JackC

Not sure how many "really care" but I think enough of you do. Scup harvest needs to be cut by 53%. (Kind of mind boggling.)

Scup are managed on a Regional basis by the "scup states" NY, CT, MASS, RI (we catch the lion share of the recreational fish) - and we basically have the same seasons/bags as the other states. I consider it a better way to manage the fishery.

Anyway - the bottom line is that we are going to most likely end up having a small bag limit in 2008 (well UNDER 20 fish) and a shortened season (look for closure before Oct. 1).

The party/charter fleet has fished with a bonus season the past several years (higher bag than the "normal recreational" boat) - this season will also be shortened and the bag reduced.

None of this is final but thought I would like to give everyone a heads up.

Jack

Scup

Jack C,

I care as I hold a CT commercial fin fish license. Since I fish out of a 16' foot boat, and scup do take to fish pots very well, it is the only species I really target. However, last year the commercial scup poundage limit was either so generous, or there was not enough scup around, I rarely came even close to catching my limit. My biggest problem was the largest batch of spider crabs that I have ever seen invaded our waters. They eat the fish pot bait even before the scup have a chance to get caught. Of course some might just say I am a lousy fisherman but either way, I doubt that a cutback is going to hurt me and likely it will help the scup. What will likely happen is my take will be reduced, but since I never make it anyway, no big deal for me! Whenever the catch limit is reduced, the market price of fish goes up. The more I think about it, I like the idea of reduced catches. The big boats like draggers will feel the pinch far more than than us little guys. Since my operating expenses are next to nothing, I am more than happy to come in with a small catch that will sell for big bucks. Last year, the wholesale price of scup went over $2.00 per pound. What would hurt me is an early closed season but I will just have to wait to see what the DEP does. My guess would be the DEP will allow very high limits during the off boating season when only the draggers can get to them, and when the boating season rolls around, there will be major cutbacks for everyone since the damage has already been done to the quota even before we get a chance to get out licks in. And as always, the recreational sector will get the blame for the poor condition of our fish stocks.

JackC

Interesting discussion - I also think the scup population was on the down swing (my fishing agrees with the stock assessment). Although I had a good scup season off Clinton (Outer SW) - you just had to be on the numbers where the scup congregated.

Anyway - the big difference is that with the commercial permit holders you report your landings and are managed by hard numbers. (The meeting I was at was just discussing recreational catch.) You may very well be able to keep a late season but I have no idea how they are planning to regulate the commercial fishery for 2008.

The scup split is 78% commercial and just 22% recreational - so they can't blame the recreational sector. (I don't think anyone is to blame, the stock was on a dramatic upswing and something happened to make it go down - there is a big population of small scup so the future MAY be bright.)

Scup

Most of the commercial scup pin fishermen have tri-state licenses so they hit the reefs at the eastern end of Fishers Island sound pretty hard. It not unusual to see two guys in a 18 foot boat come in with more scup than a dragger. I tend to fish the shallows very close to shore and mostly with pots. I know the habits of these fish in my area pretty good. Every year, when the season really starts to get underway in late June, scup of all sizes move into the shallows very close to shore. They are very fussy as to when they will feed but typically, during the evening they will move into waters as shallow eight feet. I tried to observe them with a look box, when I was catching them one after another directly under my boat. Even though I could see bottom pretty clearly, and the fish were definitely there, mother nature really gave them a great camouflage. Their thin profile and slightly darker top makes them just about impossible to see if you are looking directly down on them. Not really sure what they are feeding on, but I would guess baby spearing or grass shrimp. Once they get into a feeding mode they will hit just about anything one would care to put on a hook. Quite surprising, even large scup will move into the shallows during the early part of summer and after the sun goes down. Fish pots definitely work better than hook and line when they are in the shallows but sometimes if one is willing to chum heavily you can hold them even a few hours after sunrise.
Another interesting thing is sometimes I check my pots using my 14 foot rowboat. It sort of irks me that I have to register my rowboat for the same commercial fee as a large commercial vessel but once I set my pots out in the springtime there is really no need for a large boat with an extended range. I love to row, and watch the sun come up. At first daybreak, scup sometimes come to the surface, and you can see them working if you sneak up on them quietly without making a fuss. My commercial friends tell me they cannot be caught under these conditions; to this I say baloney. Since I cannot pull pots at night, I try to set them at dusk. The biggest problem in the shallows with pots is spider crabs. The bait is going to be gone within an hour or two no matter when you set the pots, so one might as well set the pots close to the time when you would have at least a fighting chance to catch some scup. One would think that a cast net would work great when I have chummed up a large school of scup right under my boat in eight feet of water during the low visibility of darkness. Other than the obvious problems of not being able to see what one is doing, I have never caught any using a cast net. I know they are there, my net opens well, yet my net comes up empty. The speed at which these fish can sprint at, and their ability to see very well during poor visibility conditions allows them to swim out from under the net before it evens hits bottom. They might be a common fish, but they are still quite remarkable. As the summer progresses, the small scup remain in the shallows and the larger ones move further out more toward the reefs. It is not uncommon to set a pot out at daybreak and an hour later find just a few spider crabs (not enough crabs to finish off the bait in such a short time) in the pot with nothing else. What happened is hundreds of tiny scup swim into the pot, have a feast at my expense, then swim out through the meshes. When bluefish are busy tearing up a school of herring, you will almost always find a school of scup just underneath feeding on whatever drops down. You were right when you claimed there is no shortage of small scup. By late July I had to give up fishing the shallows because a single pot might have 20 or 30 scup in it but only one or two keepers if I was lucky. I only killed one small fish last year when somehow he got himself stuck in the wire mesh and the spider crabs got to him. The mortality rate for pots is just about zero.