Saving Seafood

NEW JERSEY: Fluke fortunes may rise on Delaware Bay

January 7, 2016 — STAFFORD TOWNSHIP, N.J. — Southern New Jersey anglers gave hearty support this week to a plan that would boost fluke fishing in the Delaware Bay.

A crowd of about 50 anglers showed up at the Thursday night meeting here at the municipal building on East Bay Avenue to give opinions on 2016 regulations for black sea bass, scup and fluke, which is also called summer flounder.

The most important question of the night was whether to support Option 2B of the fluke plan that would allow the New Jersey side of the Delaware Bay to compete with Delaware. This support now goes to the New Jersey Marine Fisheries Council when it makes decisions on 2016 fluke regulations in March.

The 2015 regulations for the New Jersey side of the bay included a minimum fish size of 18 inches, five fish per day, and a 128-day season.

In Delaware, Maryland and Virginia anglers were allowed a 16-inch fish, four fish a day and enjoyed a 365-day season. Option 2B would allow the New Jersey side to have a 17-inch fish, four fish a day and the 128-day season. It’s not equal to Delaware, but it is closer to parity.

Read the full story at Press of Atlantic City

NEW JERSEY: Fluke season to end on windy note

September 22, 2015 — A fluke season that can best be described as mixed, heads toward its conclusion under tough conditions. The season ends this Saturday, Sept. 26.

Persistent high winds forecast for the rest of the week will be making things difficult for the boats.  Few, if any, sailed on Monday and several have already cancelled trips for today. Before you head down the dock, check the website of your favorite boat to make sure they are sailing.

It’s unfortunate because the fishing appeared to be getting on track after weeks of up-and-down action. The fluke were beginning their offshore migration and there were a number of nice ones being caught.

Capt. George Bachert on the Angler, Atlantic Highlands, said that the days leading up to last Saturday, where there was early morning fog and boat traffic to contend with, the fishing had been the best of the year.  Soo Cu from Palisades Park landed a 9-pound, 5-ounce fluke on Thursday’s trip along with six other keepers. There were a number of other limits  around the boat as well.

Read the full story from the Asbury Park Press

NEW JERSEY: Legislators call for less restrictive fluke quota

July 24, 2015 — As the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council’s Science and Statistical Committee met this week to ponder quota cuts for the 2016 summer flounder season, three of New Jersey’s lawmakers called on the SSC not to make those cuts too steep.

Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr., D-NJ, submitted a letter to the Council on Wednesday requesting less restrictive quota limits than the 25 percent recommended in a recent Council staff memo. Such a reduction wrote Pallone, “would significantly impact the recreational and commercial fisherman whose livelihoods depend on a fair summer flounder quota.”

U.S. Senators Robert Menendez and Cory Booker ( D-NJ) both signed the letter.

Read the full story at Asbury Park Press 

 

NEW YORK: Decrease in fluke limit likely in 2016

July 16, 2015 — Just when it seemed fluke regulations were finally fair, balanced and generally tolerable, the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (MAFMC) announced last week that summer flatties have suffered several consecutive years of lower than average reproductive success.

Although this is a spawning issue and not related to overfishing by New York or its neighboring states, the result will likely be a tightening of fluke regulations in 2016. The harvest reductions needed could top 40 percent and, by law, must be effective at the start of the 2016 season.

“Such swift and steep reductions would be a devastating blow to our fluke fishery,” said Capt. Tony DiLernia, one of New York’s representatives to the MAFMC, in a telephone interview Thursday. “But there is hope for relief. Governor Cuomo is exploring ways to spread any significant reductions over a three-year span. That was recently done with sea bass regulation, so there is precedent.”

According to DiLernia, stocks of any fish are likely to fluctuate slightly from year to year based on environmental factors. Trying to immediately account for those changes can result in painfully stringent regulations.

Read the full story at Newsday