Saving Seafood

NEW JERSEY: NJMFC meeting will choose from fluke season options on Wednesday

May 17, 2017 — The New Jersey Marine Fisheries Council will be meeting in Avalon tomorrow afternoon to select an option for the 2017 fluke season. The only thing sure is that lots of fisherman will be unhappy with whatever the council decides. DEP Commissioner Bob Martin is expected to quickly set whatever is decided into law — as the season could open as early as next week.

The meeting is open to the public at 4:00 p.m. in Avalon Town Hall, 3001 Avalon Avenue. The compromise plan approved by the ASMFC would maintain the 18-inch minimum, but with only three fish — and a shortened September season. We could also join N.Y. with a 19-inch minimum, or stay at status quo while being out of compliance.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar, Jamaica from Brielle, and Queen Mary from Point Pleasant all reported great bluefishing on jigs today — with limits for all and many releases of blues ranging up to 14 pounds.

Striper fishing was picky, but Art Berkman of Pompton Plains was delighted with the 46-inch, 45-pound striper he trolled as part of Tank Matraxia’s party with Capt. John Contello on the Sea Hunter out of Keyport. They had to run down to Asbury Park to find that bass, and the only other one was trolled by Marty Nowinski of Lyndhurst — a personal best 40-pounder.

Read the full story at NJ.com

NEW JERSEY: ‘Perfect Storm’ ship sunk, becomes part of artificial reef

May 12, 2017 — The ship made famous in the book and subsequent film “The Perfect Storm” has been intentionally sunk off the New Jersey and Delaware coasts so it can become part of an artificial reef.

The sinking of the Tamaroa, a 205-foot Coast Guard vessel, took place Wednesday morning. The sinking initially was scheduled to occur several months ago, but was repeatedly delayed by rough seas and other related issues.

The vessel was sent down about 33 nautical miles (61 kilometers) off the coast of Cape May, New Jersey. It was deployed in water more than 120 feet (36.5 meters) deep after patches were removed from holes that were pre-cut into its hull, according to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.

The pre-cut holes were part of the extensive work that had to be done before the ship could be sunk, including the removal of interior paneling and insulation as well as emptying and cleaning the vessel of all fuel and fluids.

The ship turned on its side as it slowly went down in the calm water, then turned straight up as the bulk of the vessel went under water. It then disappeared from view as a person on board a neighboring vessel thanked the Tamaroa for its long service.

A tugboat had started hauling the Tamaroa from a Norfolk, Virginia, shipyard on Monday afternoon and it slowly made its way up the Eastern Seaboard on Tuesday without any issues.

Read the full story at The Gloucester Daily Times 

NEW JERSEY: A compromise is close on summer flounder regulations

May 12, 2017 — It appears that a compromise may be close on this year’s summer flounder regulations.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission and the state are close to agreeing on a recreational season of three summer flounder at 18 inches. The season would be shortened to 104 days from May 25 to September 5.

The commission had voted on Option 5, which was a 19-inch size limit, a three-fish bag limit and a 128 day season. New Jersey then appealed it, and has still not approved the summer flounder regulations for this year.

The compromise will need to be reviewed by the commission’s Technical Committee and then voted on by the ASMFC, a spokesperson for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection said.

“We look forward to the ASFMC’s Technical Committee’s review next week and, hopefully, a final positive commission decision. We still have some steps to go through, but we’re hopeful that New Jersey’s economically vital recreational fishing industry will be saved this summer,” said Bob Martin, Commissioner of the NJDEP.

The compromise would allow New Jersey to keep a three-fish at 17-inch fish limit in place in Delaware bay west of the COLREGS line, the water boundary line between the state and Delaware.

Read the full story at the Asbury Park Press

ASMFC Summer Flounder Management Board to Consider New Jersey Conservation Equivalency Proposal for 2017 Summer Flounder Recreational Fishery

May 12, 2017 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass Management Board has accepted a request by the State of New Jersey to consider a proposal for conservationally-equivalent management measures for the 2017 recreational summer flounder fishery. The action responds to New Jersey’s concern about the lack of availability of large fish (19” or greater) in state waters.

