Found this on the net


Sea bass

On 2/14/13 the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (MAFMC) voted to accept the recommendation of their Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) to increase the Allowable Biological Catch (ABC) to 5.5 million pounds. This is an increase of 1 million pounds from what was initially approved. The ABC will be split with 51% going to the recreational sector and 49% to the commercial sector. However, we are still going to end up with more stringent regulations than last year as the increase will not cover the overage that occurred in the recreational sector last year. Still, regulations are expected to be much better than the draconian measures that the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) was set to consider at their upcoming meeting on 2/21/13. The various proposals included reductions for New Jersey that ranged from approximately 44-53%. At their upcoming meeting, the ASMFC will discuss various state by state and regional options but with the increase in the harvest limit the reductions will no longer be as severe. Once one of the options is approved it will be up to the individual states or regions to develop regulations that comply with that option. The New Jersey representatives to the ASMFC will work closely with the New Jersey Bureau of Marine Fisheries (NJBMF) in attempting to have the best possible options and regulations approved for our state. On 2/26/13, the NJBMF will hold an advisors meeting before the New Jersey Marine Fisheries Council (NJMFC) is expected to finalize our regulations at their March 7th meeting.

UPDATE – 2/21/13
I listened in on the sea bass portion of ASMFC webinar today. The commission voted for option 4 of Addendum XXIII which is for Ad Hoc Regional Measures. They also approved the 1 million pound increase that the MAMFC previously approved. Our state will now be in the region with the states to our north. This will result in New Jersey and the other northern states having to develop regulations intended to reduce their catch by about 32-34%. The exact reduction percentage will be calculated within the next few days after which the States will have to come up with proposals that meet the mandated reduction. This may take time and therefore it is unknown if our State will have any proposed regulations approved by the ASMFC in time for the advisors meeting. The size limit is expected to remain at 12 ½” but the bag limit may be reduced. Our season will be shortened significantly and I anticipate that we will have a lengthy mid-season closure. Though that is no good, it would likely allow sea bass season to be open after the fluke season closes. At least that would give inshore fishermen something to fish for as not many stripers will have arrived and the limit on blackfish at that time of the year will probably be only one.