NJF&W Council meeting April 2018:
Chief Barno reported on opening day counts conducted on 38 waterbodies, 32 lakes and 6 streams: there were a total of 1,144 anglers counted. This is significantly down from last year due to the weather. The resident license sales from this time last year are down by 12% and the trout stamp sales are down by 7.6% from last year. The non-resident license sales were up 2.5% and the trout stamps sales were up 3.3%. This year the fish per angler was the highest it has been over the last 10 years with an average of 0.71 fish per angler. Some of the hot spots were ponds that did not produce well in the past: Warinanco Park Pond, Roosevelt Park Pond, and Birch Grove Park Pond. Staff member Ross Shramko will make a presentation later in the meeting and bring the final report that has all the information from the weekend.
Acting Chairman Virgilio also bought a concern about Rowans Pond being overgrown with aquatic vegetation making trout fishing almost impossible. Assistant Director Golden stated he would have freshwater fisheries investigate.
Biologist Ross Shramko, Bureau of Freshwater Fisheries, gave a presentation on the Radio Telemetry Study on Stocked Trout Movement in the Flat Brook catch and release area. Despite being popular among anglers, years of electrofishing indicated low numbers of trout inhabiting this stretch compared to the numbers stocked. In 2017, transmitters were surgically implanted in the abdomen of 10 1/2 to 11-inch stocked trout and released into three locations within the catch and release area. Twenty (20) tagged trout were stocked on two separate dates. Staff went out every day over a two-week period and then every other day after that until no tagged trout remained within the stream (9/11/2017). The study found the fish are not swimming great distances and leaving the catch and release area or the Flat Brook system nor are they moving into and remaining within the deep pools. Study results indicate predation is responsible for the low number of available trout. Nineteen (19) transmitters were lost due to avian predation and 16 most likely lost to predation by mammals
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05-09-2018, 09:41 PM
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