striper2278
04-23-2006, 02:31 PM
By RICHARD DEGENER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6711
Published: Sunday, April 23, 2006
Updated: Sunday, April 23, 2006
LOWER TOWNSHIP ? Mike Hood couldn't stop talking about it. He couldn't stop looking at it. He couldn't stop lifting it and showing it to everyone.
At 32 inches, it wasn't the largest striped bass ever landed with rod and reel; that one, reeled in off Atlantic City in 1982, weighed more than 78 pounds. But Hood's 12.1-pounder had put up the fight stripers are known for.
Hood was alive with the thrill.
?Damn, it felt good. It was like wrestling a billy goat.?
Hood, 34, of Glenside, Pa., had just boated his first striped bass; catching a flounder will never be the same for him. Having just returned from the Delaware Bay in the Cape May charter boat STALKER one day last week, he was already thinking of going striper fishing again.
But there could be a problem. A bacterial disease is hitting striped bass hard in the Chesapeake Bay, the breeding ground where 80 percent to 90 percent of the East Coast population is produced. A study has found that more than 70 percent of the smaller striped bass in the Chesapeake have mycobacteriosis, which in its advanced stages leads to open sores and possibly an early death for a fish known to live more than 30 years in the wild. Striped bass mortality is up by about 20 percent in Maryland and Virginia, and some suspect mycobacteriosis is to blame.
The bacterium has also been suspected of causing a skin infection on humans known as ?fish handler's disease,? which can lead to arthritis-like symptoms if left untreated. There is even concern about eating the fish, although experts say proper cooking kills the bacteria and eliminates any risk.
Striper fishermen in New Jersey are taking notice.
?I read about it, but I don't know if it's going to come up this way, or if it's always been down there,? Stalker owner Jeremy Scrocca said.
A few stripers from the Chesapeake have already come up this way. Stalker Capt. Skip Jastremski caught a fish that fits the description of a diseased striper off Cape May Point a couple years ago. Word travels fast in fishing circles, and southern New Jersey captains are hearing of the problems in the Chesapeake and starting to wonder about fish they have landed that didn't look quite right.
It's a low percentage. Scientists say the disease is most prevalent in younger, schooling fish that have not yet migrated out of the Chesapeake. Besides, there are also other large breeding areas, such as the Delaware and Hudson rivers. Stripers are highly migratory and range from the Gulf of Mexico to the St. Lawrence River in Canada. East Coast anglers pulled in 33.3 million pounds of striper in 2004.
First signs in the Chesapeake
Mycobacteriosis was first identified in adult stripers in the Chesapeake in 1997. Cape May charter boat captain Rick Shepanski said he has landed a small percentage of fish with lesions and sores over the past few years, but did not know about mycobacteriosis.
?Usually they're nice, shiny, beautiful fish. Then you get one with open sores on them, some as big as a half dollar. We just figured they came out of the (Delaware) River and not the ocean. Every year we get a few. We're seeing a little more each year,? Shepanski said.
Unlike in the Chesapeake, there has been limited sampling in the Delaware; it has been done only once. The USGS National Fish Health Research Laboratory sampled 80 Delaware Bay fish in 2003; 14 had mycobacteriosis. The sampling did not look into where the fish came from, but the two bays are connected by the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal.
Chris Ottinger, a federal biologist involved with that study, said that not only did fewer Delaware fish have the bacteria, but those with it had it at lower levels than fish in the Chesapeake.
Commercial and recreational fishermen on the Chesapeake are turning to scientists for answers. So far, there are only theories. One theory is that something is stressing the fish so that they are succumbing to something always in the water. Tests were done on striped bass specimens from the 1970s, and mycobacteriosis was found. The bacteria has been known to become a problem in aquarium and aquaculture settings, but not in the wild.
Wolfgang Vogelbein, the fish pathologist with the Virginia Institute of Marine Science who first diagnosed mycobacteriosis, has isolated 10 different mycobacteria species. He says two are causing most of the problems. He says the bacteria are always present in the water, so something could be stressing the fish and causing them to get the disease.
