New Jersey Archives - Page 89 of 106

NEW JERSEY: Fluke situation looking better

March 6, 2017 — The new Secretary of Commerce, Wilbur Ross, has been confirmed — and the path to a fluke season during which the public will have a reasonable chance at catching a legal fish seems a little clearer.

The following release from the governor’s office emphasizes the Christie administration’s commitment to maintaining status quo regulations rather then the 19-inch minimum which the ASMFC has imposed:

“The Christie Administration has formally requested the new U.S. Secretary of Commerce, Wilbur Ross, to put a hold on severe restrictions on recreational summer flounder fishing adopted recently by a regional fisheries commission, a move that would effectively cripple the state’s fishing industry and have far-reaching impacts on the shore tourism economy, Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin announced today.

Read the full story at NJ.com

NEW JERSEY: Cape fishermen chase scallops despite risks, trade-offs

March 3, 2017 — Scallops caught by boats based in southern Cape May County may end up on your plate at a local restaurant, or in the frozen foods section of a Wal-Mart or Costco, or even in foreign countries like France.

But before the delicious white mollusks end up frozen in a chain store or fresh at a restaurant, commercial fishermen have to scrape them from the bottom of the ocean floor.

It’s a fairly lucrative business that fuels a commercial fishing industry worth tens of millions of dollars each year. But the job takes an emotional toll on the fishermen who must leave their families for up to two weeks at a time to go to sea.

Tom McNulty Jr.’s wife, Mandy, gave birth Feb. 16 to a daughter. Zoe McNulty was born at 7 pounds, 12 ounces, the proud father announced recently. But with scallop season quickly approaching, he’s going to have to leave them to go make a living.

“I’m not looking forward to that day when I have to leave,” said McNulty, 35, of Middle Township, who captains two scallop boats and also has a 6-year-old son. “You can’t wait to come back and see your family.”

“It’s hard on your family,” he added. “You miss birthdays. You miss graduations.”

Read the full story at the Press of Atlantic City

New Jersey asks new Commerce boss to stop fluke cut

March 3, 2017 — Wilbur Ross meet New Jersey’s summer flounder fishermen.

Ross is the newly appointed U.S. Secretary of Commerce. As the department’s boss, he oversees management of fisheries through its Fisheries Office and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service.

He’s the person the Christie Administration, and state delegates are now trying to hook, and win over to their side on the summer flounder issue.

They wasted no time to petition Ross this week and ask him to put a hold on the new summer flounder regulations approved by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission on Feb. 2.

The regulations call for a 30-percent reduction in the coastwide harvest of summer flounder on the Atlantic Coast. The regs were voted on after federal regulators reported the coastwide summer flounder population from Maine to North Carolina declined and fishermen overfished their quota last year.

Read the full story at the Asbury Park Press

New Jersey lawmakers ask Trump’s new Commerce secretary to stop flounder cuts

March 2, 2017 — It’s not clear how much Wilbur L. Ross Jr. knows about fishing or the complex world of marine regulations.

But members of New Jersey’s congressional delegation hope Ross, who was sworn in as secretary of commerce Tuesday, will step into an intense fight over summer flounder catch guidelines.

The delegation wasted no time in appealing to Ross, who now oversees the agencies tasked with regulating the fishing industry. A bipartisan letter sent Tuesday and signed by 12 New Jersey lawmakers, including both U.S. senators and U.S. Rep. Frank LoBiondo, R-2nd, asked the former billionaire businessman to considering putting approved flounder reductions on hold.

Last month, a federal regulatory commission voted in favor of an option to cut fluke limits for recreational and commercial fishermen by 28 percent to 32 percent for 2017.

Example measures presented in the approved document suggest recreational limits for keepers could be set to three fish at 19 inches in the Atlantic Ocean and three at 18 inches in the Delaware Bay for a 128-day season.

Read the full story at the Press of Atlantic City

New Jersey lawmakers: Drop limits on how many fish you can catch off Atlantic Coast

February 27, 2017 — Two New Jersey lawmakers are trying to block the federal government from setting lower quotas for summer flounder off the Atlantic Coast.

Reps. Frank LoBiondo (R-2nd Dist.) and Frank Pallone Jr. (D-9th Dist.) said their bill would prevent the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration from reducing the fishing quota.

Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission said it would limit those who fish to just three summer flounders at least 19 inches long, compared with the 2016 limits of five fish at least 18 inches in length.

