Changes at drive-on beaches are needed

There will be changes to the overcrowding on Delaware’s drive-on beaches this year. Anyone who has tried to drive on the beach during any summer weekend is fully aware of the problem, and the Delaware Division of Parks and Recreation is planning changes to lessen this overcrowding.

Assateague Island has solved its overcrowding by limiting the number of vehicles allowed on the beach. Currently, the 12-mile Maryland portion of the park allows 145 vehicles. The Virginia portion closes the point in the summer for the beloved piping plover, leaving a 1.5-mile area open for vehicle access with an 18-unit limit. The 145 vehicles per 12 miles works out to about 12 per mile. At that rate there would be less than two dozen OSV from Herring Point to Gordons Pond.

The worst of the overcrowding is at Cape Henlopen State Park. I seldom go up on the beach during the summer, but when I do, I am on the sand by 6 a.m. and off by 10. Even at 10, the line waiting to get on is quite long, and from reports I hear, by noon there are no spaces left along the water.

This is an untenable situation. I have heard from park rangers about parties going on that are all but out of control. Conflicts are not uncommon when vehicles are crowded together, and I believe we have been fortunate that no one has been seriously injured.

Some will say that if the actively fishing rule were enforced, we would not have this overcrowding. That may be true, but if at least one person from the group has a baited line in the water then, according to the rule, they are actively fishing. The park ranger would have to make a judgment call, and judgment calls often don’t hold up in court.

I think we should have a limit on how many vehicles can be on the beach at one time. Limiting the number to 12 per mile might be a bit too few, but figuring out how many to allow must be done before someone is injured, or even worse, some tree-hugging envioromorons decide to take the state to court because all those vehicles are damaging the sand.

ASMFC flounder and striped bass

As this is written, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission is meeting to decide what recreational fishermen will be allowed to keep this year. The current rules on summer flounder have been challenged by New Jersey, and we certainly hope the ASMFC board turns down the attempt to keep more flounder while increasing the minimum size requirement for every other state.

Striped bass will also be on the agenda. Delaware has scheduled a public meeting for 6 p.m., Monday, Feb. 23, at the DNREC Auditorium in Dover to receive public comment on the proposed options for the 2015 striped bass season. Those options will include several two-fish bag limits with different size limits. The current summer season for males will also be available for comment. These options should receive official approval during the meeting.

One of the more interesting subjects to be discussed is the latest population assessment for Atlantic menhaden. It seems that earlier assessments indicated that menhaden were overfished and overfishing was occurring. The latest information indicates that such is not the case. Exactly how the ASMFC will handle this remains to be seen, but I believe the push to restrict the commercial catch of menhaden has hit a bit of a rough patch.

I have seen more menhaden in Delaware over the last few years than I ever remember seeing before. There are some huge schools in both the Delaware Bay and Atlantic Ocean with whales as well as various other marine animals feeding on them. Most of the fish you see an osprey catch are menhaden.

While there was little chance that Virginia would ever restrict the menhaden catch so long as Omega Protein had a processing plant in Reedville, other states had moved to cut down on the amount of menhaden taken primarily for bait. It looks like the crabbers and lobstermen can have all the bait they need at a reasonable price, and that is good news for them.

Fishing report

In my opinion, anyone who would go fishing in the type of weather we have had so far this year needs a serious mental health evaluation. Apparently, from reports I have received there have been a few folks out and about looking for yellow perch. At least in upstate waters some of these trips have been successful, and it won’t be long before the perch begin to move into Sussex County spillways. It is going to take some mild weather before I get out there, but some of the younger or more foolhardy among us might find action next week.