Fluke and Sea bass Regulation Update 3-27-14

[Angler Paul]

Fluke and Sea bass Regulation Update 3/27/14


There will be a special meeting of theNJMFC that will be held at 4 PM on April 3rd at the Stafford Township Municipa lbuilding located at 260 East Bay Av., Manahawkin. Regulations for both fluke and sea bass will be decided at that meeting following public comment. All concerned fishermen are encouraged to voice their opinions at this meeting. There was another advisors meeting on 3/27/14. Regarding fluke there were no changes in the options being considered.

The majority of advisors favored option 2 but I sensed that there was also considerable support for option 1. I believe that either option has a good chance of being adopted. I think whichever one has the most public support at the upcoming NJMFC meeting will be the one that is chosen.

Option 1 - 18" size limit, 5 fish bag limit, season May 17th - September 21st
Option 2 - 18"size limit, 5 fish bag limit, season May 23rd - September 27th

There is also the possibility of a special 16" size limit for shore based fishermen at Island Beach State Park.
This is a proposed pilot program that could be expanded to other areas next year. This possible option is being developed further and may be explained at the meeting on 4/3.
However, if it moves forward, it will not be voted on until the council's May meeting

Regarding sea bass there were a couple new options developed pertaining to the split
bag season. One in particular garnered unanimous support.

This new option is as follows:
12" size limit, 15 fish bag limit from 5/19 - 6/30,
3 fish bag limit from 7/1 - 8/31,
15 fish bag limit from 9/1 - 9/6 and a
15 fish bag limit from 10/18 - 12/31.

There were 7 other options that were considered and at least a couple of them will be presented at the
meeting on 4/3.
Idon't want to speculate on which ones they might be but I will let you
know once they are finalized by the council.

[DarkSkies]

Paul...As always, thank you for all the effort you put in attending these meetings and speaking out for fishermen quota.

[DarkSkies]

A friend and fellow fisherman, Bucktail Willie, sent this on to me...thought some would like to read it....



"As a Summer flounder advisor to ASMFC I sat in the NJ Marine Council meeting with advisors last night where summer flounder and Sea Bass regulations were discussed and recommendations made to submit to public in the April 3rd meeting

Contrary to what some have been told the 2014 size limit is SET at 18" as well as the number of days allowed at 128... Yet to be determined is Start and Stop dates for NJ

I was only one in meeting representing recreational fishermen from South Jersey. Balance of advisors were Charter boat Capt's or North Jersey organizations like United Boatman,JCAA

The summer flounder recommendation coming out of meeting and to be presented to Public is a Start date of Friday May23rd (Memorial Day Weekend) and Stop date of Sept 27th I was only one voting for a May 17th start and Sept 21 stop. These were the only 2 options to vote on

South Jersey inshore fishermen get hurt with this later start in my opinion based on 20 years of tagging results ..
SO IF YOU WANT TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE the only way this can be changed is if South Jersey shows up at the April 3rd meeting... Last year the South Jersey influence was successful in getting the early start,

The meeting is 4pm on April 3rd in Manahawkin ,not the best place or time for South Jersey participation but it is what it is ADDRESS is 260 Bay Av in the Municipal Building

I will be going to meeting and it anyone needs a ride contact me as I can take a couple

You can thank your NJ Governor and politicians for higher size and shorter season as a result of Regionalization because they were asleep while. New York Governor and NY politicians worked together in support of their fishermen and were able to push through regionalization and get a decrease in size and take allocation from NJ

NY will realize a 1" DECREASE in size to 18" and NJ will see a 1/2 " INCREASE to 18" as a result.

While this has only been approved for one year there is a real risk in my mind the 2014 summer flounder will be over fished as a result of the 1" increase in New York. New York has over fished it's allotment every year the past 4 with size limits of 19-21" ... As a result regardless of how regionalization goes in future NJ will be hit hard in 2015

The regulations will have little effect on me as I will continue to tag 95% of what I catch but this will have serious effect on the average summer flounder fishermen
I would encourage fishermen in they can to attend the April 3rd meeing

As a result of regionaliztion IF you are fishing in Delaware Bay you could be fishing next to a Delaware boat allowed to keep 16" while you have to keep 18" fish

SEA BASS --The Sea Bass recommendation had no opposition .It will look like this
12.5 " open MAY 15TH- JUNE 30TH with 15 fish
JUL1 -- AUG 31 with 3 fish
SEPT 1- SEPT 6 with 15 fish
OCT 18 ----- DEC 31 with 15 fish total 185 days
There will be a couple of other options with a few less days to review at the meeting

If you have any questions feel free to contact me by e-mail and I will do my best to answer any questions




BILL SHILLINGFORD
WWW.BUCKTAILWILLIE.COM (http://www.bucktailwillie.com/)















**Paul, and others, we all owe you a big thanks. There should be more fishermen attending these meetings. Traditionally, the same few show up....yet many will gripe when the regs are changed to something they aren't happy with.

Our country was founded on the principles of democracy and freedom of speech, yet every year less and less participate in this process.
Just wanted to say that it is easy to sit on the internet and talk about things in the abstract. It's a lot harder to consistently go to those meetings and report on them, especially when you receive little regular feedback.

Paul and others, your efforts are appreciated....and many fishermen owe you a debt of gratitude for your efforts. Thanks! :thumbsup: :HappyWave:

[buckethead]

Thank you for making the meetings Paul. It must seem like a thankless job. It is appreciated

[bababooey]

Thanks for the hard work please keep us updated. I completely disageee with lumping the states together. Seems like we got the short straw on that one.