RIVERHEAD, N.Y. — There is a new plan on Long Island to prevent a repeat of last year’s massive fish die-off.
CBS2’s Jennifer McLogan reported it involves bunker – a species of fish used for bait – that are being captured alive in Riverhead as East End fishermen are looking to avoid another Peconic River fish kill.
“We are over half-a-million pounds,” Lenny Nilson of L&L Wholesale Bait said. “In three weeks we are seeing a difference.”
Nilson is using small seine netting as Will Caldwell and his team are using a 300-foot nylon net rigged to a system Caldwell invented just for this purpose.
“We are trying out best here. I am losing sleep over it because I don’t want to be wrong about this,” Caldwell of Hampton Bays said. “I think it is definitely working. Just keep up hope the bluefish don’t come in great herds.”
This time last year the river, bay and marinas chocked with dead bunkers, which became a biological and tourism nightmare.