Saving Seafood

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

Fishermen not on board with Hudson Canyon sanctuary

April 7, 2017 — The Hudson Canyon is in the spotlight.

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council will hear a proposal from New York Aquarium, which has nominated the canyon for a National Marine Sanctuary designation.

The sanctuary program is run by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. In the program’s 40 years of existence 13 national marine sanctuaries and two marine national monuments have been established.

The sanctuaries are to be tailored to the needs of its stakeholders. New Jersey fishermen however, are raising concerns that they will be shut out of a prolific fishing ground.

“We’re in complete opposition. We’re not going to be fooled by the notion that the aquarium doesn’t intend to severely restrict fishing over time,” said Greg DiDomenico, Executive Director, Garden State Seafood Association.

The seafood association represents the interest’s of the state’s commercial fishermen.

The Hudson Canyon, a depression in the ocean floor that starts 80 miles east of Manasquan Inlet, is the largest submarine canyon on the Atlantic coast. It’s supports a rich diversity of marine life. Fishermen harvest seafood including squid, tunas, and shellfish from the canyon.

Read the full story at the Asbury Park Press

New Jersey appeals fluke vote, says regs will create fishery waste

March 31, 2017 — New Jersey’s three commissioners to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission are trying to reel some fluke back in that could be lost to anglers due to federally approved reductions.

Their latest effort to keep summer flounder regulations at status quo, is an appeal to ASMFC chairman Douglas E. Grout asking for a reversal of the commission’s vote approving a 30-percent cut to the coastwide harvest of fluke, also known as summer flounder.

The appeal cites technical, scientific and procedural flaws as reasons for reconsideration of the vote.

The season is in a couple of months and usually the state’s Marine Fisheries Council approves fluke seaon measures by early spring. The agenda for the council’s next hearing April 13 is not yet posted.

In January it made it clear that its position was to keep fluke regulations at status quo — that is to keep it at last year’s 18-inch size and five-fish bag limit.

The ASMFC did not share that view. Its position was the fluke population is declining and anglers overfished the 2016 quota.

That was supported by most states on the Atlantic seaboard as seen by the 7-3 vote in favor of Option 5 of the addendum to the Summer Flounder, Scup, Black Sea Bass fishery management plan that reduced the harvest.

For New Jersey’s recreational fluke fishery that option calls for a 19-inch size limit, a three-fish bag limit this year.

Read the full story at the Asbury Park Press 

New Jersey appeals decision to cut summer flounder catch

March 30, 2017 — New Jersey is continuing its fight against reductions to this year’s summer flounder catch.

The state’s representatives to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission have filed a formal appeal of the commission’s decision to cut the flounder harvest by about 30 percent.

“We are appealing the ASFMC decision because of the numerous process, data, policy and regulatory issues that will significantly impact New Jersey’s fishing industry,” state Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin said in a statement announcing the appeal.

An ASMFC decision in February would reduce recreational bag and size limits in New Jersey from five fish at 18 inches in the Atlantic Ocean in 2016 to three fish at 19 inches this year. In the Delaware Bay, limits would decrease from four fish at 17 inches to three at 18 inches.

The decision is based on federal fishery studies that indicate the flounder population is declining and has been experiencing overfishing since 2008.

Read the full story at Press of Atlantic City

New Jersey Files Formal Appeal of Summer Flounder Quota Reductions

March 29, 2017 — New Jersey representatives to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission have filed an appeal requesting the commission reconsider its vote significantly reducing the state’s recreational-fishing quota for summer flounder this year, Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin announced today.

The 34-percent quota reduction ASMFC approved in February will have a devastating impact on the state’s fishing industry and tourism economy while paradoxically harming the long-term health of the state’s summer flounder stocks, Commissioner Martin said.

“We are appealing the ASFMC decision because of the numerous process, data, policy and regulatory issues that will significantly impact New Jersey’s fishing industry,” Commissioner Martin said. “The ASFMC decision will actually result in anglers in New Jersey having to throw more dead fish back into the water than they can keep to eat, and the fish they can keep overwhelmingly will be reproductive females. This is not sound fishery management.”