In February 2017, the Board approved Addendum XXVIII to the Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass Fishery Management Plan, maintaining regional management for the 2017 recreational summer flounder fishery and requiring all states (with the exception of North Carolina) to implement a one-inch increase in size limit and a reduced possession limit. These measures are required in order to stay within the 2017 recreational harvest limit. New Jersey has contended a one-inch increase in size will have significant economic impacts to its recreational and for-hire industries, since 19” fish have reduced availability in its waters.

The next step in the process is for the Technical Committee to review New Jersey’s proposal, which is anticipated to occur next week. The Board will then meet via conference call to receive the Technical Committee’s review and consider action on the proposal. If the proposal is accepted by the Board, New Jersey will have until May 21st to implement the approved measures. If conservationally-equivalent measures are not approved, New Jersey will need to implement the following measures by May 21st or the Commission will move forward with a non-compliance finding regarding New Jersey’s failure to implement Addendum XXVIII’s required management measures.

  • Shore mode for Island Beach State Park only: 17-inch minimum size limit; 2-fish possession limit and 128-day open season.
  • Delaware Bay only (west of the colregs line):   18-inch minimum size limit; 3-fish possession limit and 128-day open season.
  • All other marine waters (east of the colregs line):  19-inch minimum size limit; 3-fish possession limit and 128-day open season

A canyon-sized power struggle is developing 100 miles off New Jersey’s coast

May 8, 2017 — It makes little sense that these two groups would be fighting at all.

On one side are the environmentalists, who wish to keep marine life safe from the harmful effects of gas and oil drilling in the Atlantic Ocean. On the other are the fishermen, who want precisely the same thing — to protect their catches and their business.

Yet a divide between the groups has been created, approximately 100 miles east of the mouth of the Hudson River off the New Jersey coast. That’s where the two sides are waging war over the future of the Hudson Canyon, an almost-mile-deep crack in the sea floor.

It’s a battle that has become even more pitched, especially since President Trump has moved to bring oil and gas drilling back to the Atlantic Ocean.

So how did this power struggle develop, and what exactly are the two groups disagreeing about?

In November 2016, the Wildlife Conservation Society nominated Hudson Canyon to be designated a National Marine Sanctuary. The WCS selected the canyon, the largest submarine crevice on the Atlantic Coast, due to its wide biodiversity. The canyon is home to more than 20 protected species, including the North Atlantic right whale, according to the conservation group.

“This is a canyon the scale of the Grand Canyon,” said Jon Forrest Dohlin, the Vice President of the WCS and the director of the New York Aquarium. “It seemed like something that could really benefit from awareness and protection.”

Commercial fishermen in New Jersey fear losing access to a profitable fishing ground. According the Greg DiDomenico, the executive director of the Garden State Seafood Association, $48 million worth of seafood was caught in the Hudson Canyon in 2014. That’s almost a third of the $149.3 million catch landed by New Jersey fishermen that year, according to the National Marine Fisheries Service.

Read the full story at NJ.com

New Jersey to create two new reefs off coast

April 27, 2017 — The state will create two new reefs aimed at helping recreational anglers off South Jersey.

One reef will be built 1.7 nautical miles southeast of Manasquan Inlet, just north of Ocean County’s Point Pleasant Beach. The second reef will be built 9.2 nautical miles southwest of the mouth of Cumberland County’s Maurice River and will occupy a little more than a square mile of bay floor, at depths ranging from 23 feet to 35 feet.

The state secured the necessary U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permits for both reefs, state Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin said Thursday.

Recreational fishing generates $1.5 billion in economic benefits in New Jersey each year, and directly employs about 20,000 people, according to a news release from the DEP.

“We are very excited to move forward with this expansion of the state’s network of artificial reefs, which create important habitat for many types of marine life,” Martin said. “By enhancing recreational fishing and diving opportunities, these reefs help boost the state’s tourism economy. We are particularly pleased with the opportunity to develop Delaware Bay’s first reef site, which will help bolster tourism in that region.”

The artificial reefs are typically built from rocks, concrete, steel, old ships and barges.

Read the full story at the Press of Atlantic City

NEW JERSEY: Sea bass regs pass council, Tamaroa sinking delayed

April 21, 2017 — The black sea bass regulations were approved by the New Jersey Marine Fisheries Council approved the measures at its April 13 meeting.

They are almost identical to last year, except the 13-inch size limit — which was in place last fall —  is not returning.

The season’s first wave opens May 26 and extends through June 18 with a ten fish bag limit at 12 ½-inch size limit. It is then closed for two weeks.

