Tim Arienti

Jacque and I recently got back from a trip to New Jersey.  We visited Rutgers University's Marine Field Station (RUMFS).  We were visiting Ken Able and Tom "Motz" Grothues and their many students and techs at the field station.  They have a similar array of hydrophones on the Mullica River in southern NJ but they have been doing it for a year longer than we have.  Jacque and I went down to check out their system and "pick their brains" to get ideas on how to improve our system.  We were also going to watch them tag some bluefish, hoping that in the coming years we may be able to tag bluefish in the Saco River.  Unfortunately we couldnt catch any blues big enough to tag.  It certainly wasnt for lack of trying.  We fished hard for two days but managed only a couple very small bluefish.  There was a big hurricane about to move through the area and it had the fish hiding out until it passed.  But we did learn a lot by spending a few days down there and we thank RUMFS for their hospitality.  Below is a picture of Jacque standing on the dock in front of their field station which was, at one time, a Coast Guard Station that has been converted into a well run research facility.