[Dtwg] Fwd: Fishery issues and terrapins at the Narrows, Wareham

Sun Jul 18 07:45:39 EDT 2021

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Krill New Phone <krillcarson at me.com>
Date: Sun, Jul 18, 2021 at 7:39 AM
Subject: Fwd: Fishery issues and terrapins at the Narrows, Wareham
To: Barbara Brennessel <bbrennes at wheatonma.edu>

Thank you Barbara: Here is the original email that was sent out. Let me
know if you need to me to reattach any of the photos .Best, Krill

The following message has been shared among Massachusetts groups.  NECWA
asked me to share with DTWG to learn how other folks are dealing with
"hooked" terrapins.

 I just wanted to let you know that NECWA recently discovered that a number
of adult female terrapins are being caught on baited hooks from
recreational fishermen, fishing from the pier at the Narrows in Wareham. We
have always known that terrapins were in that area, and there are a number
of small-sized nesting areas in the vicinity. However, we assumed and
continue to assume that this habitat is primarily used by terrapins for
feeding.

Talking with recreational fishermen on the docks at Besse Park & Pier, we
learned that adult terrapins were getting snagged or hooked by accident. To
respond, I started stopping by the pier on a more regular basis, spending
time chatting with fishermen to learn more.

Over the course of a 2-week period, NECWA has documented over 10 adult
female terrapins that have been caught in this area on baited hooks. Two
were snagged on the body by the hook and the rest were hooked in the mouth.
Since we have only started investigating this situation for a short time,
Dani and I are nervous that this could be a larger problem than
anticipated.

A week or so ago, Mike Jones was able to come down to Besse Park to see
this location and gave us a number of suggestions on how to respond. Mike
encouraged us to continue our work with this issue and to get some of the
hooked terrapins radiographed to see if these animals had additional hooks
in their digestive tract. Are they repeat offenders?

NECWA has come up with a series of mitigation measures to address this
issue that include:
1) passing out free 5-gal buckets to encourage fishermen to not remove the
hook. Instead, they are asked to place the hooked terrapin in the 5-gal
bucket and call our rescue hotline number
2) NECWA will provide a free inline circle hook and leader to any fishermen
who catches a terrapin, does not try to remove the hook and calls us so we
can respond.

So far these mitigation measures have been received well.  We want to work
with the fishermen not against them for in my mind, they are a best asset
and we need them on our side. Most fishermen that we have talked to are
very supportive of our efforts and say that they will help us..

Mike Jones asked that I reach out to you and others to let them know what
we are experiencing at Besse Park. I am including some attachments which
include an info. sticker that we created which we put on each of the
buckets that we hand out for free. This sticker is modeled after one that
was in a paper Mike shared with us. I am including the paper in this email.

I am also including additional photos of the second NECWA sticker that we
are place on each 5-gal bucket we had out for free as well as the 4X5 data
card I created to record these fishery encounters.

I have also contacted the Harbormaster in Wareham who is a friend of mine
and who is very supportive of this project. He and Mike Jones have asked
NECWA to come up with some type of signage that we can display at Besee
Park and surrounding areas.

We did not anticipate this situation, but are responding (scrambling) as
best as we can.

Best Krill

Carol "Krill" Carson
Marine Biologist and President, NECWA
krillcarson at me.com
508-369-8303

https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.necwa.org%2F&data=04%7C01%7CDtwg%40listserv.ohio.edu%7C07a71a13784a4887b28208d949e19921%7Cf3308007477c4a70888934611817c55a%7C0%7C0%7C637622056026303414%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=pgr4%2Bu7UvIL0i4GJWCS0USR8pcvKtcBswk43KC5U5fo%3D&reserved=0
https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nebshark.org%2F&data=04%7C01%7CDtwg%40listserv.ohio.edu%7C07a71a13784a4887b28208d949e19921%7Cf3308007477c4a70888934611817c55a%7C0%7C0%7C637622056026472675%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=uojd9gPAa1sUkAH%2FK8py0ZsFxxnUNFEryzFbxIS6ajw%3D&reserved=0

"Life is better with a dog." -- Charlie Brown

PAPER

HOOKED ADULT FEMALE TERRAPIN

BUCKET LABELS

DATA CARD

JOSH - YOUNG RECREATIONAL FISHERMAN AT BESSE PARK, WAREHAM, MA

FREE 5-GAL. BUCKET WITH TOOLS AND HOOKS

-- 
Barbara Brennessel, Ph.D.
Professor Emerita
Wheaton College
Norton, MA 02766

cell:508-479-6553
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