Article by Larry Jock
Ex-Navy destroyer Radford sunk at Del-Jersey-Land Reef
Culminating the country’s first multi-state artificial reefing effort, the U.S. Navy destroyer ex-USS Arthur W. Radford was sunk last Wednesday in 135 feet of water off the Indian River Inlet. The decommissioned warship’s carefully-staged sinking was witnessed by former crew members and state and federal officials aboard the Cape May-Lewes ferry M/V Delaware, chartered for observing the Radford as she descended at approximately 3:30 p.m. to her final resting place as an artificial reef.
The Radford, her hull spanning 563 feet and the longest vessel ever reefed in the Atlantic, was sunk at the Del-Jersey-Land Inshore Reef site located 26 miles southeast of the Indian River Inlet. The Del-Jersey-Land reef is a collaborative effort of the three states cited in its name - Delaware, New Jersey and Maryland – and lies equidistant from fishing ports in Indian River, DE, Cape May, NJ and Ocean City, MD.
After the Navy’s announcement of the Radford’s availability for reefing in January 2008 and a 2½-year application process, the ship underwent 14 months of preparation by American Marine Group, a Virginia-based marine towing, salvage and reefing contractor. The company, which has extensive experience reefing ships in the Atlantic, cleaned and prepared the Radford to EPA specifications. Much of her armored hull and other nautical equipment were recycled for reuse. Funding for the ship’s transportation, cleanup, preparation, sinking and monitoring was shared among the three states and the Navy. Delaware’s portion came from the Sportfish Restoration Program that includes federal excise taxes on fishing and boating equipment in the state.
The destroyer, named for Navy admiral Arthur W. Radford who served as the commander in chief of the U.S. Pacific Command and chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was commissioned in 1977 and decommissioned in 2003.
CT Angler Lands Pending World Record Striped Bass
On August 4th, Greg Myerson of Westbrook, CT landed an 81.6 lb. striped bass, breaking the previous world record of 78.8 lbs. set in 1982 by Albert McReynolds.
Myerson hooked the 54-inch striper as he drifted a monster eel over a submerged boulder near Outer Southwest Reef off the coast of Westbrook, Connecticut around 8 pm. The fight lasted 20 minutes. Incredibly, the fish had been recently hooked by another angler, evidenced by a hook and a 6-foot leader still in its mouth.
Maryland Summer Flounder Survey Hits Halfway Point
The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the Maryland Saltwater Sportfishermen’s Association (MSSA) report a positive response at the halfway mark of their summer flounder survey.
“We have a 43 percent mail-in return rate. All of the responses have been accurate, legible and 100 percent useful,” said Linda Barker, Ph.D., DNR’s lead statistician on the survey. “This great feedback could help fisheries managers better interpret the data used in determining the overall catch of these fish.”
Beginning in July, volunteers from MSSA began working Flounder Alley, a popular fishing area in the Isle of Wight and Sinepuxent Bays west of Ocean City, to explain the program and distribute survey cards. At the midway point, more than 300 cards have been handed out.
About 80 percent of the responses have come from anglers who access Flounder Alley from private launching locations such as community marinas and private docks. These anglers are the focus of the joint venture and the ones who are usually missed in traditional surveys conducted at public launches and marinas.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is interested in the results of this survey as a possible check of the standard intercept surveys that NOAA uses to assess recreational fishing activity and contribution. The results will also be presented at the national conference of the American Fisheries Society in September.
For more information on this program visit dnr.maryland.gov/fisheries/coastal/
