May 15, 2015 — The fate of the blueline tilefishery is now in the hands of the National Marine Fisheries Service.
The service is considering two requests for emergency action: one that will effectively close the fishery for recreational anglers, while the other offers an interim solution that will allow fishing to continue on a more limited basis.
The species grabbed anglers’ attention in February when the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council requested that NMFS take emergency action on bluelines when it learned commercial fishing boats out of North Carolina planned on landing tilefish in New Jersey to take advantage of a no-limit loophole.
The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (SAFMC) had already reduced catch limits on bluelines to a 100-pound commercial limit and a recreational limit of one fish per boat per trip because a recent stock assessment, SEDAR 32, indicated the stock was overfished.
While it has no stock assessment of its own, the MAFMC was also concerned for bluelines as it is a data-poor stock and easily susceptible to overfishing.
In its request for emergency action, the MAFMC called for a 300-pound commercial catch limit and a recreational harvest of seven fish, per boat, per trip — a far cry from a no-limit fishery.
Read the full story at the Asbury Park Press