seamonkey
09-05-2009, 11:56 AM
I am not against the boats trying to improve the days they can go out, but more aggravated that the state of NJ thinks this little gimmick is ok. If fluke really are overfished, it's my belief that all fishing should stop at once.
Otherwise, why bother? This RSA stuff seems like a charade to me, and I wondered what others think?:don't know why:
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/press/cape_may/article_b5df4ece-9906-11de-9ccf-001cc4c002e0.html
Set-asides mean fluke season not ended for all
By RICHARD DEGENER Staff Writer, 609-463-6711 | Posted: Thursday, September 3, 2009
GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP - Not quite everyone has to stop fishing for summer flounder after today - and that is causing some concern among anglers.
It also may be funding some important scientific research.
But the concern took center stage at Thursday's meeting of the New Jersey Marine Fisheries Council at the Atlantic County Library as a debate raged over a program that allows extra catches of some species in exchange for funding fishery research.
Summer flounder, or fluke, is part of the program in which a "research set-aside," or RSA, totaling 3 percent of the quota is auctioned to the highest bidder and can be landed after the season ends.
Tom McCloy, who heads the New Jersey Marine Fisheries Administration, said the party-boat industry in New York figured this out a few years ago, and more than 30 boats in that state will take people fluke fishing after their season. McCloy said one New Jersey party boat, which he did not identify, bid for RSA fish this year.
"We're in the process of issuing that boat a permit to fish out of season. The season closes tomorrow, except that one boat will be allowed to fish for summer flounder after tomorrow," McCloy said.
Council member Patrick Donnelly said the boat in question has been advertising upcoming flounder trips for $125 per angler when about $40 is the norm. Donnelly argued that this has socioeconomic ramifications with fish essentially going to the highest bidder.
"RSAs come right off the top of the quota. Up to 3 percent of the quota is hijacked by the highest bidder. I imagine that 3 percent would let us fish on Saturday," Donnelly said.
Recreational anglers in the state had a quota this year of 809,000 fluke, so 3 percent would equal 24,270 fish. It may not be that simple, since people in different states can win bids for RSAs.
The RSAs are allowed for fluke, scup, black sea bass, bluefish and loligo squid, all at up to 3 percent. That 3 percent is not divided up among the states. New York and Rhode Island have been among the top bidders.
"Very little goes to New Jersey, and they don't give it all out each year. We don't always get the 3 percent for each species," said Gregory DiDomenico who directs the Garden State Seafood Association.
McCloy said the money would be used for trawl surveys that provide fishery managers with important information.
"That survey is an important program. That RSA is funding that survey," McCloy said.
DiDomenico said the RSA program "was born in the mid-Atlantic" because the New England region was getting $5 million per year in federal fishery research dollars and the middle-Atlantic states were getting no funding.
"We needed money for research. It's not a lot of fish in the grand scheme of things. Would the season be an extra day or week? I'm not downplaying it. It's important to some people," DiDomenico said.
Some commercial fishermen purchase RSA quota, he noted, just so they don't have "to push dead fish overboard." Commercial operations sometimes catch fish they are not targeting, called "bycatch," that they have no government quota to bring ashore. They can purchase that bycatch, DiDomenico said.
Marty Buzas, a commercial fisherman from Wildwood, said he has purchased bluefish RSAs for that reason.
DiDomenico said it has reduced discards of fish that would die anyway. He said the program helps get research, but also helps fishermen.
"Some people have made money by RSAs, but they also haven't thrown fish overboard. I encourage people to get involved with the auctions. It's been a tremendous help to a lot of people," DiDomenico said.
Summer flounder RSAs, DiDomenico noted, often draw some of the highest bids at auction and thus raise a large amount of money for research.
Council Chairman Gilbert Ewing argued it gives those with money an unfair advantage. Boats that fish after the season can draw more customers the next year, he noted.
DiDomenico noted the RSAs can be separated, by request, into small numbers of fish so more can take part in the auctions, which usually happen in December.
The fish councils that propose the quotas each year already have called for a 3 percent RSA for flounder in 2010. The councils are recommending an East Coast quota of 22.13 million pounds. The 3 percent, 663,900 pounds, would come off this quota.
Director David Chanda of the state Division of Fish and Wildlife said the state Department of Environmental Protection intends to look into the RSA program.
"This has evolved over many, many years to what it is today," Chanda said.
DiDomenico said anybody can bid, but they first must join an organization called the National Fisheries Institute at an annual fee of $100. If the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, which regulates fish in this region, needs research, it puts out a "request for proposals," or RFP. The winner of the contract gets paid directly with RSA money.
