F&G Council Sept. 9, 2025:

[AndyS]

Freshwater Fisheries:
Chief Crouse reported on the Fish Code; Public Hearing on the 2026 Fish Code will be held here tomorrow, Wednesday, September 10 at 6:30pm at NJFW Central Regional Office located at the Assunpink Wildlife Management Area at 1 Eldridge Road, Robbinsville, NJ 08691 in the Large Conference Room. The 60-day public comment period will close on October 16th. The F&G Council will vote on Public Comment on December 16, with an anticipated adoption on February 16th or March 2 of 2026.

Northern Snakeheads in headwaters of the Mullica River
Last month I mentioned the report of Northern Snakeheads that we received through our Aquatic Invasive Species Reporting Form. We have been very busy electrofishing to remove snakeheads and planning for next steps. As an aside, Snakeheads and Chain Pickerel were given to Dr. Groff for disease and parasite testing. One Chain Pickerel had a Snakehead in its stomach.
Downstream impoundments were sampled via boat electrofishing for the presence of Northern Snakeheads. No snakeheads were found during those surveys. Additional electrofishing removal efforts are planned for Tuesday and Thursday this week. Many communications have occurred with staff from across many disciplines and agencies. Next Steps for eradication are being considered.

Research and Management
Summer electrofishing to monitor trout populations has wrapped up. Following the successful model of Brown Trout removals to recover Brook Trout in Rinehart Brook (Hacklebarney State Park), Brown Trout removals continue on at tributary to the Pohatcong Creek, Trout Brook (Hacklebarney SP), and Turkey Brook in Mt. Olive.

Pequest Trout Hatchery Egg Take
Pequest staff have taken eggs on Tuesday August 26th and Tuesday September 2nd, totaling 830,000 Rainbow Trout eggs for the 2027 season.

Angler Concern over-abundance of turtles
We recently had inquiries about an over-abundance of turtles in a pond in Hudson County that goes by several names, including North Hudson Park Pond, J.J. Braddock Park, Woodcliff Lake.
Species listed included sliders, painted, musk, terrapins and Snapping Turtles. Concerns that it is difficult to fish because the bait attracts turtles on almost every cast. Had to have seen in our area of the lake at least 50. Wherever you look, you see heads popping out of the water. Our response is…“All native turtles, with the exception of Snapping Turtles, are nongame species and are generally not categorized as nuisance wildlife. Any action to capture and relocate nongame species would require a scientific collecting permit where the applicant’s stated conservation value of the proposed activity would be evaluated, along with all other application materials. Snapping Turtles are a game species with an allowable harvest season and may be taken for the
purposes of consumption, with appropriate licenses and/or permits. An abundance of native turtles within a waterbody or habitat would not trigger a management effort on the part of NJDEP Fish and Wildlife to reduce the numbers. In the case of an abundance of non-native species such as Redeared Sliders, a lake manager might want to conduct an effort to trap them and that would be approvable, however non-native species cannot be released, so they can be placed into approved captive facilities, or they get euthanized.”

Swearing in of 3 New Conservation Officers:
Deputy Attorney General Matthew Knoblauch swore in three new Conservation Officers; Anthony Raunado, Dean Cohill and Keith Santini. Congratulations!

[NJ219bands]

I caught 91 turtles 🐢 this year. Can I euthanize the sliders?