Recreational and commercial fishing employs 65,000 people and generates some $2.5 billion in annual economic benefits to the state. Summer flounder, also known as fluke, is one of the state’s most sought-after recreational fish species, prized for its delicate flavor and easily found close to beaches and in bays and creeks.

Read the full story at On The Water

NJ appeals summer flounder quota reductions

March 28, 2017 — New Jersey has filed an appeal to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission requesting the commission reconsider its vote to reduce significantly the state’s recreational-fishing quota for summer flounder by over 30 percent.

Summer flounder, popularly called fluke, is one of the state’s most sought-after recreational fish species, prized for its delicate flavor and easily found close to beaches and in bays and creeks.

“We are appealing the ASFMC decision because of the numerous process, data, policy and regulatory issues that will significantly impact New Jersey’s fishing industry,” said Bob Martin, Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner.

Read the full story at the Asbury Park Press

NEW JERSEY: Measuring flounder a complex undertaking with a big impact

March 27, 2017 — It’s likely few people have written more about summer flounder than Mark Terceiro.

Terceiro has published a 44-page journal article about the science, politics and litigation surrounding the species from 1975 to 2000. A 32-page follow-up covered the period from 2001 to 2010, and another article regarding developments in recent years is in the works.

But it’s Terceiro’s summer flounder stock assessment update, released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in December, that has him in the crosshairs of New Jersey politicians and recreational fishing leaders.

That’s because his report led federal regulatory agencies to reduce this year’s summer flounder catch by 30 percent.

Some say the move will cripple recreational flounder fishing, a multimillion-dollar industry in New Jersey that supports bait-and-tackle shops, boat dealerships and other businesses that cater to fishermen.

“It is based on a questionable, out-of-date stock assessment and a flawed modeling,” Bob Martin, commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, wrote in a letter to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross last month.

But federal fisheries experts, including Terceiro, say they have confidence in the measurements, which show the flounder population has been “experiencing overfishing” since 2008.

“A stock assessment is one of our best ways to estimate the population and status of a resource we manage,” said Kirby Rootes-Murdy, senior fishery management plan coordinator for summer flounder at the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, one of the agencies that regulate the species.

Read the full story at the Asbury Park Press

The Winds Of War Swirl Around Off-Shore Turbines

March 24, 2017 — As a concept, ocean-based wind-energy harvesting is gaining momentum on Long Island – but don’t expect completely smooth sailing for the increasingly popular alternative-generation movement.

Although wind farms are rising around the globe and contributing ever-larger percentages of the electricity flowing through international energy grids, the “green” projects often face stiff opposition –  ironically, from environmentalists, and often from commercial fishermen who say the ocean-based platforms disrupt natural breeding grounds and threaten their livelihoods.

Long Island anglers, for instance, are paying close attention to a class-action lawsuit against the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, aimed at stopping wind-farm developments off the New York and New Jersey coasts.

Despite the rough seas, Stony Brook University’s Advanced Energy Research and Technology Center is jumping in with both feet. The AERTC is hooking the imminent launch of its Advanced Energy Center Symposium Series – a collection of next-generation energy discussions and workshops uniting industry experts, government officials and assorted stakeholders – on a day-long May 5 event focused on offshore wind, slated to be held at the Montauk Yacht Club.

While offshore wind interests have made progress on Long Island – including LIPA’s January approval of what would (at least temporarily) be the nation’s largest offshore wind farm, to be located 30 miles off Montauk by Rhode Island-based Deepwater Wind – the AERTC is clearly wading into disputed waters.

The May 5 conference is akin to Montauk being swallowed into “the belly of the beast,” according to Bonnie Brady, executive director of the Long Island Commercial Fishing Association, who said placing wind turbines in the middle of “traditional, historically productive fishing grounds” is a “recipe for disaster.”

Read the full story at Innovateli