"Cornell University and the Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences just got funding," DiDomenico said.
Otherwise, why bother? This RSA stuff seems like a charade to me, and I wondered what others think?:don't know why:
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/press/cape_may/article_b5df4ece-9906-11de-9ccf-001cc4c002e0.html
Set-asides mean fluke season not ended for all
By RICHARD DEGENER Staff Writer, 609-463-6711 | Posted: Thursday, September 3, 2009
GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP - Not quite everyone has to stop fishing for summer flounder after today - and that is causing some concern among anglers.
It also may be funding some important scientific research.
But the concern took center stage at Thursday's meeting of the New Jersey Marine Fisheries Council at the Atlantic County Library as a debate raged over a program that allows extra catches of some species in exchange for funding fishery research.
Summer flounder, or fluke, is part of the program in which a "research set-aside," or RSA, totaling 3 percent of the quota is auctioned to the highest bidder and can be landed after the season ends.
Tom McCloy, who heads the New Jersey Marine Fisheries Administration, said the party-boat industry in New York figured this out a few years ago, and more than 30 boats in that state will take people fluke fishing after their season. McCloy said one New Jersey party boat, which he did not identify, bid for RSA fish this year.
"We're in the process of issuing that boat a permit to fish out of season. The season closes tomorrow, except that one boat will be allowed to fish for summer flounder after tomorrow," McCloy said.
Council member Patrick Donnelly said the boat in question has been advertising upcoming flounder trips for $125 per angler when about $40 is the norm. Donnelly argued that this has socioeconomic ramifications with fish essentially going to the highest bidder.
"RSAs come right off the top of the quota. Up to 3 percent of the quota is hijacked by the highest bidder. I imagine that 3 percent would let us fish on Saturday," Donnelly said.
Recreational anglers in the state had a quota this year of 809,000 fluke, so 3 percent would equal 24,270 fish. It may not be that simple, since people in different states can win bids for RSAs.
The RSAs are allowed for fluke, scup, black sea bass, bluefish and loligo squid, all at up to 3 percent. That 3 percent is not divided up among the states. New York and Rhode Island have been among the top bidders.
"Very little goes to New Jersey, and they don't give it all out each year. We don't always get the 3 percent for each species," said Gregory DiDomenico who directs the Garden State Seafood Association.
McCloy said the money would be used for trawl surveys that provide fishery managers with important information.
"That survey is an important program. That RSA is funding that survey," McCloy said.
DiDomenico said the RSA program "was born in the mid-Atlantic" because the New England region was getting $5 million per year in federal fishery research dollars and the middle-Atlantic states were getting no funding.
"We needed money for research. It's not a lot of fish in the grand scheme of things. Would the season be an extra day or week? I'm not downplaying it. It's important to some people," DiDomenico said.
Some commercial fishermen purchase RSA quota, he noted, just so they don't have "to push dead fish overboard." Commercial operations sometimes catch fish they are not targeting, called "bycatch," that they have no government quota to bring ashore. They can purchase that bycatch, DiDomenico said.
Marty Buzas, a commercial fisherman from Wildwood, said he has purchased bluefish RSAs for that reason.
DiDomenico said it has reduced discards of fish that would die anyway. He said the program helps get research, but also helps fishermen.
"Some people have made money by RSAs, but they also haven't thrown fish overboard. I encourage people to get involved with the auctions. It's been a tremendous help to a lot of people," DiDomenico said.
Summer flounder RSAs, DiDomenico noted, often draw some of the highest bids at auction and thus raise a large amount of money for research.
Council Chairman Gilbert Ewing argued it gives those with money an unfair advantage. Boats that fish after the season can draw more customers the next year, he noted.
DiDomenico noted the RSAs can be separated, by request, into small numbers of fish so more can take part in the auctions, which usually happen in December.
The fish councils that propose the quotas each year already have called for a 3 percent RSA for flounder in 2010. The councils are recommending an East Coast quota of 22.13 million pounds. The 3 percent, 663,900 pounds, would come off this quota.
Director David Chanda of the state Division of Fish and Wildlife said the state Department of Environmental Protection intends to look into the RSA program.
"This has evolved over many, many years to what it is today," Chanda said.
DiDomenico said anybody can bid, but they first must join an organization called the National Fisheries Institute at an annual fee of $100. If the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, which regulates fish in this region, needs research, it puts out a "request for proposals," or RFP. The winner of the contract gets paid directly with RSA money.
"Cornell University and the Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences just got funding," DiDomenico said.