finchaser
02-06-2017, 08:08 PM
The plot thickens in this fast moving tale of modern fisheries management. As you know, on January 5th, the NJ Marine Fisheries Council, in an unprecedented move, rejected all five options presented within Addendum XXVIII of the Summer Flounder Management Plan. The drastic quota reductions proposed requires changes in size and bag limits that will severely impact the NJ fishing community.
The for-hire and party boat businesses would be decimated and the shore economy would suffer. Angler groups are very upset with these plans since the reductions are based on data and science that are both flawed and outdated.
Recreational angler groups, including our Club, the RFA, NJOA, JCAA and SSFFF and others have mobilized and joined together with the commercial fishing interests to fight to maintain status quo and continue the 2016 regulations without change. The DEP held a press conference on January 27th at which Commissioner Bob Martin vowed to use every available means, including legal action, to fight these reductions. He also testified to that end, along with Congressman Frank Pallone, at the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) meeting held in Alexandria, Virginia this past Thursday and provided detailed reasons for making such a demand that included flawed data, a benchmark stock assessment that is old and inaccurate, use of a stock model that has proven to be unreliable and out of date, and data from New Jersey's own stock assessments that show the summer flounder stock is healthy and actually experiencing growth. He also presented facts from a recent Academy of Science review of the Marine Recreational Information Program recommending 38 changes that must be made in order for the program to provide accurate and useable landing data.
Club member Tom Trageser originated a petition that has collected over 5,000 signatures requesting status quo. Twin resolutions have been introduced in the NJ Senate and Assembly again requesting status quo.
Despite the public uproar and all the objections, the ASMFC voted to accept Option #5 which calls for a 3 fish at 19" with a 128 day season!!!!
Commission Martin and our legislators are now meeting with the Trump administration to try to reverse this decision.
What happens now?
Each state or region has two months to develop plans to comply with Option #5. If we fail to comply, the new Secretary of Commerce, Wilbur Ross, will review our status. If he finds that our non-compliance is detrimental to the fishery, he could invoke default measures that could result in a 2 fish at 20" with a season from July 1st to August 31st or close the fishery completely!!!!
There is also the possibility that President Trump?s executive order banning all new federal regulations that are detrimental to the economy be invoked in which case status quo would prevail. One can only hope.
Stay tuned. We?ll keep you posted.
It will take some time to sort all this out. In the meantime our season is May 21st through September 25th with a 5 fish at 18" limit with the exceptions of Delaware Bay being 4 fish at 17" and Island Beach State Park being 2 fish at 16".
The for-hire and party boat businesses would be decimated and the shore economy would suffer. Angler groups are very upset with these plans since the reductions are based on data and science that are both flawed and outdated.
Recreational angler groups, including our Club, the RFA, NJOA, JCAA and SSFFF and others have mobilized and joined together with the commercial fishing interests to fight to maintain status quo and continue the 2016 regulations without change. The DEP held a press conference on January 27th at which Commissioner Bob Martin vowed to use every available means, including legal action, to fight these reductions. He also testified to that end, along with Congressman Frank Pallone, at the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) meeting held in Alexandria, Virginia this past Thursday and provided detailed reasons for making such a demand that included flawed data, a benchmark stock assessment that is old and inaccurate, use of a stock model that has proven to be unreliable and out of date, and data from New Jersey's own stock assessments that show the summer flounder stock is healthy and actually experiencing growth. He also presented facts from a recent Academy of Science review of the Marine Recreational Information Program recommending 38 changes that must be made in order for the program to provide accurate and useable landing data.
Club member Tom Trageser originated a petition that has collected over 5,000 signatures requesting status quo. Twin resolutions have been introduced in the NJ Senate and Assembly again requesting status quo.
Despite the public uproar and all the objections, the ASMFC voted to accept Option #5 which calls for a 3 fish at 19" with a 128 day season!!!!
Commission Martin and our legislators are now meeting with the Trump administration to try to reverse this decision.
What happens now?
Each state or region has two months to develop plans to comply with Option #5. If we fail to comply, the new Secretary of Commerce, Wilbur Ross, will review our status. If he finds that our non-compliance is detrimental to the fishery, he could invoke default measures that could result in a 2 fish at 20" with a season from July 1st to August 31st or close the fishery completely!!!!
There is also the possibility that President Trump?s executive order banning all new federal regulations that are detrimental to the economy be invoked in which case status quo would prevail. One can only hope.
Stay tuned. We?ll keep you posted.
It will take some time to sort all this out. In the meantime our season is May 21st through September 25th with a 5 fish at 18" limit with the exceptions of Delaware Bay being 4 fish at 17" and Island Beach State Park being 2 fish at 16".