Weakfish population

The bunker shortage may be a problem, but I can't believe that is why weakfish catches have been down.
Weakfish have always thrived on various kinds of shrimp and spearing. There is no shortage of either of those baitfish in our waters.
People started complaining about weakfish stocks about 2 years ago, the only difference I've noticed in that time period is we've had long cold winters. Water temps got well above normal this year but it was late in the season.
I also believe most people are targeting stripers more now than ever before and that must have some merit when counting recreational weakfish landings.
This year it was feast or famine on most of my weakfish trips, I either caught them on every cast or saw nothing. I'm leaning towards migrational pattern changes for the lack of weakfish caught over the last two years (maybe the frigid winters are to blame?).
The Cape May Point jetties were one of the best structure areas for weakfish to set up on. Now that the sand fill is taking place I'm hoping we'll see more weakfish in our South Jersey back waters and further up the DE Bay.
This winter has been pretty mild until recently, I'm hoping we see an increase in weakfish catches this year.

I don't necessarily agree with the one problem answer. I think most people look for one thing that they can fix, when in reality it?s a lot of little problems.

Over-harvesting has been a problem in the past. I hear stories of how the head boat industry got built from burlap bags full of weakfish. "They caught so many, they were rotting on the docks", as many old captains have told me.

The food supply changes greatly from year to year. It's been July before we have started catching crabs here in the bay. Not cause the crabs are over harvested, but from severe freezes over the winter.

Water quality is steadily going down hill to say the least. I know a lot of fisherman who wear gloves handling their bait. They don't want the oils from their skin touching it, and producing a odor. Well what do you think 265,000 gallons of crude oil will smell like in the bay?

There is a lot of competition for food. I haven't caught many weakies on bunker, but I have caught a heck of a lot on shedders. The only problem I have using shedder is a guaranteed croaker or small striper bite. These fish are way more aggressive then a weakfish.

What it boils down to is it's the government?s fault. They have done a poor job of regulating, and a even worse job of research. If the fish oil company is being such a problem, why not shut them down? Everyone says they can't but take a look at the past..


They have pulled hundreds of horseshoe crab licensees to protect a bird that's not even native to this county. Putting thousands of people out of business (myself being one). They have pulled commercial netting licensees from the Delaware bay to protect fish stocks. They have outlawed certain types of crab traps to save turtles. They have pulled all types of liscenses for a technacalities.

They obviously have the power to do what they want, so why don't they use it? I'll tell you, it's because it's easier to pass the blame on to someone else.

I'm sure im going to get a lot of hate mail, but I don't care. I dont need other people to tell me what the problems are when I can see them with my own two eyes. Just my own .02

[ 01-22-2005, 02:37 PM: Message edited by: Capt. Joe Haase ]

Well I would agree that reduction boats are problems. I have first handedly seen massive fish kills here on the maurice river and other places in NJ. Millions of peanut bunker floating dead. The waterways turned white from all the dead fish. Seagulls to fat to fly. I saw it happen 3 years in a row. I even have pictures. There were posts here on the barn where it happened all the way across the states of NJ and DE. Now how many millions of pounds would those wish have weighed in 3 years? I think that would have a large impact on the biomass.

I contacted newspapers and local colleges in the area to come and investigate, and yet I got no reply. The guys at fish and wildlife were to busy to come and see it for themselfs. I guess if no one sees something, then it dosen't happen.

But yet the fish factory is responsible for the decline of bunker? I'm not defenting the fish factory in any way. I'm only stating that their are more than one reason why fish stocks in general have declined, but most people only have one finger to point I guess.

Russ showed a chart showing that the same age weakfish is alot smaller now then it used to be. Weakfish normally change from a diet of invertebrates to finfish, mainly bunker, as they get older, but due to declining stocks of bunker, they are not making that diet transition well, and still feeding alot on invertebrates like shrimp.

Capt. Harv,
I found that info interesting and it is hard to debate the data he presented. No doubt weakfish of the same length and age weigh much less compare to weakfish years ago. The weakfish I caught in the Delaware bay appeared to be skinny and malnutrition to me. I agree with Russ Allen's science.

I believe the Delaware Esturay ecosystem is in serious trouble. If the ASMFC is going to begin ecosystem management they better hurry up in doing something before it is too late. I beleive the two most important factors is a healthy ecosystem and the quality of the water must be good. If we have good clean water and plenty of food in the food chain we will see more migratory fish come into the bay.

You can argue all you want about the condition of Delaware bay and river. I don't have the data or the science to prove my concerns but I spent more than 25 years out on the water and I have seen no improvement except the for the striped bass fishery and the data Russ showed on his chart with the low YOY in 2003 is alarming to me. Of course his explaination of the low number was the wet weather we had that year. It will interesting to see what the number is for the YOY in 2004.

Perch..............shhhhhhhhhhhh there is no such fish ...

[ 01-23-2005, 09:26 AM: Message edited by: MrBassBarn ]

You guys have all made some very good points. I would say a couple things. When the same age fish is smaller then it used to be, there is an obvious lack of forage available. The fatty forage fish, like juvenile peanut bunker, are a much better nutrient source then other fish species and invertebrate species. If weakfish are less adaptable in their foraging then stripers, it makes sense that weakfish would show the problem first, although there is much evidence that striper health may be suffering from lack of these fish as well. I personally don't blame reduction boats for harvesting so many bunker. The Virginia legislature allows them to! I think the weakfish declined to their present level from overharvest, just like overfishing was the main cause of decline of the striper population, which required a moratorium to bring them back. (I am not suggesting a moratorium on weakfish). Would a cutback on menhaden harvest help the weakfish recovery? I am sure it would help. Do we need to keep cleaning up our bays and estuaries. You bet. The concept of ecosystems management integrates all of these into a single plan. Before we got involved, all these species lived in a balance created by nature. We just need to figure out how to best restore that balance, then, the fish will multiply, and anglers and the commercial sector can harvest a fair amount.