THE 2017 SUMMER FLOUNDER VOTE IS IN!
Fisheries managers meet in Baltimore, MD on December 14, 2016 to make their soon to be infamous D-Day decision on the 2017 Atlantic Coast fluke season.
By Jim Hutchinson, Jr. - The Fisherman
NOAA Fisheries is proposing a 30% reduction in the 2017 fluke quota, but with recreational overage penalties it could ultimately reduce angler access by 40% or more.
SSFFF DATA PROVES ANGLERS' CONCERNS
The surveys are in from the SSFFF supported study on summer flounder from Rhode Island to Delaware, and the sex-specific findings may prove incredibly valuable in the years ahead.
Depending on where you do most of your bucktailing, you’ll either be seeing worse fluke restrictions in 2017, or perhaps the very worst ever!
On Wednesday, December 14, 2016, members of the Mid Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) and Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (Commission) voted to move a new summer flounder plan through for 2017 which includes options to curtail recreational fluke harvest in the upcoming season.
The suite of options to be made official and public in the coming weeks will address the requirement by NOAA Fisheries that the 2017 fluke harvest in both the commercial and recreational sector be cut by 30% in response to recent assessments showing the stock biomass to be in decline.
Due to overharvest by anglers in 2016 along the coast - according to NOAA Fisheries’ Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP) - additional restrictions will be placed on the recreational sector to attain what equates to about 41% reduction in harvest for 2017 over the 2016 season.
For states at either end of the range - Massachusetts and North Carolina - the cutbacks in season and bag limit or increase in size may barely be noticeable; but the closer to the heart of the fishery you get, the more devastating the reductions become. Based on the Adaptive Regional Management approach which put Connecticut, New York and New Jersey into a unique management region for the past several seasons with a uniform five fish bag limit and 18-inch size restriction in 2016 and a 128-day season, the same regionalized approach for 2017 would result in a two fish at 19-inch size limit and an open season as high as 107 days and as short as just 88 days.
Under state-specific management options, Connecticut anglers would be forced to cut their allowable harvest by 81% for a two fish at 21-inch size limit and 53 days, New York would have to cut back by 73% with a two fish at 21-inch size limit and 66-day season, while New Jersey could go to three at 18 inches with just 81 days of allowable fishing. That same state-specific conservation equivalency approach would result in a four fish at 18-inch size limit with a 105-day season in Rhode Island, and four fish at 19 inches in Delaware with a year-round fishery. Massachusetts, Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina on the other hand would not have to restrict limits based on the MRIP data.
Other options contained within the draft document falling under the Alternative Management Approach model include a fish sharing option to essentially distribute unfished quota from unaffected states to those requiring the biggest cuts, a 1-inch size increase across the board with subsequent bag and season reductions, a 30% across the board cut with 2016 overage penalties for individual states, and a 1-inch size increase coupled with a 30% across the board cut.
Prior to finalizing the draft document, the New York delegation proposed a fifth management option which they said could help alleviate the cutbacks and help distribute reductions in a more equitable fashion along the coast, allowing all states to increase size limit by an inch while leveling out the bag limit to four fish across the board.
It was explained that the New York plan, if approved by NOAA Fisheries, would also allow a separate Delaware Bay option for coastal anglers fishing out of bayshore ports in New Jersey; a similar plan was implemented in 2016 to help lessen the disparity between New Jersey and Delaware anglers fishing on either side of the Delaware Bay.
Once this proposed New York option is submitted for review, the Council and Commission is expected to take an electronic vote to get the final plan out to the public before the Christmas holiday. Before the public gets a chance to provide input during an official public comment period beginning in early 2017, the numbers could change slightly based on the final wave of MRIP data yet to be compiled by NOAA Fisheries for the 2016 season and unavailable for the December 14 meeting.
Summer flounder, scup and sea bass fisheries are managed through the Commission in state waters from 0 to 3 miles out, and in through the Council and NOAA Fisheries in federal waters from 3 to 200 miles out. Following an opportunity for the public to review the various options, with stakeholders and state representatives responding back to the proposed measures, both management bodies are expected to meet in February to approve a final plan for the 2017 season.
At the December 14 hearing at the Royal Sonest Harbor Court complex in Baltimore, MD, the Council voted 13-5-1 on the conservation equivalency approach that would include both state-by-state measures based on 1998 harvest quotas, as well as the options for alternative management approaches which include the Adaptive Regional Management approach incorporated in 2014. The Commission’s board approved the conservation equivalency measure by a vote of 8-3.
