Sampling Stations — Jamaica Bay Finfish Inventory Recreational Fishing Survey Gateway National Finfish of Recreation Area: 1985-1986 Jamaica Based on interviews of 450 fishermen, fishing the shores or bridges of Jamaica Bay: 1. The average number of years fished Jamaica Bay : 13 years. 2. When asked importance of "fishing for food" as a reason to fish on Jamaica Bay; 46 respondents said it was very important, 86 important, and 206 not impor­ tant. 112 persons did not respond. 3. When asked, "Do you eat fish caught in Jamaica Bay," 304 persons said Yes, 139 said No, and 7 did not respond. 4. People who eat fish from Jamaica Bay indicated that an average of 2.4 family members also eat Jamaica Bay fish. 5. The 304 persons who said they consume fish from Jamaica Bay were asked which species of fish they eat. The respondents answered as follows: bluefish, 89; winter flounder, 88; summer flounder, 77; porgy, 57; blackfish, 22; weakfish, 11; striped bass, 6; American eel, 5; black sea bass, 5; menhaden, 1; herring, 1. Total Number of Each Fish Species Captured by Otter Trawl, Gill Net, and Beach Seine in Jamaica Bay, November 1985 to October 1986 Compiled by: Smooth dogfish 37 White hake 2 Yellow jack 1 Butterfish 12 Little skate 2 Mummichog 210 Crevalle jack 2 Striped searobin 71 Acknowledgments Don Riepe Cownose ray 1 Striped killifish 700 Lookdown 2 Grubby 29 This list was compiled with the help of many National John T. Tanacredi, Ph.D. American eel 5 Atlantic Scup (porgy) 229 Smallmouth flounder 22 Park Service staff and volunteers. A special thanks to Thomas Sperry Blueback herring 68 silverside 5,476 Weakfish 119 Summer flounder 110 Tony Pacheco and Mike Fahay of the National Marine Bruce Lane Alewife 6 Fourspine Spot 1 Fourspot flounder 15 Fisheries Service and to Dery Bennett of the American American shad 3 stickleback 12 Northern kingfish 43 Windowpane 114 Ann Scaglione Littoral Society for their suggestions and help. Atlantic menhaden 551 Bluespotted Spotfin Winter flounder 1,075 Wayne Stempler Bay anchovy 306 cometfish 1 butterflyfish 3 Planehead filefish 1 This publication was funded by a donation from the Oyster toadfish 19 Lined seahorse 56 Tautog (blackfish) 32 Northern puffer 3 American Littoral Society, Sandy Hook, N.J. 07732, Atlantic cod 46 Northern pipefish 59 Cunner 21 Striped burrfish 1 (201) 291-0055; an organization dedicated to the study Silver hake 5 Striped bass 2 White mullet 19 and conservation of marine life. Gateway National Red hake 12 Black sea bass 40 American sand lance 8 TOTAL 9,719 Text: Don Riepe Recreation Area Spotted hake 64 Bluefish 82 Rock gunnel 21 Design, illustrations, map: Robert Villani Atlantic menhaden (bunker) Brevoortia tyrannus Orange filefish Aluterus schoepfi Background Atlantic herring Ciupea harengus Planehead filefish Monacanthus hispidus Bay anchovy Anchoa mitchilli Smooth trunkfish Lactophrys triqueter Of Gateway National Recreation Area's 26,000 acres, Inshore lizardfish Synodus foetens Northern puffer Sphoeroides maculatus more than half comprise the open waters and marsh­ Oyster toadfish Opsanus tau Striped burrfish Chilomycterus schoepfi lands of Jamaica Bay. The bay has long been known for Atlantic cod Gadus morhua Atlantic tomcod Microgadus tomcod its bird populations; a total of 326 species has been Silver hake Merluccius bilinearis recorded at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge over the Red hake (squirrel hake) Urophycis chuss Some Common Fish pasi 33 years. More recently, however, the National Spotted hake Urophycis regia Windowpane (Scophthalmus aquosus) White hake Urophycis tenuis Species of Jamaica Bay This translucent flounder with beautiful markings is Park Service has turned its attention to the health, Halfbeak Hyporhamphus unifasciatus diversity, and distribution of the bay's finfish resource. Atlantic needlefish Strongylura marina edible but not commercially important because of thin­ Mummichog Fundulus heteroclitus ness. Caught in trawl net every month of the year. Banded killifish Fundulus diaphanus Striped killifish Fundulus majalis Surveys Spotfin killifish Fundulus luciae Inland silverside Menidia beryllina A total of five separate surveys have been conducted in Atlantic silverside Menidia menidia the bay in the last 15 years: Texas Instruments (1974); Bluespotted cometfish Fistularia tabacaria Fourspine stickleback