Vogelbein said stormwater runoff in the Chesapeake has lowered oxygen levels and that could be stressing the fish. The lower oxygen level has created ?dead zones? in deeper waters where striped bass go in the summer.
?This forces fish to shallow waters that are more stressful,? Vogelbein said.
Another theory is there are fewer menhaden, the main bait fish stripers eat, and the fish are literally starving. This may predispose them to the disease.
Entry points
The disease is mainly found in ?resident fish,? in which Vogelbein has found levels of mycobacteriosis as high as 70 percent. All stripers migrate to the open ocean sometime after age 2 and no later than age 6. They return to the river in which they were born to spawn. The migrants go north in spring and summer and south in fall and winter. So-called ?resident fish? are simply younger fish that have not yet migrated. As youngsters, they school together and can easily pass the bacteria to each other.
When the Chesapeake has a big spawning year, the coast from New Jersey on up to the New England states enjoys an influx of stripers that begins two years later. The good news is the larger open-ocean migrants are much less likely to have the disease. There is hope that saltier ocean waters may even help clear it up once older fish migrate.
?The disease is in the Delaware Bay, but not that much; it seems to be largely in the Chesapeake Bay. It's occasionally in other fish, such as spots and croaker, but it's not epidemic like it is with striped bass,? Vogelbein said.
The institute is advising anglers to throw back fish with ulcers and to wash hands with antibacterial soap. Fish handler's disease can occur only if the angler has an open cut. It has long been a problem for those working in fish hatcheries and aquariums.
?It's not a highly infectious organism, and it requires a portal of entry like a cut,? Vogelbein said.
Too many stripers?
Another theory is there are simply too many bass out there. Overfishing and pollution reduced stocks to such low levels a quarter century ago that some were worried about the future of the species. Strict catch-limit restrictions were put in place, with dramatic results. The Chesapeake was declared fully recovered Jan 1, 1995. Are there now too many stripers?
Gary Nelson, an aquatic biologist with the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, believes that is part of the problem. In natural systems, disease often controls population density. Overcrowding can lead to problems with the immune systems of fish.
?This is a typical result with an extremely high population and a limited food base. It's population dynamics,? Nelson said.
Nelson also wonders if bacteria common in aquaculture facilities may have ?gotten into the Chesapeake that way.?
Biologist Steven Early, assistant director of the Maryland Fisheries Services, notes that the bacteria has been documented in about 160 fish species in aquariums, environments where fish are crowded more densely than in the wild. Early, however, theorizes mycobacteria were in the wild and conditions were right for them to increase.
?Maybe this is something they have and it periodically goes up and goes down. My advice is to go fishing and have fun. If you catch a fish that looks diseased, release it. Use gloves and wash hands. I do the same thing in my garden. There's lot of bacteria there,? Early said.
Brandon Muffley, a research scientist with the N.J. Division of Fish and Wildlife, says that stripers were produced in hatcheries and released into the wild as part of the effort to bring the species back. Could this have led to the problem? Muffley said there are plenty of hypotheses but no clear answers yet.
Local charter boat Captain Adam Crouthamel, who owns the boat Adam Bomb III and has been on the water 15 years, is hoping it doesn't become a problem in New Jersey. He said a lot of parties are signed up to fish in April and May. Spring and fall striper fishing is when he makes his money. He's hoping the problem stays in the Chesapeake. Fewer fish in New Jersey may actually be a good thing.
?There's so many fish down there and they get so crowded. That's why it spreads. Plus, warmer water spreads it quicker,? Crouthamel said.
The 20 stripers landed by anglers on the Adam Bomb III one day last week were all clean fish. Even if they weren't, it would not have stopped the Pennsylvania men who chartered the boat. They would still go striper fishing, said 69-year-old Hatboro, Pa., resident Jim Sacchetta. He's fished for decades and said nothing compares.
?It's the thrill of catching a 30- to 40-inch striper. I fish all species. I love flounder fishing, but I'll go out in bad weather for a striper,? Sacchetta said.
That's what you call striper fever.