Approximately 30 to 40 spectators were on-hand for the afternoon vote, with several New Jersey stakeholders speaking out against the proposed cutbacks. Ray Bogan, representing the Marine Trades Association of New Jersey, the United Boatmen of New Jersey and the Recreational Fishing Alliance, called the proposed 19-inch size limit and limited season “onerous†and said the proposal would seriously restrict angler access to the fluke fishery for pier and bulkhead anglers, as well as bay fishermen that he described as “small boats being thrown off the water.â€
Others speaking out against the proposal included Congressman Frank Pallone (D-NJ), along with representatives from the Jersey Coast Anglers Association and South Jersey marina owner Robin Scott. “I now start renting boats the day flounder season opens, recently in late May, and am out of business when children return to school around Labor Day,†said Scott who owns and operates Ray Scott’s Dock in Margate, NJ. “Seasons, sizes and bag limits have dictated my ability to offer my services and earn a living.â€
In her statement, Scott noted how the shortened season will have a disastrous effect on the South Jersey region which typically sees summer flounder arriving in the back bays as early as April, while adding “Raising the size limits of flounder in New Jersey to 19 inches will most decidedly ruin the fishery.â€
Earlier in the week, Dr. Patrick Sullivan presented findings to the Council and Commission members on results from a recent collaborative study between researchers at Rutgers University and Stockton University of New Jersey, the University of Rhode Island, and Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County, NY and Cornell University which could help provide a better understanding of the general fluke biology through the design of sex-specific assessment models to better analyze the fluke population.
While it was hoped that the new sex-specific sampling information supported by the Save the Summer Flounder Fishery Fund would help contribute towards a new 2017 benchmark stock assessment on summer flounder, NOAA Fisheries admitted at the Wednesday meeting that there were no plans to schedule a full-scale fluke assessment until possibly as early as 2018.
Fisheries managers meet in Baltimore, MD on December 14, 2016 to make their soon to be infamous D-Day decision on the 2017 Atlantic Coast fluke season.
By Jim Hutchinson, Jr. - The Fisherman
NOAA Fisheries is proposing a 30% reduction in the 2017 fluke quota, but with recreational overage penalties it could ultimately reduce angler access by 40% or more.
SSFFF DATA PROVES ANGLERS' CONCERNS
The surveys are in from the SSFFF supported study on summer flounder from Rhode Island to Delaware, and the sex-specific findings may prove incredibly valuable in the years ahead.
Depending on where you do most of your bucktailing, you’ll either be seeing worse fluke restrictions in 2017, or perhaps the very worst ever!
On Wednesday, December 14, 2016, members of the Mid Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) and Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (Commission) voted to move a new summer flounder plan through for 2017 which includes options to curtail recreational fluke harvest in the upcoming season.
The suite of options to be made official and public in the coming weeks will address the requirement by NOAA Fisheries that the 2017 fluke harvest in both the commercial and recreational sector be cut by 30% in response to recent assessments showing the stock biomass to be in decline.
Due to overharvest by anglers in 2016 along the coast - according to NOAA Fisheries’ Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP) - additional restrictions will be placed on the recreational sector to attain what equates to about 41% reduction in harvest for 2017 over the 2016 season.
For states at either end of the range - Massachusetts and North Carolina - the cutbacks in season and bag limit or increase in size may barely be noticeable; but the closer to the heart of the fishery you get, the more devastating the reductions become. Based on the Adaptive Regional Management approach which put Connecticut, New York and New Jersey into a unique management region for the past several seasons with a uniform five fish bag limit and 18-inch size restriction in 2016 and a 128-day season, the same regionalized approach for 2017 would result in a two fish at 19-inch size limit and an open season as high as 107 days and as short as just 88 days.
Under state-specific management options, Connecticut anglers would be forced to cut their allowable harvest by 81% for a two fish at 21-inch size limit and 53 days, New York would have to cut back by 73% with a two fish at 21-inch size limit and 66-day season, while New Jersey could go to three at 18 inches with just 81 days of allowable fishing. That same state-specific conservation equivalency approach would result in a four fish at 18-inch size limit with a 105-day season in Rhode Island, and four fish at 19 inches in Delaware with a year-round fishery. Massachusetts, Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina on the other hand would not have to restrict limits based on the MRIP data.
Other options contained within the draft document falling under the Alternative Management Approach model include a fish sharing option to essentially distribute unfished quota from unaffected states to those requiring the biggest cuts, a 1-inch size increase across the board with subsequent bag and season reductions, a 30% across the board cut with 2016 overage penalties for individual states, and a 1-inch size increase coupled with a 30% across the board cut.
Prior to finalizing the draft document, the New York delegation proposed a fifth management option which they said could help alleviate the cutbacks and help distribute reductions in a more equitable fashion along the coast, allowing all states to increase size limit by an inch while leveling out the bag limit to four fish across the board.
It was explained that the New York plan, if approved by NOAA Fisheries, would also allow a separate Delaware Bay option for coastal anglers fishing out of bayshore ports in New Jersey; a similar plan was implemented in 2016 to help lessen the disparity between New Jersey and Delaware anglers fishing on either side of the Delaware Bay.
