F&G Council meeting, Sept. 10, 2024

[AndyS]

MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE NJ FISH AND GAME COUNCIL Central Region Office Robbinsville, New Jersey September 10, 2024.
Freshwater Fisheries: Chief Crause reported this has been a busy month for Bureau of Freshwater Fisheries staff. Biologists have been busy both in the office and in the field. Typical summer-time fieldwork finds staff in freshwaters across the state for a variety of projects. I’ll use this month’s Bureau Report to highlight a few activities that took place late this summer. • In anticipation of some changes to our trout stocking program, which you will hear about next month, at least 13 small ponds were seined so that we have up-to-inventories of our fish populations in places being considered for addition to our trout stocking program. • At least 26 streams were sampled to assess wild trout populations. • The removal of wild Brown Trout in Rinehart Brook that began in 2017 resulted in the successful rebound of Brook Trout. Brown Trout removal projects have been expanded to Trout Brook (in Hacklebarney SP), a tributary to the Pohatcong Creek referred to as the Willow Grove Tributary, and Turkey Brook, a tributary to the South Branch of the Raritan River. Multiple backpack electrofishing passes have occurred this summer, with final removals planned shortly, in an attempt to capture any additional Brown Trout to this falls spawn. • As part of the North Atlantic Aquatic Connectivity Collaborative, BFF staff has assessed over 162 culverts as part of a network of individuals from universities, conservation organizations, and state and federal natural resource and transportation departments focused on improving aquatic connectivity across a thirteen-state region, from Maine to West Virginia. This will put the Bureau of Freshwater Fisheries in a position to guide and prioritize management of road/stream crossings that may be barriers to aquatic organism movement. • Staff continues to track the presence of Invasive fish species. One example is that of White Lake in Warren County. Unfortunately, 2 Snakeheads were reported by anglers. An electrofishing crew dispatched in an attempt to confirm their presence and to determine the extent of their invasion. None were collected, an indication that it is not a well-established population. Property managers were instructed to keep us abreast if additional fish are caught or observed by anglers. • Fish Kills were investigated. For example, a fish kill was reported on Lake of the Lillies, located in Point Pleasant Beach, on 8/12/2024. A site investigation was conducted the on 8/13/2024 on this 20-acre coastal impoundment. Upon arrival approximately 5,000 3-6” White Perch, Yellow Perch, Largemouth Bass, and Sunfish were observed dead along the shoreline of St. Louis and Elizabeth Avenues. A couple larger adult bass, perch, and eel were also observed, however, the bulk of the kill consisted of small perch. No actively dying fish were observed. All fish were white in color suggesting they died over a week ago and were too decomposed to be collected for testing. Numerous live American Eel were observed laying against the shoreline in inches of water. This is not a common behavior and suggests low dissolved oxygen levels or other stressful conditions exist within the lake. Water chemistry was collected at 3 locations and dissolved oxygen levels were well below lethal levels (0.58-1.29 mg/L) for freshwater fish. The combination of recent heavy rains and a potential herbicide application may have depleted DO levels resulting in the kill especially in shallow lakes/ponds with no deepwater refuge. Lake of the Lillies has periodic fish kills, with plenty of stressors, as much of the water is stormwater runoff (no inlet or outlet). Salinity is often elevated given its proximity to the ocean. Future stocking efforts are not recommended given its history and condition. • On the education front, Fisheries Biologists teamed up ENSP and Law Enforcement to host DEP’s Youth Inclusion Initiative by providing programming for dozens of youth across the state. Groups from the United Community Corporation (Newark) and Groundwork Elizabeth (Elizabeth) visited Wilson Park in Linden Township. BFF staff assisted attendees in pulling seine nets in the pond to capture fish. ENSP staff taught the groups about identifying various non-game species and provided the opportunity to use radio telemetry equipment. Law Enforcement staff taught attendees about the various ways our conservation officers protect our state’s resources and utilized mock scenarios to teach attendees how to think like a conservation police officer. Three additional programs were held at Stone Tavern Lake for participants were from Trenton, Camden, and Alloway. Each group arrived weekly, enthusiastic and ready to learn about fisheries management and sampling methods in New Jersey. Overall, the days were actionpacked, and youth were very engaged in all aspect. • On the office end of things, staff continued to gather information and make contacts with public waterbody owners in regards to finding new waters to add to our trout stocking program. They have also refined recommendations that were presented to the Fish Committee on August 15th.