October 16, 2015 — The group met on a Friday evening in late September to talk about sex and summer flounder. The topics are closely intertwined.
Interested parties from the commercial and recreational fishing industries, outdoor groups and party boat captains had gathered for an update on a project designed to get a more accurate picture of the summer flounder stock.
Dr. Patrick Sullivan of Cornell University and scientists from Rutgers University would be giving the presentation.
Dr. Sullivan, a highly respected researcher in the dynamics of fish populations, has been working with the Save The Summer Flounder Fishery Fund to create a stock assessment model that includes a very important element that has been left out of prior models – sex.
He was also going to talk about another vital element that’s been missing from the process – cooperation.
In an unprecedented effort, members of the recreational and commercial fishing communities are working together with university scientists and the National Marine Fisheries Service to develop a better way to count summer flounder.