The most desired bait for fishermen of Long Island and New Jersey is known as bunker.  Bunker is a colloquial name for the species known as the Atlantic Menhaden.  Menhaden is a forage fish that is essential for the ocean food web.  Unfortunately for them, every larger fish and mammal swimming in the New York Bight (the sea east and south of New York Harbor) thrive on Menhaden.  Local fishermen are disturbed to hear that bunker numbers in the Bight diminish because of industrialized fishery as it has a direct correlation on the number of larger game fish populating their favorite fishing spots.  Earlier this decade, the decline was especially traumatic.

However, with warmer waters over the past five years, there has been an uptick in the menhaden population.  As climate change has moved Caribbean and Gulf water species northward, the entire ecosystem has also shifted in this northerly direction up the U.S. coastline.  Most significantly, lobsters off New England have moved into Canadian waters to find the cooler temperatures on the ocean floor.  Recently, warm-water sharks typically abundant off of Florida and the Carolina’s are now visiting Long Island.  Of course, another contributing factor is that the sharks may be following the greater numbers of menhaden migrating up to New York and New England.

As a result, Americans are getting their lobsters from Canada, tuna fishing boats coming out of Montauk are filled to capacity, and the incidence of shark sightings are breaking records along Long Island beaches.

WHALES LOVE MENHADEN

The whale population in the New York Bight has also been on the increase.  More humpbacks are regularly feeding on menhaden.  The presence of whales outside of New York City is now commonplace and it is no longer seasonal.  Monitoring devices such as the Melville buoy built by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute identify humpbacks, sei, fin, and right whales throughout the year.

Finally, just three weeks ago, the American Princess whale watching tour was permitted to re-open as Covid-19 restrictions were lifted.  Gotham Whale is a not for profit organization that routinely accompanies the American Princess into the New York Bight to catalog all ocean mammals.  Their naturalists are happy to report many sightings so far this year.

THE MENHADEN SLAUGHTER IN THE NEW YORK BIGHT

But there is a war taking place in the waters along the United States East coast.  For most of us living in the metropolitan area, we know little about it.  The Atlantic Menhaden has been a staple bounty for one specific company whose trawlers come out of Virginia to cast their nets into the New York Bight.  The Omega Protein Company, part of a conglomerate owned by Cooke, a Canadian firm, is responsible for removing millions of menhaden from our waters every year.  Menhaden is targeted as it accounts for the greatest source of omega fish oil, livestock feed, and other desirable consumer goods. The main use is for feed for Cooke’s fish farms around the world.

When New York Harbor Channel first interviewed Paul Sieswerda of Gotham Whale three years ago, we learned of his organization’s effort to not only catalog ocean mammals, but reduce the menhaden fishing quota presently allowed by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.  Like all commercial operations that rely on government regulations, the Menhaden Fisheries Coalition has at least two dozen large ocean fishing companies within its ranks.  This organization has traditionally lobbied and influenced the governing body to allow an excessive slaughter of menhaden.

GOTHAM WHALE PETITION TO STOP THE OMEGA FLEET

For casual fishing enthusiasts, divers, boaters, and admirers of the sea, it is important to get involved to protect your environment.  Establishing a manageable program for forage species of fish is essential.  You can sign any number of petitions that have been circulated to help maintain a healthy menhaden population in the New York Bight to allow the ecosystem to thrive.  Gotham Whale is dedicated to the sea life that calls the New York Bight home.  Here is the link for Gotham Whale’s petition to stop the Omega Fleet from over-fishing our waters.

Gotham Whale is aligned with other ecological preservation groups to prevent the collapse of the species in northern waters such as the Menhaden Defenders.  The national organization called the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership (TRCP) is also concerned with saving the menhaden, with greater emphasis this year in the waters outside the Chesapeake Bay where the fight for menhaden is just as important.  TRCP lobbies to influence reduced caps and put in place Ecological Management that will consider the impact on other species by fisheries managers.

These alliances will hopefully bring greater weight to the fight within this decade.  In doing so, ocean mammals will no doubt flourish in New York waters and more of us will be able to share their magnificence just outside of New York Harbor.  The ask of Gotham Whale is to establish a prohibition of industrialized fishing for menhaden within twenty miles from New York Harbor, an area where we know whales feed.  A small step to keep a healthy ecosystem in the New York Bight.

The post IF YOU LIKE MANHATTAN, YOU’LL LOVE MENHADEN (for fishing around NY Harbor) appeared first on New York Harbor Channel.

As the Maine lobster population migrates north into Canadian waters, an alarming five-foot long Lion’s Mane Jellyfish was discovered on a Maine beach earlier this month.   Since 2015, these giants of the Arctic have occasionally appeared along the Maine coastline; however, their dimension has never been as large as the monsters we are seeing today.