Apeltes quadracus New York Aquarium (1983,1985); U.S. Fish and Wild, Gasterosteus aculeatus Scup (Stenotomus chrysops) Threespine stickleback Hippocampus erectus life Service (1985-1986); and National Park Service Lined seahorse Known locally as "porgy," it is valued both commer­ Syngnathus fuscus (1988,1989). A total of 81 species were recorded using Northern pipefish cially and for sport. It is a bottom-feeder that congre­ Morone americana White perch otter trawl, gill net, and seine methods. Fish were Morone saxatilis gates in large schools. Common in summer months. Striped bass Blackfish or Tautog (Tautoga onitis) Centropristis striata counted, measured, noted for breeding activity and Black sea bass Priacanthus arenatus Commonly found around wrecks, pilings, and mussel evidence of disease. At each of 15 sample stations, Bigeye Pristigenys alta beds, this good-eating fish is another favorite of fisher­ Short bigeye levels of dissolved oxygen, pH, salinity, and tempera­ Pomatomus saltatrix Bluefish men in the bay. The young of the year are bright green ture were recorded. Rachycentron canadum Cobia Alectis ciliaris in color resembling the sea lettuce in which they hide. African pompano (threadfin) Caranx bartholomaei Bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix) Yellow jack Caranx hippos Crevalle jack A popular marine gamefish and aggressive carnivore. Research in the Bay Selar crumenophthalmus Bigeye scad Selene vomer Young fish, called "snappers," are common in summer Currently, the National Park Service is conducting Lookdown Stenotomus chrysops in the bay. The world record on rod and reel is 31 lbs. research on a variety of the bay's ecological parameters, Scup (porgy) Menticirrhus saxatilis Northern kingfish 12 oz. taken at Hatteras Inlet, North Carolina in 1972. including water quality, fish migration, amphipods, Leiostomus xanthurus Spot (lafayette) Cynoscion regalis plankton, winter flounder, and toxic contaminants. For Weakfish Chaetodon ocellatus information about these studies and other concerns Spotfin butterflyfish Tautoga onitis Weakfish (Cynoscion regalis) Tautog (blackfish) contact Dr. John Tanacredi, Chief, Office of Resource Tautogolabrus adspersus Cunner (bergall) Mugil cephalus Sold commercially as "sea trout," this gamefish appears Management and Compliance, Gateway NRA, Floyd Striped mullet Mugil curema Atlantic Silverside (Menidia menidia) to be increasing in numbers in the bay in recent years. White mullet Bennett Field, Brooklyn, New York, 11234, (718) 338- Sphyraena borealis Very abundant in shallow waters in summer, this small Good numbers of juvenile fish were caught in 1988 Northern sennett Astroscopus guttatus 3796. Northern stargazer Pholis gunnellus fish is sold commercially as bait. They have excellent trawls. Rock gunnel Macrozoarces americanus food value when deep-fried. Ocean pout Ammodytes hexapterus List of Fish Species American sand lance Gobiosoma bosci Naked goby Gobiosoma ginsburgi Common Name Scientific Name Seaboard goby Peprilus triacanthus Sand tiger Odontaspis taurus Butterfish Prionotus carolinus Smooth dogfish Mustelis canis Northern searobin Prionotus evolans Spiny dogfish Squalus acanthias Striped searobin Myoxocephalus aeneus Little skate Raja erinacea Grubby (sculpin) M. octodecimspinosus Cleamose skate Raja eglanteria Longhorn sculpin Paralichthys dentatus Mummichog (Fundulus heteroclitus) Summer flounder (fluke) Cownose ray Rhinoptera bonasus Paralichthys oblongus Winter Flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus) Small fish of salt marshes and tidal creeks. Its range Atlantic sturgeon Acipenser oxyrhynchus Fourspot flounder Citharichthys arctifrons American eel Anguilla rostraia Gulf stream flounder Etropus microstomas Found in every month but most abundant November extends from Gulf of St. Lawrence to northeast Florida. Conger eel Conger oceanicus Smallmouth flounder Scophthalmus aquosus Mummichogs are a hardy and adaptable species, able to Windowpane through June. A right-eyed flounder with a small Blueback herring Alosa aestivalis Pseudopleuronectes amer. survive extremes of temperature, salinity, and oxygen Alewife Alosa pseudoharengus Winter flounder Trinectes maculatus mouth. Well-known to fishermen, this species occurs American shad Alosa sapidissima Hogchoker from Labrador to Georgia. levels. Commonly used as bait. .