numbers of young of the year of bluefish — although they do 

 that obviously. The major concern is that they compete for the 

 same bait fish. 



While we observe decreases in bait fish, greater predation on the 

 part of a competitor for the same bait fish, what we see simulta- 

 neously is a significant shift of bluefish to the offshore. 



We have more boats to fish offshore waters than just about any 

 single organization on the east coast. These engage primarily in 

 fisheries in the canyon and offshore wreck fishing. What have we 

 seen consistently? We have seen offshore wrecks overrun with blue- 

 fish, literally to the point where boats move away from wrecks be- 

 cause they can't fish there for their target species. 



My family is the holder of four to five groundfish world's records. 

 We have fished offshore wrecks for years and years and we have 

 not seen this type of offshore invasion of bluefish for decades. 



With regard to the shifts in water temperature, I would like to 

 comment on the Stoneybrook study which is now being undertaken. 

 To date the study finds that there is no definitive conclusion that 

 can be reached. Let me point out two things. 



First of all, we have seen in the last eight to ten years a signifi- 

 cant infusion of Spanish mackerel, dolphin and other semi-tropical 

 game fish into the New York Bight. If there is not a change, if 

 those patterns have not deviated, then why is there an historical 

 occasion occurring with the infusion of these fisheries in northern 

 waters? 



The basis of this question may appear anecdotal but it raises a 

 question that fisheries' managers, because of restrictions in financ- 

 ing for research, et cetera, just haven't addressed. Therefore, they 

 say since we can't address it, let's disregard it. This is improper. 

 It is absolutely improper to disregard these factors when trying to 

 determine the status of stocks. 



With regard to anecdotal information, our fishermen have at- 

 tempted over the years to provide to the scientific community anec- 

 dotal information. There are instances that can be readily cited 

 which demonstrate that our anecdotal information was more accu- 

 rate than the scientific information which you heard today and for 

 other fisheries. 



