Draft New York Sunfish and Crappie Management Plan 2021 - 2028 Andrew M. Cuomo, Governor | Basil Seggos, Commissioner Draft New York Sunfish and Crappie Management Plan 2021 - 2028 NYSDEC BOF Report #: Prepared by: Bureau of Fisheries Division of Fish and Wildlife New York State Department of Environmental Conservation December 31, 2020 Jefferey Loukmas, Warmwater Fisheries Unit Leader Gregory Kozlowski, Inland Fisheries Section Head Stephen S. Hurst, Chief, Bureau of Fisheries Heidi O’Riordan, Region 1 Fisheries Manager Melissa Cohen, Region 2 Fisheries Manager Michael DiSarno, Region 3 Fisheries Biologist Christopher VanMaaren, Region 4 Fisheries Manager Robert Fiorentino, Region 5 Fisheries Manager Jana Lantry, Region 6 Fisheries Manager David Lemon, Region 7 Fisheries Manager Scott Prindle, Region 7 Fisheries Biologist Webster Pearsall, Region 8 Fisheries Manager Michael Clancy, Region 9 Fisheries Manager Approved by ___________________ Stephen S. Hurst, Chief Bureau of Fisheries Vision Sunfish and crappie fisheries will be managed to achieve an optimal balance between conservation and the current views and values of New York anglers for these species. This will include creating a suite of special opportunities for anglers to sustainably catch large fish in suitable waters. Management Philosophies Sunfish are widely dispersed in New York and serve both as a gateway species for introducing new people to fishing and as a desirable target for anglers seeking quality table fare. Sunfish will be managed in a sustainable manner to improve population size structure and provide anglers with the opportunity for recreational enjoyment and equitable harvest. Crappie fill a unique panfish niche in New York and will be managed for sustainable populations of preferred size fish for recreational enjoyment and equitable harvest. Where environmental and social conditions are acceptable, both species will be managed to optimize the size structure of populations to produce unique fisheries that offer anglers the chance to catch large size fish. Scope Sunfish (bluegill, pumpkinseed, and redbreast sunfish) and crappie (black crappie and white crappie) fisheries statewide, including the Great Lakes. Need Sunfish and crappie are widespread and abundant throughout New York and are popular with anglers, collectively accounting for approximately 900,000 days fished in 2017 (Duda et al. 2019). These species generally provide harvest-based fisheries, and anglers can have significant impacts on population structure where bag limits are liberal and harvest is intense (Coble 1988, Olson and Cunningham 1989, Parsons and Reed 1998, Beard and Kampa 1999). Despite their widespread prevalence and popularity, sunfish and crappie have received less management attention than other species such as black bass, walleye, and trout. They are rarely the primary focus of fisheries surveys, and there are very few special fishing regulations for these species groups in New York, none of which are specifically designed to improve the size structure of populations. It is incumbent on the NYSDEC Bureau of Fisheries to periodically review harvest regulations and other management strategies for these species groups to ensure that management appropriately addresses and reflects current science and angler views and values. The statewide sunfish possession limit is 50 per day and has been in place since 1996. This limit was founded largely on the rationale that 50 fish per day should generally provide sustainable and equitable opportunities for harvest. There is, however, concern that the existing daily limit could result in overharvest and lead to less than ideal size structures and lower quality fishing. The use of social media to quickly draw attention to high quality fishing opportunities and the widespread use of electronic fish finders and other devices to improve fishing efficiency have added to that concern. In addition, the daily limit may no longer appropriately represent the current views of New York anglers about sunfish as a recreationally important species (Loukmas 2020a). The statewide fishing regulations for crappie include a possession limit of 25 per day and a minimum size limit of 9 inches. This minimum size limit allows most crappie to reach at least age-3, the age at which they typically begin to spawn, before being subjected to harvest. There are relatively few high- 1 use crappie fisheries in New York (Duda et al. 2019), most likely due to the limited number of high- quality fishing opportunities in the state. NYSDEC Fisheries managers have a responsibility to manage crappie fisheries to provide anglers with sustainable quality fishing opportunities. There is a concern that the current harvest regulations don’t adequately provide this, and