SECTION 4: Management Measures

4-73 

## 4.10. F ISH

## W ASTE 

## M ANAGEMENT



### Management Measure for Fish Waste Management:

**Promote sound fish waste management through a combination of fish-cleaing restrictions, public education, and proper disposal of fish waste.** 

Management Measure Description

Fish waste can create water quality problems at marinas where a lot of fish are landed. This might be the case where long piers or breakwaters provide access to deep water or accommodation for many fishers, where fishing tournaments are held, or at any marina during the local high fishing season. The waste from fish cleaning shouldn’t be disposed of into a marina basin because of the chance of overwhelming the natural ability of the waterbody to assimilate and decompose it. The dissolved oxygen consumed by the decomposing fish parts can cause anaerobic, foul-smelling conditions. Unconsumed or floating fish parts arealso an unattractive addition to the marina property. Fish waste is better disposed of in offshore waters (if the state allows) where the fish are caught, or treated as waste like any other and deposited in trash containers.

Proper disposal of fish waste by marina patrons helps keep marinas clean and free of waste. Although only a few marinas deal with large amounts of fish waste or fishing within the basin, sport fishers can be found at most marinas, and it is a good idea for marinas to promote proper fish waste disposal. Fish cleaning stations provide convenient places for marina patrons to clean fish and dispose of their waste material, and they help to keep the rest of the marina clean. Marinamanagers often find that once a good fish cleaning station is available to fishing patrons, the patrons gladly use it because gutting a fish at a fish cleaning station avoids the mess created on a boat or dock. Non-fishing marina patrons are likely to appreciate not having fish waste on docks or floating near their boats. Some states prohibit fish waste from being discarded in nearshore waters and require thatmarinas prohibit the practice. Without a designated place to clean fish, docks, piers, and bulkheads can become dirty quickly.



### Applicability

This management measure is applicable to

marinas where fish waste is determined to be a source of water pollution. Many of the BMPs mentioned for this management measure are implementable by marina patrons and are not directly under the control of marina managers.



### Best Management Practices

♦ Clean fish offshore where the fish are caught and discard of the fish waste at sea (if allowed by the state).

Fish waste can be disposed of in the offshore ecosystems from which the fish are caught. The quantity of fish waste produced from recreational fishing generally should not cause any water quality problems in open waters. Some states (such as Florida) require that all game fish bebrought ashore intact for measurement by fisheries officials, and this management practice does not apply.



### ♦ Install fish cleaning stations at the marina

and at boat launch sites.

A fish cleaning station is a particular area set aside for cleaning fish that have been caught. It typically has a cutting table large enough to accommodate a few to many people, a freshwaterhose or other form of running water, and receptacles for the waste. Boaters and fishers can be4-74 National Management Measures Guidance

informed of the presence of the station andencouraged to use it. To keep the stations attractive and sanitary, they should be cleaned frequently, even as often as after each use. Making the station convenient to use and clean will encourage people to keep it clean themselves. Fish waste is placed in covered containers, and the collected waste is disposed of with other solid waste or by some other environmentally friendly means. (Refer to the next management practice.) If nutrient enrichment is not a problem in regional waters, fish cleaning stations can use garbage disposal units to grind the waste and then send the groundwaste to a municipal sewer line for waste disposal. As always, when state or local regulations could be applicable, check with the environmental authority to determine whether they apply.

Where extensive fishing is done from a boat launch site, fish cleaning stations can be helpful. Fish waste disposal is a problem at boat launch sites because boaters return from fishing and usually want to clean their catch before they leave. Fish cleaning stations provide the ideal facility where fishers can gather to discuss their catch and clean it before heading home. As with a marina fish cleaning station, fish waste can be collected in covered containers and disposed of like regular trash or ground and emptied into a local sewage disposal system (where local regulations permit). An alternative approach would be to install an onsite disposal system with a holding tank, though this is not recommended

where waterbodies have nutrient enrichment problems.



### ♦ Compost fish waste where appropriate.

A law passed in 1989 in New York forbids discarding fish waste, with exceptions, into fresh

water or within 100 feet of shore. Contaminants in some fish leave few alternatives for disposing of fish waste, so Cornell University and the New York Sea Grant Extension Program conducted a fish composting project to deal with the more than 2 million pounds of fish waste generated by the salmonid fishery each year. In the demonstration project, fish parts were mixed with peat moss and the mixture quickly turned into an excellent compost suitable for gardens. The study found that even with this quantity of waste, if composting was done properly, the problems of odor, rodents, and insects were minimal and the process was effective. Another method of fish waste composting, described by the University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute, is suitable for amounts of compost ranging from a bucketful to the quantities produced by a fish-processing plant.

A local Extension Service can be contacted for information on locally applicable composting procedures and equipment and where supplies can be purchased.



### ♦ Freeze fish parts and reuse them as bait or chum on the next fishing trip.

Fishers may consider recycling their own fish waste into bait for their next fishing trip. The fish parts from one fishing trip can be placed in a plastic bag, frozen, and then used on the next

excursion as bait or offshore chum to attract game fish.



### ♦ Encourage catch and release fishing, which does not kill the fish and produces no fish

waste.

The increasingly popular practice of “catch andrelease” by recreational and competitive fishermen is reducing the fish waste problem at many

marinas.

BMP Summary Table 10 summarizes the BMPs for Fish Waste Management mentioned in this guidance.SECTION 4: Management Measures

4-754-76 National Management Measures Guidance