To e-mail Richard Degener at The Press:
RDegener@pressofac.com
[ 04-23-2006, 11:33 AM: Message edited by: striper2278 ]
Published: Sunday, April 23, 2006
Updated: Sunday, April 23, 2006
LOWER TOWNSHIP ? Mike Hood couldn't stop talking about it. He couldn't stop looking at it. He couldn't stop lifting it and showing it to everyone.
At 32 inches, it wasn't the largest striped bass ever landed with rod and reel; that one, reeled in off Atlantic City in 1982, weighed more than 78 pounds. But Hood's 12.1-pounder had put up the fight stripers are known for.
Hood was alive with the thrill.
?Damn, it felt good. It was like wrestling a billy goat.?
Hood, 34, of Glenside, Pa., had just boated his first striped bass; catching a flounder will never be the same for him. Having just returned from the Delaware Bay in the Cape May charter boat STALKER one day last week, he was already thinking of going striper fishing again.
But there could be a problem. A bacterial disease is hitting striped bass hard in the Chesapeake Bay, the breeding ground where 80 percent to 90 percent of the East Coast population is produced. A study has found that more than 70 percent of the smaller striped bass in the Chesapeake have mycobacteriosis, which in its advanced stages leads to open sores and possibly an early death for a fish known to live more than 30 years in the wild. Striped bass mortality is up by about 20 percent in Maryland and Virginia, and some suspect mycobacteriosis is to blame.
The bacterium has also been suspected of causing a skin infection on humans known as ?fish handler's disease,? which can lead to arthritis-like symptoms if left untreated. There is even concern about eating the fish, although experts say proper cooking kills the bacteria and eliminates any risk.
Striper fishermen in New Jersey are taking notice.
?I read about it, but I don't know if it's going to come up this way, or if it's always been down there,? Stalker owner Jeremy Scrocca said.
A few stripers from the Chesapeake have already come up this way. Stalker Capt. Skip Jastremski caught a fish that fits the description of a diseased striper off Cape May Point a couple years ago. Word travels fast in fishing circles, and southern New Jersey captains are hearing of the problems in the Chesapeake and starting to wonder about fish they have landed that didn't look quite right.
It's a low percentage. Scientists say the disease is most prevalent in younger, schooling fish that have not yet migrated out of the Chesapeake. Besides, there are also other large breeding areas, such as the Delaware and Hudson rivers. Stripers are highly migratory and range from the Gulf of Mexico to the St. Lawrence River in Canada. East Coast anglers pulled in 33.3 million pounds of striper in 2004.
First signs in the Chesapeake
Mycobacteriosis was first identified in adult stripers in the Chesapeake in 1997. Cape May charter boat captain Rick Shepanski said he has landed a small percentage of fish with lesions and sores over the past few years, but did not know about mycobacteriosis.
?Usually they're nice, shiny, beautiful fish. Then you get one with open sores on them, some as big as a half dollar. We just figured they came out of the (Delaware) River and not the ocean. Every year we get a few. We're seeing a little more each year,? Shepanski said.
Unlike in the Chesapeake, there has been limited sampling in the Delaware; it has been done only once. The USGS National Fish Health Research Laboratory sampled 80 Delaware Bay fish in 2003; 14 had mycobacteriosis. The sampling did not look into where the fish came from, but the two bays are connected by the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal.
Chris Ottinger, a federal biologist involved with that study, said that not only did fewer Delaware fish have the bacteria, but those with it had it at lower levels than fish in the Chesapeake.
Commercial and recreational fishermen on the Chesapeake are turning to scientists for answers. So far, there are only theories. One theory is that something is stressing the fish so that they are succumbing to something always in the water. Tests were done on striped bass specimens from the 1970s, and mycobacteriosis was found. The bacteria has been known to become a problem in aquarium and aquaculture settings, but not in the wild.
Wolfgang Vogelbein, the fish pathologist with the Virginia Institute of Marine Science who first diagnosed mycobacteriosis, has isolated 10 different mycobacteria species. He says two are causing most of the problems. He says the bacteria are always present in the water, so something could be stressing the fish and causing them to get the disease.
