World War II-era ship set to go down on Del-Jersey-Land Reef

DOVER – Delaware’s Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) and New Jersey’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) announced today that the Zuni/Tamaroa, a World War II-era ship with a famed history at sea that continued into the 1990s, has been cleared by the US Environmental Protection Agency and the US Coast Guard for sinking onto the Del-Jersey-Land Inshore Artificial Reef. Zuni/Tamaroa will be jointly sunk by the two states in the near future approximately 26 nautical miles from both Lewes and Cape May, N.J.

Both the EPA and Coast Guard recently inspected Zuni/Tamaroa at the Norfolk, Va. shipyard of contractor Coleen Marine. Extensive environmental preparation for reefing the 74-year-old vessel included removing interior paneling and insulation, and emptying and cleaning the vessel of all fuel and fluids. USCG approved the ship as fit for reefing on the Del-Jersey-Land site, which comprises military ships including the destroyer USS Arthur W. Radford, the longest ship reefed on the Atlantic Coast; the minesweeper Gregory Poole, and the Shearwater, which was in service for both the US Army as a freighter and the Navy as a support ship.

Jeff Tinsman, DNREC Division of Fish & Wildlife reef program coordinator, said plans call for Zuni/Tamaroa to be reefed when a weather window of 48-72 hours for calmer seas allows for the ship to be towed up the coast and to the reef site. “We are certain that it will happen sooner rather than later,” he said. “Optimally, it would be right after the Easter holiday weekend. If that scheduling holds, anglers and divers should be working the Zuni/Tamaroa for recreational opportunities that she presents almost immediately.”

DNREC is the lead agency on the Zuni/Tamaroa reefing project, providing 75 percent of the funding from The Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration program administered by the US Fish & Wildlife Service. New Jersey is providing 25 percent matching funds from The Fisherman Magazine’s Sportfishing Fund.

Media contacts: Michael Globetti or Joanna Wilson, DNREC Public Affairs, 302-739-9902
Lawrence Hajna or Bob Considine, New Jersey DEP Press Office, 609-984-1795

Vol. 47, No. 79

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Wilmington – A Delaware Child Predator Task Force investigation into the online distribution of child pornography has led to the arrest of a Laurel man, Attorney General Beau Biden announced today.

“Thanks to the specially-trained staff of our Child Predator Task Force and our close cooperation with New Jersey law enforcement, we acted quickly to identify an individual who had access to children, build the necessary evidence to make an arrest, and take this individual off the streets,” Biden said.

The Task Force investigation was initiated after receiving a report from the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice, which uncovered evidence linking the online distribution of child pornography between a New Jersey subject and a subject in Delaware who was identified as 40 year-old Douglas A. Little of Laurel.  As a result of the Delaware investigation, on September 5 detectives took Little into custody as he was leaving for work and a search warrant was executed by Task Force detectives and a uniformed trooper from DSP Troop #5 at Little’s residence in the 100 block of Carvel Avenue in Laurel.  During the search, multiple computers, a cell phone and numerous digital storage devices were seized.  An initial forensic examination of the seized evidence recovered multiple files of child pornography.

As a result of the investigation, Little was arrested on September 5 and charged with 25 counts of dealing in child pornography.  He was arraigned via videophone by JP Court #2 and was taken to Sussex Correctional Institution in lieu of $500,000 cash bail.

A booking image of Little is below.

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DOVER – DNREC’s Division of Fish and Wildlife reminds recreational anglers and commercial watermen that harvest or possession of river herring, a popular baitfish, is illegal in Delaware. Anglers must have a valid receipt from a state or jurisdiction where harvest is still permitted to possess river herring. 

New Delaware Fisheries regulations took effect in February 2012, closing the recreational and commercial harvest of river herring (also known as blueback and alewife herring). The closure was made to bring Delaware into compliance with Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) requirements. 

Much of the commercial river herring catch in Delaware traditionally has come from the Nanticoke River and its tributaries. Maryland’s river herring fisheries are closed statewide, including Maryland’s portion of the Nanticoke River. New Jersey has closed its river herring fisheries in the Delaware River and Bay.

In the past, recreational anglers targeted river herring as the fish gather to spawn in the spring for use as bait in the striped bass hook-and-line fishery. With Delaware’s river herring fisheries closed, recreational anglers are no longer permitted to catch river herring and must use alternate bait for stripers. Signs informing the public of the fisheries closure are posted at various fishing locations.

For more information, click on river herring regulations.

With fish entering the spillways this spring, anglers are also reminded that using any type of net to catch fish within 300 feet below a dam or spillway is illegal, with the exception of using a landing net on a fish caught with hook and line.

For more information on fishing in Delaware, please visit www.dnrec.delaware.gov/fw/Fisheries/ .  

Vol. 43, No. 129

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