A Do and Don't List on Local Collecting

[ellebelle]

LOL - Paul!

 

[Paul B]

Yes the rocks are local. I want to be envirmentally correct.

 

[georgelc86]

Cool, what are the little guys that look like minnows. Or did I just answer my own question.

 

[Aqua Pro Builder]

Cool, what are the little guys that look like minnows. Or did I just answer my own question.

at least, one of them is killie

 

[Paul B]

On the top right is a killie, the blurry fish on the bottom is a northern blowfish. There are four of them in there, one of them is about 3/8" long.
If you look close at the rock in the center, there is a tiny butterfly less than 1/2" near the top.
You can barely make out the black stripe on him.

 

[gimincorp]

We have caught baby flukes and flounders and little blackfish, but we always throw them back.

From what I've heared the fish that was once hooked will most likely die if it is released back into the wild. (unless it's hooked by a lip, in which case I think it'll just suffer, but can survive, unless it gulped too much air in the process) What's your opinion and how are you catching the fish? - hook, net etc...

 

[Domboski]

The last two times I went collecting I saw dead searobins and striped bass (not a keeper but close). There is a lot of people fishing off the jetties near by. I assumed they were catch and release that died and washed up on the beach where I was.

 

[Aqua Pro Builder]

I did see people grill their catch in Prospect Park, so don't eat your catch if they are lionfish(I heard they are tasty.) I want to keep couple of them. Wish they don't wipeout your minnow and killies holding them for me.


LOL

Thats correct except for the ones I eat on the spot like M&Ms

The butterflies we collected are eating baby brine. The crabs are eating pellets and the blowfish are just looking at me funny. They are all in my local tank.

 

[ellebelle]

From what I've heared the fish that was once hooked will most likely die if it is released back into the wild. (unless it's hooked by a lip, in which case I think it'll just suffer, but can survive, unless it gulped too much air in the process) What's your opinion and how are you catching the fish? - hook, net etc...

We collect with a seine net. You can actually watch them swim away. Half the time we don't even bring them all the way to shore - just pull the net out of the water and shoo out everything we don't want.

 

[gimincorp]

We collect with a seine net. You can actually watch them swim away. Half the time we don't even bring them all the way to shore - just pull the net out of the water and shoo out everything we don't want.

That?s what I call being responsible! Thank you!

 

[e.muehlbauer]

The reason many "catch and release" fish die is in the way they are handled...people treat them like trash to be disposed of. Well, sea robins are regarded as trash by too many fisherman...and, while I am happy when regulations are followed and undersized bass are thrown back, too many fisherman manhandle them, keep them out too long, or even kick them back in like footballs. There are times when a fish is gut-hooked, but the law is unforgiving....I doubt that a DEC agent will show much sympathy. I once had a very unpleasant experience on a charter trip for striped bass...there were 4 of us, and we had 7 bass....we were on our final drift and 2 of us hooked up simultaneously...both bass were large-20-25 lbs, but the captain would not allow the 2nd fish to be kept (for obvious reasons! I certainly don't blame him...). It couldn't swim away...just floundered at the surface. It was heartbreaking. I just hope that if it didn't revive, some other boat came by and scooped it up. However, fish that are mouth hooked will survive if treated with care, and in fact go about their business as if nothing happened. One morning, a few years ago, I was having good luck with small blues. I released all of them. I was using a single hook rather than a treble on my lure, so it left a larger, distinctive hole in the fishes jaw (I actually find that treble hooks cause less damage than a large single hook most of the time...but when they do cause damage, its worse). I was the only person fishing.....by the 8th fish I started to notice that the fish already had fresh openings in their jaws...apparently, I was catching some of these fish over and over again........
By the way, great local tank...mine is only 10 gal, and inverts only. One of these days I would love to have the space for a big tank dedicated to local stuff. How well is that pipefish doing? I could never keep one...it would jump out within a day....even though there was only a tiny uncovered area...at least wrasses can last a few years before they jump!

 

[ellebelle]

Here's another tropical stray that can be caught in summer months.

 

[georgelc86]

McChief is gonna kill me but I gotta tell you in keeping with this thread is opening up my mind to a new possiblities. Gotta do my research first before I jump. Plus the wallet may not like the chiller purchase since that seems to be the key peice of equipment. Unless your Dom and your AC can recap the northern icebergs. What type of filtration are you guys running here on these tanks. Outside of the bigger is better, what is a recommend minimun tank size.

 

[ellebelle]

Not to speak for him, but I know Dom keeps his tank at 70 degrees as the maximum temperature for local stuff. And his apartment feels like the far arctic.

I don't have a local tank, so while I like to help out, I only take tropicals. That short-big eye (while also a tropical) went home with Dom, not me.

 

[jhale]

Dom's apartment is like standing in a meat locker!

If you can't take the cold stay away from a local species tank!

 

[Paul B]

My local tank is about 74 degrees. I keep ice blocks in the freezer about 4"x4" and throw one in in the am and one in the PM. I have a chiller and one day I will even fix it. The local tank has been going since the sixtees, it was empty from 70-72 when I was in the service. It is just a 10 gallon with a powerhead. When I change water in the reef I put the water in there. I use a canister filter every few days, I can't run it continousely because I feed baby brine every day. The pipefish are eating adult brine shrimp now but they will be changed to something else soon.
The baby butterflies are just eating baby brine.

 

[Domboski]

Geesh. I din't realize my place was that cold. I must run a little hot!

It's hard to give general care guidelines. Each fish is different. In talking with the folks from the aquarium yesterday, even they did not realize that even though the Seahorses and pipefish were collected from the same location that the pipefish could not tolerate temps above 70 degrees too well. The tropical strays can handle reef temps so a chiller is not as crucial other than its typical use. For the local fish you're right, a chiller is a must to keep the temperature below 75 degrees for most fish and even lower for others.

If you have specific fish in mind let me know and I'll try and be more specific.

 

[Chapz]

Just wanted to share a bit o' info.

Thanks for posting this up. I just left the link on for people to view instead of saving it as an image. Good job.

I'm pretty surprsed as how large this thread got.
I would expect some people to just return whats not needed if the tank set up isnt capable of handling local caught species. I've caught numerous fish in traps and returned them.
I've even caught 14 northern puffers in one trap which was cool. I'll post the pic when my coworker brings the pics in.

As for water temp. I've been fortunate to have my tank set up for 75 to 78 degrees without a chiller.

 

[Chapz]

I went to fire island inlet and the salinity of the water is 1.022. I brought my hydrometer with me to check.

While collecting spearing, you can even catch tons of seagrass.
Thats my experience with collecting though the main reason for seining was for spearing. heheheh

 

[ellebelle]

We measured it at 1.020 the other day, I think.