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

Sun Jul 18 14:43:27 EDT 2021

 Correction: I believe that's a NESTING area.
You've got to love autocorrect. 
I used to live on Avenue A Street and would walk down to the path behind the Oakdale Playground to take photos of the river - I believe it is the Agawam River. I would see broken turtle shells in the mud next to the bird sanctuary and lots of turtles in the river. 
Please let me know if you have any questions. 
Sincerely, Barbara Wright
    On Sunday, July 18, 2021, 10:32:36 AM PDT, Barbara Wright <barb_s13 at yahoo.com> wrote:  

 I no longer live in the area, but this is also an issue along the adjacent river, especially near the bird sanctuary next to the playground off Avenue A Street. I believe that's a meeting area. If you follow the fence along the side and to the back of the playground, you'll see nests next to the sanctuary. Many people fish that area. You should check it out. Thanks,Barbara W.

Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android 

  On Sun, Jul 18, 2021 at 4:47 AM, Barbara Brennessel<bbrennes at wheatonma.edu> wrote:   

---------- 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.orgwww.nebshark.org%2F&data=04%7C01%7Cdtwg%40listserv.ohio.edu%7C4d0fde31ee8f4961b92d08d94a1bf0bb%7Cf3308007477c4a70888934611817c55a%7C0%7C0%7C637622306890126600%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&sdata=OTY6FO2wCk%2FU60FfFADHYLf9htdnk8%2FQJIjcjkV2j50%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 CollegeNorton, MA 02766
cell:508-479-6553

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