Saving Seafood

NEW JERSEY: Belford Seafood Co-op boats idle after in-season closure

August 4, 2017 — MIDDLETOWN, N.J. — Fourteen fishing trawlers at Belford Seafood Cooperative are sitting idle after fishermen have met the commercial summer flounder quota a month ahead of schedule.

Roy Diehl, president of the cooperative, said the reason for the quick end to the season is strict conservation measures put in place this winter by a regional fishery commission.

“They say there’s no fish. Well, we caught our whole summer quota in two weeks, so there’s plenty of fish out there,” said Diehl.

In February the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission cut the coastwide summer flounder quota by 30 percent from Maine to Florida, citing a drop in the biomass of the stock.

Read the full story at the Asbury Park Press

NEW JERSEY: Fluke-catching quota costing fishermen thousands

August 1, 2017 — BELFORD, N.J. — Dozens of commercial fishermen say they are losing out on pay after they reached their state-imposed limit on how many fluke they are allowed to catch.

Captain Roy Diehl says he and dozens of other commercial fluke fishermen are docked because they caught their allowed quota for the July-August season just two weeks after it opened. He says he blames the 30 percent quota reduction set by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission for this year.

“What it does is it takes seven weeks of income out of everybody’s paycheck for the year,” says Diehl. “It’s pretty tough because there’s a lot of fluke out there and we can’t have them.”

The coolers at the Belford Seafood Co-op are empty until fisherman are able to resume catching fluke Sept. 3.

Read and watch the full story at News 12 New Jersey