Vogelbein said stormwater runoff in the Chesapeake has lowered oxygen levels and that could be stressing the fish. The lower oxygen level has created ?dead zones? in deeper waters where striped bass go in the summer.
?This forces fish to shallow waters that are more stressful,? Vogelbein said.
Another theory is there are fewer menhaden, the main bait fish stripers eat, and the fish are literally starving. This may predispose them to the disease.
Entry points
The disease is mainly found in ?resident fish,? in which Vogelbein has found levels of mycobacteriosis as high as 70 percent. All stripers migrate to the open ocean sometime after age 2 and no later than age 6. They return to the river in which they were born to spawn. The migrants go north in spring and summer and south in fall and winter. So-called ?resident fish? are simply younger fish that have not yet migrated. As youngsters, they school together and can easily pass the bacteria to each other.
When the Chesapeake has a big spawning year, the coast from New Jersey on up to the New England states enjoys an influx of stripers that begins two years later. The good news is the larger open-ocean migrants are much less likely to have the disease. There is hope that saltier ocean waters may even help clear it up once older fish migrate.
?The disease is in the Delaware Bay, but not that much; it seems to be largely in the Chesapeake Bay. It's occasionally in other fish, such as spots and croaker, but it's not epidemic like it is with striped bass,? Vogelbein said.
The institute is advising anglers to throw back fish with ulcers and to wash hands with antibacterial soap. Fish handler's disease can occur only if the angler has an open cut. It has long been a problem for those working in fish hatcheries and aquariums.
?It's not a highly infectious organism, and it requires a portal of entry like a cut,? Vogelbein said.
Too many stripers?
Another theory is there are simply too many bass out there. Overfishing and pollution reduced stocks to such low levels a quarter century ago that some were worried about the future of the species. Strict catch-limit restrictions were put in place, with dramatic results. The Chesapeake was declared fully recovered Jan 1, 1995. Are there now too many stripers?
Gary Nelson, an aquatic biologist with the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, believes that is part of the problem. In natural systems, disease often controls population density. Overcrowding can lead to problems with the immune systems of fish.
?This is a typical result with an extremely high population and a limited food base. It's population dynamics,? Nelson said.
Nelson also wonders if bacteria common in aquaculture facilities may have ?gotten into the Chesapeake that way.?
Biologist Steven Early, assistant director of the Maryland Fisheries Services, notes that the bacteria has been documented in about 160 fish species in aquariums, environments where fish are crowded more densely than in the wild. Early, however, theorizes mycobacteria were in the wild and conditions were right for them to increase.
?Maybe this is something they have and it periodically goes up and goes down. My advice is to go fishing and have fun. If you catch a fish that looks diseased, release it. Use gloves and wash hands. I do the same thing in my garden. There's lot of bacteria there,? Early said.
Brandon Muffley, a research scientist with the N.J. Division of Fish and Wildlife, says that stripers were produced in hatcheries and released into the wild as part of the effort to bring the species back. Could this have led to the problem? Muffley said there are plenty of hypotheses but no clear answers yet.
Local charter boat Captain Adam Crouthamel, who owns the boat Adam Bomb III and has been on the water 15 years, is hoping it doesn't become a problem in New Jersey. He said a lot of parties are signed up to fish in April and May. Spring and fall striper fishing is when he makes his money. He's hoping the problem stays in the Chesapeake. Fewer fish in New Jersey may actually be a good thing.
?There's so many fish down there and they get so crowded. That's why it spreads. Plus, warmer water spreads it quicker,? Crouthamel said.
The 20 stripers landed by anglers on the Adam Bomb III one day last week were all clean fish. Even if they weren't, it would not have stopped the Pennsylvania men who chartered the boat. They would still go striper fishing, said 69-year-old Hatboro, Pa., resident Jim Sacchetta. He's fished for decades and said nothing compares.
?It's the thrill of catching a 30- to 40-inch striper. I fish all species. I love flounder fishing, but I'll go out in bad weather for a striper,? Sacchetta said.
That's what you call striper fever.
To e-mail Richard Degener at The Press:
RDegener@pressofac.com
[ 04-23-2006, 11:33 AM: Message edited by: striper2278 ]