Once this proposed New York option is submitted for review, the Council and Commission is expected to take an electronic vote to get the final plan out to the public before the Christmas holiday. Before the public gets a chance to provide input during an official public comment period beginning in early 2017, the numbers could change slightly based on the final wave of MRIP data yet to be compiled by NOAA Fisheries for the 2016 season and unavailable for the December 14 meeting.
Summer flounder, scup and sea bass fisheries are managed through the Commission in state waters from 0 to 3 miles out, and in through the Council and NOAA Fisheries in federal waters from 3 to 200 miles out. Following an opportunity for the public to review the various options, with stakeholders and state representatives responding back to the proposed measures, both management bodies are expected to meet in February to approve a final plan for the 2017 season.
At the December 14 hearing at the Royal Sonest Harbor Court complex in Baltimore, MD, the Council voted 13-5-1 on the conservation equivalency approach that would include both state-by-state measures based on 1998 harvest quotas, as well as the options for alternative management approaches which include the Adaptive Regional Management approach incorporated in 2014. The Commission’s board approved the conservation equivalency measure by a vote of 8-3.
Approximately 30 to 40 spectators were on-hand for the afternoon vote, with several New Jersey stakeholders speaking out against the proposed cutbacks. Ray Bogan, representing the Marine Trades Association of New Jersey, the United Boatmen of New Jersey and the Recreational Fishing Alliance, called the proposed 19-inch size limit and limited season “onerous†and said the proposal would seriously restrict angler access to the fluke fishery for pier and bulkhead anglers, as well as bay fishermen that he described as “small boats being thrown off the water.â€
Others speaking out against the proposal included Congressman Frank Pallone (D-NJ), along with representatives from the Jersey Coast Anglers Association and South Jersey marina owner Robin Scott. “I now start renting boats the day flounder season opens, recently in late May, and am out of business when children return to school around Labor Day,†said Scott who owns and operates Ray Scott’s Dock in Margate, NJ. “Seasons, sizes and bag limits have dictated my ability to offer my services and earn a living.â€
In her statement, Scott noted how the shortened season will have a disastrous effect on the South Jersey region which typically sees summer flounder arriving in the back bays as early as April, while adding “Raising the size limits of flounder in New Jersey to 19 inches will most decidedly ruin the fishery.â€
Earlier in the week, Dr. Patrick Sullivan presented findings to the Council and Commission members on results from a recent collaborative study between researchers at Rutgers University and Stockton University of New Jersey, the University of Rhode Island, and Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County, NY and Cornell University which could help provide a better understanding of the general fluke biology through the design of sex-specific assessment models to better analyze the fluke population.
While it was hoped that the new sex-specific sampling information supported by the Save the Summer Flounder Fishery Fund would help contribute towards a new 2017 benchmark stock assessment on summer flounder, NOAA Fisheries admitted at the Wednesday meeting that there were no plans to schedule a full-scale fluke assessment until possibly as early as 2018.
I support the reg. changes to increase the fluke stock, but as far as I'm concerned its not the recrecational anlgers that are the cause of depleting fuke stock. New regs for recreational anglers come about because we can't compete with the big money from commercial fishing. Any changes should be across the board and limit exporting of our natural resourses.
Just my opinion.
Just my opinion.
I certainly agree that commercial is usually the ones that depletes it, but we anglers get smacked w/ the impact as well. I mean it's okay i guess for a year since I only take back what I can eat.
The world loves fluke man, whether it's sushi lover or folks who loves the flat fish cooked in whatever ways. But yes if we drop the amount of exports, that may drop the demands.
The world loves fluke man, whether it's sushi lover or folks who loves the flat fish cooked in whatever ways. But yes if we drop the amount of exports, that may drop the demands.
Recent update on this issue.
See below links for more information to sign petition, if you should agree with it.
https://www.change.org/p/us-department-of-commerce-reject-the-mamfc-2017-fluke-proposal-and-demand-status-quo?utm_medium=email&utm_source=notification&utm_campaign=signature_receipt
https://www.change.org/p/us-department-of-commerce-reject-the-mamfc-2017-fluke-proposal-and-demand-status-quo?utm_medium=email&utm_source=notification&utm_campaign=signature_receipt
See below links for more information to sign petition, if you should agree with it.
https://www.change.org/p/us-department-of-commerce-reject-the-mamfc-2017-fluke-proposal-and-demand-status-quo?utm_medium=email&utm_source=notification&utm_campaign=signature_receipt
https://www.change.org/p/us-department-of-commerce-reject-the-mamfc-2017-fluke-proposal-and-demand-status-quo?utm_medium=email&utm_source=notification&utm_campaign=signature_receipt