| Denlon |
03-09-2014 03:22 PM |
Re: scarce ling
Quote:
Originally Posted by beerbelly
(Post 346569)
does anyone know why the ling r so scarce, is just a cycle there going through, or to many dog fish, or r they getting killed as by catch, its getting hard to put a decent catch together
|
I guess most of you guys are too young to remember the glory days of whiting and ling fishing in the 40's, 50's, and 60's.
In those days you could literally fill up a coal bag or a bushel basket with a mixture of these fish while fishing off the surf or jetties around the Long Branch area. The Long Branch Pier (Burned down around 1985) was a mecca for whiting and ling fishing when the ocean was calm and a light NW wind kept it flat. The guys literally fished 3 deep at the railings. It was a mad house out there.
Then sometime in the late 70's, I believe, the federal fisheries guys determined that this great fishery was under utilized, and that it would be both politically and financially beneficial to open up the fishery to the Russian and Eastern European factory ships. In a few years you couldn't catch a whiting or ling along the Jersey coast. They were essentially wiped out until the federal guys put a stop to it. I think they assumed the the fishery would recover without the factory ship pressure. In the 40 years since, maybe it has slightly recovered, but it never became fully restored and I don't think it ever will.
Denny |