crappie fisheries could improve with more conservative harvest regulations. In addition, there are certain waters throughout the state with the potential to provide truly exceptional fishing for large sunfish and crappie if harvest regulations were designed to provide that opportunity. These waters are typically very productive and have fast growing fish that are subject to high harvest rates. More conservative harvest regulations would add the protection necessary to provide sustainable opportunities to catch memorable size fish (≥10-inch sunfish and ≥12-inch crappie; Gablehouse 1984). Creating these special fisheries may enhance the diversity of New York’s sunfish and crappie fisheries, balancing the desires of anglers with the potential of certain waters to provide a special fishing opportunity. Literature Review The traditional belief among anglers that sunfish populations can be improved by “thinning them out” (i.e. harvesting large numbers) has been largely disproven, as more conservative harvest regulations have been effective in improving or maintaining sunfish population size structure (Paukert et al. 2002, Jacobson 2005, Rypel 2015). Paukert et al. (2002) evaluated the effects of an 8-inch minimum size limit on bluegill size structure in18 Nebraska lakes and found an overall increase in the proportion of preferred size (≥8 inch) fish, with the highest increases in lakes with the fastest growth and lowest natural mortality. Jacobson (2005) found that reducing the daily limit for sunfish from 30 to 10 in eight small Minnesota lakes resulted in increased male size at maturity and significantly improved population size structure. Rypel (2015) found that a reduction in the sunfish daily limit from 25 to 10 in seven Wisconsin lakes resulted in higher mean lengths averaging 0.8 inches and ranging up to 2 inches. For crappie, increases in the minimum length limit are likely to be more effective than reductions in the daily limit for improving size structure, particularly where growth is fast and angler harvest is high. Iserman et al. (2002) simulated the effects of 9 inch and 10 inch minimum size limits on Tennessee reservoir crappie populations and found that, while harvest would predictably decline, numbers of 12 inch crappie would increase, with the largest size increases resulting from a 10 inch minimum size in lakes with low natural mortality. Webb and Ott (1991) found that implementation of a 10 inch minimum size limit (from no limit) resulted in a significant increase in preferred size (≥10 inches) crappies in lakes with high harvest rates. They concluded that minimum length limits may moderate or eliminate age class variability that is common in crappie fisheries and help maintain a more stable population of larger crappies. Mosel et al. (2015) simulated the effects of 9 inch, 10 inch and 11 inch minimum size limits and found that these were always predicted to reduce harvest (22–93% reductions) and increase mean length of harvested crappies (0.5 – 2.4 inches) compared with no minimum length limit. The 10 inch and 11 inch minimum length limits were predicted to improve mean lengths of harvested fish by >1 inch. Angler Opinion The positive impacts of more conservative harvest regulations can only be realized with angler understanding and support. The potential support for more conservative harvest regulations on sunfish was gauged via an online survey of New York sunfish anglers (Loukmas 2020a). Of the more than 1,400 respondents, 77% thought that an appropriate daily limit for sunfish should be 30 or less, and 2 57% favored 20 or less, indicating that New York sunfish anglers would generally support a substantial decrease in the statewide daily limit. Also, the large majority (85%) are not motivated to maximize harvest up to the daily limit and many (48%) preferred to harvest larger sunfish (≥ 8 inches). These results suggest that anglers are likely to be open to other management options, such as size limits or reduced daily limits, to maintain or improve sunfish populations in certain waters. Although no formal angler opinion survey of crappie anglers was conducted, NYSDEC Bureau of Fisheries believes that New York crappie anglers hold opinions similar to sunfish angers and would be supportive of more conservative harvest regulations if those changes were likely to provide more sustainable opportunities to catch crappies of desirable size. Approach The current science on the impacts of conservative harvest regulations on sunfish populations and the high level of public support for a decrease in the sunfish daily possession limit indicates that consideration of an adjustment to the current management strategy is warranted. Similarly, an increase in the minimum size limit for New York’s crappie fisheries