“These cuts are a body blow to the recreational fishing industry in New Jersey and that is why Congress needs to take action,” Pallone said. “The cuts for New Jersey are greater than what NOAA had required for the region, and too many anglers and their families are going to suffer because of them.”

Read the full story at NJ.com

NEW JERSEY: LoBiondo, Pallone announce legislation to prevent tougher summer flounder quotas

February 24, 2017 — Reps. Frank LoBiondo and Frank Pallone on Thursday, Feb. 23 announced plans to introduce new legislation to prevent the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 2017 and 2018 summer flounder quotas for recreational and commercial fishing from going into effect.

In a press release, Pallone and LoBiondo said the rules would do damage to the economies of coastal communities and the state.

Under the NOAA quotas, the allowed summer flounder catch for recreational and commercial fishing were both reduced by approximately 30 percent in 2017 and 16 percent in 2018.

The Pallone-LoBiondo legislation would maintain the 2016 quota levels and require that NOAA conduct a new assessment before issuing new quotas.

New Jersey fishermen united against 2017 flounder regulations

February 21, 2017 — That Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission winter meeting this month was surely a bummer for summer flounder fans.

The delegates went through hours of sometimes confusing debate and somehow authorized an unpopular reduction in daily possession limit and an increase in size minimum for a keeper to help achieve a 28 percent to 32 percent cut in in the flounder quota along the Atlantic Coast.

The New Jersey presence was strong at the flounder, sea bass and scup board meeting Tuesday morning at The Westin in Alexandria, Virginia.

Adam Nowalsky headed a three-man delegation that voted in opposition to the measure — Option 5 if anybody is counting — that passed by a 7-3 vote. He also spoke in favor of delaying adoption of any restrictive measures.

Read the full story at the Press of Atlantic City

NEW JERSEY: Gov. Christie’s administration preserves Delaware Bay Wetlands

February 10, 2017 — The Department of Environmental Protection’s Green Acres Program has completed the $620,000 purchase of a wetlands area along Delaware Bay in Cumberland County that will protect habitat for waterfowl and other wildlife.

The DEP used $462,000 from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grant Program and $158,000 from the Green Acres Program to purchase 204 acres of bay wetlands and upland buffers in Maurice River Township. The land will be added to the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife’s Heislerville Wildlife Management Area.

“We are very happy to preserve this land for use by a wide variety of wildlife species, including various types of waterfowl, shorebirds, bird of prey, and wading birds,” said DEP Commissioner Bob Martin in a press release. “The Delaware Bay region is truly a special place, remarkable for its beauty and opportunities for diverse wildlife-related activities, including hiking, fishing, hunting and bird watching.”

Ecotourism is a growing industry in New Jersey, especially in places such as the Delaware Bay region, where nature lovers converge to watch migrations of shorebirds, birds of prey such as eagles, osprey and hawks, and even butterflies and dragonflies. The Delaware Bay region is home to the state’s largest concentration of bald eagles, and is a critical stopover for migrating shorebirds.

Read the full story at the New Jersey Herald

Could New Jersey defy summer flounder cuts?

February 6, 2017 — It didn’t take long after the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission voted to slash summer flounder harvest quotas for the rumblings of anglers calling for New Jersey to defy the regulations to pick up.

The ASMFC ordered the harvest cut by 40-percent based on science that indicates the fish is declining in abundance and survey data that reports anglers overreached their quotas last year.

The science and angling surveys are at the center of the issue. Many lawmakers in New Jersey and its environmental chief have expressed concern about its accuracy because it relies on random sampling.

“We understand the long-term impacts of overfishing a species. But we also know for a fact that fluke are abundant and the population is stable off New Jersey,” said Bob Martin, the Commissioner of the state’s Department of Environmental Protection

Read the full story at the Asbury Park Press

Fish Fight With Feds Getting Underway In New Jersey

February 3, 2017 — Newly imposed limits on New Jersey fishermen have a South Jersey congressman leading a fight to have them lifted.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission established limits for the harvest of flounder in the ocean and waterways like Delaware Bay. Last year, you could take home five fish at least a foot-and-a-half long. The new limit will be three with a minimum length of 19 inches.

Fishermen from states further south will see limits far more favorable, according to South Jersey Congressman Frank LoBiondo.

“New Jersey fishermen are going to be arbitrarily subjected to draconian cuts when boats from Delaware or Maryland can fish in our waters and not have the same restrictions our fishermen have,” LoBiondo told KYW Newsradio. “I mean it is absurd.”

Read the full story at CBS Philly