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By GEORGE SMITH
[email protected]
Thursday, May 02, 2002 Page: 2B
WILKES-BARRE – Information gathered along the Delaware River will be the
focus of biologists from four states and two federal agencies when a
multi-agency angler survey is completed in October.
The information will be used to generate future management plans for the
river.
The survey currently under way is designed to provide catch and harvest
information from 380 miles of the Delaware, from Downsville, N.Y. (located on
the East Branch) downstream to the I-295 Delaware Memorial Bridge.
The river serves as the border between Pennsylvania and New York in Wayne
and Pike counties and the border between Pennsylvania and New Jersey in Pike,
Monroe, Northampton, Bucks and Philadelphia counties,
“All of the states along the Atlantic Coast are members of the Atlantic
States Marine Fisheries Commission,” said Bob Lorantas, a biologist with the
Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission based in Bellefonte. “It is a federal
commission that develops management plans for near-shore ocean species.
“If we did not have a catch and harvest data survey, we could be identified
as not being in compliance with the commission’s mandates.”
Lorantas said the survey is concerned with gathering data on anadromous
fish such as American shad and striped bass, as well as popular freshwater
species such as smallmouth bass, walleye and catfish.
States within the Delaware River Basin Fish and Wildlife Management
Cooperative are funding the survey. Members of the Cooperative include
Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey and New York as well as two federal
agencies, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries
Service. The survey will collectively cost the four states $280,000.
“The angler survey is directed at estimating angler takes of fish pursued
offshore as well as in the estuaries,” Lorantas said.
He added that most recreational fishing for American shad takes place in
the river, while most anglers pursue stripers offshore.
Lorantas said there are already means of identifying how many fish are
taken commercially. This survey is geared toward sportfishing.
“Ultimately the data will define how we look at angler-induced mortality.
It is a resource-oriented survey and will help us understand what the harvest
is and what the mortality is,” Lorantas said.
Objectives of the survey include determining the extent of recreational
fishing activity that occurs on the Delaware River, when and where it occurs,
and the species and numbers of fish harvested.
The survey will involve an aerial count of the number of anglers that fish
the river and a ground survey that will involve interviewing anglers at 82
random river access sites.
“The data will allow biologists to determine population estimates and to
see if the various species are holding their own, are on the rise, or need to
be enhanced,” Lorantas said.
He added that the Delaware is among the few rivers remaining that are not
dammed and are therefore receptive to anadromous fish – fish that live most of
their lives in the ocean but migrate up freshwater rivers to spawn.
“Data from the survey will allow all the agencies involved to cooperate and
collaborate on management activities so the Delaware will remain a unique
ribbon of opportunity in the highly populated Mid-Atlantic region,” Lorantas
said.
George Smith, a Times leader staff writer, can be reached at 829-7230.