The second wave opens July 1 through August 31 with a two fish bag and 12 ½-inch size limit. It will then close until Oct. 21.

The final wave of the season is Oct. 22 to Dec. 31. Fishermen will have a 15 fish bag limit and a 12 ½-inch size limit.

Bob Martin, head of the state’s Department of Environmental Protection, has to sign off on them, a spokesperson from the department said.

Tamaroa sinking delayed

The sinking of he United States Coast Guard cutter Tamaroa, on an artificial reef was delayed this week by weather.

The vessel gained notoriety for its daunting rescue missions during the “Perfect Storm” of 1991, but she was originally the U.S. Navy’s Zuni, an ocean/salvage tug, commissioned in 1943. She is the last surviving vessel from the Battle of Iwo Jima.

She is destined for the DelJerseyLand artificial reef jointly shared by New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland. At 205-feet long the vessel is expected to provide a lot of habitat for marine life that will make it a productive fishing and dive site.

Read the full story at the Asbury Park Press

Flounder season uncertain as New Jersey continues to fight cuts

April 14, 2017 — New Jersey’s fight against approved summer flounder measures hangs in the balance, and a meeting next month could prove critical for flounder fishermen.

The state’s Marine Fisheries Council met Thursday evening at the Galloway Township branch of the Atlantic County Library in part to discuss its strategy in opposing a federal regulatory commission’s decision to cut this year’s summer flounder catch by 30 percent.

“I’m getting questions every day,” said Dick Herb, the council’s chairman. “We just don’t know what’s going to happen there.”

“There’s a lot of things going on behind the scenes,” he added.

Earlier this year, the state council voted to go out of compliance with the federal measures, which could trigger a pivotal decision by new Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross following a federal regulatory meeting in May, Herb said.

Ross could decide to shut down recreational and commercial flounder fishing in New Jersey, or he could study the issue and allow fishing to continue, among other options, according to Herb.

“He can do what he wants to do,” Herb said. “I think we’re going to have to move awfully quickly when we get some movement on this.”

In February, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission approved the new reductions, which would limit New Jersey recreational fishermen to three fish at 19 inches in the Atlantic Ocean and three at 18 inches in the Delaware Bay.

Read the full story at the Press of Atlantic City

New Jersey asks feds to drop limits on a prize catch at the Shore — summer flounder

April 10, 2017 — With their rows of sharp buck teeth, their downturned mouths, and both eyes on one side of their curiously flat bodies, summer flounder might seem beautiful only to one another.

But this delicately flavored flatfish is the pinup girl, the heart’s desire, of thousands of New Jersey’s recreational fishermen — and has long been the source of many millions of dollars in tourism revenue each summer. For that reason the state has petitioned a federal commission to reverse its new restrictions on catching summer flounder in state waters in 2017.

“If you talk to any recreational angler they’ll tell you how important flounder is in New Jersey,” explained Larry Hajna, a spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Protection.  He said summer flounder, also called fluke, is one of the top draws to the state’s $1.5 billion recreational fishing industry.

Flounder’s popularity is no secret, however, to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission based in Arlington, Va. Its website describes the species as “highly prized in the recreational  fishery” because they are easily caught with hook and line from beaches, piers, and boats.

But this federal body, which monitors and protects commercial fish populations from Maine to Florida, has determined that the species has been drastically overfished in recent years and needs a chance to repopulate.  Recreational landings that were 38 million pounds in 1980 fell to 3 million in 1989, according to the website, and were 7.4 million pounds in 2014.

The commission, a subsidiary of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration composed of three representatives from each state on the Atlantic coast, in February ordered a 34 percent reduction in catches for 2017, even after a 27 percent reduction in 2016.

Read the full story at The Philadelphia Inquirer 

Changes could be coming to East Coast squid fishery

April 10, 2017 — An effort to gain better control over the amount of participation in the East Coast squid fishery will be the subject of a series of public hearings this spring.

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council wants to reduce latent permits for certain kinds of squid. Most years, a few vessels are responsible for bringing the majority of the commercially harvested squid to shore.

The fishery council says it’s concerned that excessive squid fishing could occur if latent permits become active.

Longfin squid fishing’s a major industry, with more than 26 million pounds coming to shore in 2015. It was valued at more than $31 million. Rhode Island’s the biggest producer.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the New Jersey Herald