CITIZEN SCIENTISTS ON THE LOOKOUT

A researcher connected to the Gulf Of Maine Research Institute, Dr. Nick Record, began to log the unusual sightings during that summer of 2015.  He posted his request to recruit anyone who came upon the Lion manes to enter the data on his Bigelow Lab for Ocean Sciences weblog and send photographs for verification.  Citizen scientists were responsive to his call.

Fast-forward to 2020, Dr. Record was interviewed earlier this week by the local Boston television station to shed light on the dozens of sightings in Maine and around Massachusetts Bay this month.

Admittedly, Dr. Record and his associates cannot offer a valid reason for the unusual jellyfish migration behavior.  He states that there is no good historic data yet to develop predictive models.  Once again, this year, his group needs to track the species everyone is seeing as he builds a library of jellyfish sightings.  Even without data, New England beach-goers overwhelmingly say that climate change is real and it is here.

Craig Gilvarg, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs has also weighed in on the world’s largest species of jellyfish, named Cyanea capillata.   He corresponds on their Facebook page, “Their bell-shaped bodies alone can stretch as wide as 8 feet. If they live in plankton-rich waters their tentacles can grow to be as long as blue whales, which often span nearly 90 feet.”

Lion mane jellyfish are abundant and common to the North Atlantic and the Arctic Oceans.   They are related to coral and anemones, not fish.  Jellyfish are faring better than coral as the oceans become more acetic with climate change.  Lion mane bodies are 98 percent water.  Lion mane jellyfish use their tentacles to capture small fish although their main diet is zooplankton.  This species is thought to be at least 500 million years old that dates them back to dinosaurs.

Lion Mane Jellyfish should not be confused with the Lion Fish.  Lion Fish are not accustomed to cold water climates as they are most commonly found in Cuba and Florida.   Lion Fish are also poisonous with barbs.

The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) research vessel, Ocean Explorer, has recently conducted science data gathering of the Lion Mane Jellyfish.  In 2019, the crew descended into the deep underwater environs of Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument.  Seafloor mapping and exploration will continue this summer.

THE JELLYFISH IMAGE THAT BLEW UP SOCIAL MEDIA

Twitter handle UberFacts shared an image of a Lion mane approximately five times the size of a diver next to it on October 25th, 2015.  Within the hour, there were more than two thousand retweets.  The photo caption read, “In 1870, a Lion’s Mane Jellyfish washed up onto Massachusetts bay with tentacles measuring 120 feet (73 meters) making it larger than a blue whale.”  Naturally, it caught the attention of the marine biology community.  It wasn’t long before the Assistant Director of Science for the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center, Dr. Craig McClain, to write that he knew the picture had been doctored.  He found the same photo without the diver next to it.  Sensationalism won out as the Lion mane is now prominently in the public eye.

HOW DO JELLYFISH MOVE AND MIGRATE

Researchers are collecting data to determine if Jellyfish migration is purposeful or accidental.  The marine scientific community does not offer a genetic or learned mechanism as a reason for jellyfish to move over the ocean like salmon or whales who return to the same location annually to spawn.  Jellyfish commonly float in currents, but they do swim by contracting their bell-shaped body.

Jellyfish models have been the cornerstone of robotic propulsion.  Only recently, a study at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute discovered their propulsion to be extremely efficient as they experimented with jellyfish-inspired robots that could pulsate through the oceans to measure temperature and salinity with limited use of energy.

As of today’s post, only the New England coastline has reported sightings and encounters.  With the Covid-19 pandemic wreaking havoc on professional sports, the betting industry might be interested on taking odds on the chances the Lion mane bloom will be coming to New York and New Jersey beaches?

TREATING THE STING OF A LION MANE JELLYFISH

New York and New Jersey ocean enthusiasts have lived with a variety of stinging jellyfish over the past four decades.  Portuguese Man-o-War have visited our shores and thankfully, the Box Jellyfish has not made its appearance to date. “If a beach-goer encounters a lions mane jellyfish, they should move slowly up current and away from the animal to avoid tentacle exposure.” Craig Gilvarg offers. “If stung, flush the tentacles away from the affected area with clean seawater thoroughly and don’t rub the area until the tentacles are gone.”   A sting is extremely painful, but not life-threatening.  There are people who are allergic to the venom, so all should be vigilant.

REPORT YOUR SIGHTING OF A LION’S MANE JELLYFISH

We suggest beach-goers, fishermen, swimmers, boaters and all Citizen Scientists be vigilant and immediately report to your local administrations.  If you like, you can report your discovery of the Lion Mane to Jellyfish.org sighting page.  Sightings along the Gulf of Maine should be reported here to Dr. Record’s page.  You can also contact us here at New York Harbor Channel.

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