Final Sea Bass and Blackfish Proposals

[Angler Paul]

Below are the options that are expected to be voted on at the next meeting of New Jersey Marine Fisheries Council. It will be held on the 2nd Thursday, May 10, 2012 at 4:00 p.m. at the Galloway Township Library, Jimmie Leeds Road, Absecon, NJ.

At the JCAA meeting last night our member clubs voted unanimously to support option 2. Our opinion on each option is as follows:

Option 1 - Leaves the inshore fishermen little to fish for after fluke season concludes on 9/28.
Option 2 - Though we lose the period from 9/4 - 9/22, this option allows us to fish from 9/23 - 10/14. Therefore we have something to fish for after fluke season closes. Federal waters are also currently scheduled to be open through 10/14. (We are hopeful that NMFS will not alter the season that was previously approved by the MAMFC)
Option 3 - We would only gain 11 days in the Sept/Oct
period for giving up all of November and December.
Option 4 - It would be nice to be able to fish well into the fall but the problem is that from 10/15 - 10/31 we would be restricted to fishing in state waters as federal waters will be closed during that period.



Sea Bass Proposals
All options include 12.5-inch size limit and 25-fish possession limit.


Options Open Season # Days Open
2011 Regulations May 28 through September 11 and
November 1 through December 31 168
Originally approved 2012 option May 28 through October 14 and
November 1 through December 31 210
1 May 19 through September 25 and
November 1 through December 31 191
2 May 19 through September 3
September 23 through October 14 and November 1 – December 31 191
3 May 19 through October 6 141
4 May 19 through June 17;
July 1 through September 3 and
September 29 through December 31 189


Regarding blackfish this is the only option expected to be voted on and it is an improvement from the regulations that had previously been set.

Blackfish Proposal - 15" size limit with all portions of the season

1/1 - 2/29 - 4 fish
3/1 - 3/31 - closed
4/1 - 4/30 - 4 fish
5/1 - 7/16 - closed
7/17 - 11/15 - 1 fish
11/16 - 12/31 - 6 fish

[Ryan W]

Thank you very much for the update paul. Do you have any idea whether the idea of SB open in January (both state and federal) is still under consideration?

[captadamnj]

Yes, it's under consideration. Hoping for the best.

[SaltLife1980]

I like the looks of the Black Fish Proposal!

That would be great... IMO:cool:

[Ryan W]

Yes, it's under consideration. Hoping for the best.

Thank you very much Capt. Adam

[SaltyAngler]

Bump. :)

[Blackfish Doug]

I wonder if any of our sponsors are considering a RSA permit so we could still fish for Sea Bass during that closure period. I would love to see that as others here would as well. I would not underestimate your Sea Bass customer base. I see a lot of our NJ fisherman fishing the NY RSA boats.

[Jay]

I wonder if any of our sponsors are considering a RSA permit so we could still fish for Sea Bass during that closure period. I would love to see that as others here would as well. I would not underestimate your Sea Bass customer base. I see a lot of our NJ fisherman fishing the NY RSA boats.

I wonder why here in NJ, they don't acquire these permits, a lot of NS Long Island Boats, have been catching them up pretty good.

[RnK]

will third that - would be great, we'd jump on some trips

[Gerry Zagorski]

I wonder why here in NJ, they don't acquire these permits, a lot of NS Long Island Boats, have been catching them up pretty good.

Not sure if this is available here in NJ and if it is, I think boat owners might be looking at this option as a slippery slope here in NJ. If captain "x" buys one then captain "y" is forced to buy one and now they are both paying more to fish.

Seems to me this pay to play mentality is just a way to get everyone to pay more for a fishery that is a natural resource and should be free.

I'm a novice on these matters so I might be all wet here.

[tautog]

I believe not many boats get the RSA here because the state is very slow in moving along the paperwork to allow them to fish as compared to NY which seems to be more efficient. I remember that several boats tried in the past and the state held up their paperwork for months after the official season opened, let alone in time for early fishing.

[Jay]

I believe not many boats get the RSA here because the state is very slow in moving along the paperwork to allow them to fish as compared to NY which seems to be more efficient. I remember that several boats tried in the past and the state held up their paperwork for months after the official season opened, let alone in time for early fishing.

@ Tautog, understood, there not slow sending your tax bill, sewer bill and all other crap they charge you for.

@ Gerry, I understand your outlook on this matter. Hands down, I've been following lots of boats that sail in Long Island and Brooklyn, there catching them up pretty good. I'm pretty sure, whatever fee there charging they'll make it up with the patrons. The bottom fishing has been hot there for quite some time.

[SaltLife1980]

Just hope they figure out something better then what they have now.

[Angler Paul]

Option 2 for sea bass passed as well as the blackfish proposal. However, it was pointed out that the proposed regulation to open sea bass in federal waters on 5/19 has not yet been signed into law and probably will not be signed by that time. Therefore as of now the federal regulations remain the same as they were last year with the season opening on 5/22.

[scubanut]

Just curious if in fact the seabass season will not open until 5/22 then why if you go to www.nj.gov and look up marine saltwater 2012 regs does it already state that the season opens up on 5/19.

[CaptTB]

Just curious if in fact the seabass season will not open until 5/22 then why if you go to www.nj.gov (http://www.nj.gov) and look up marine saltwater 2012 regs does it already state that the season opens up on 5/19.Because the state voted to open the season on May 19th, the same as the MAFMC voted to open it in federal waters on May 19th.

However, with federal rules the MAFMC does not set policy, it only makes recommendations to NMFS. All federal regulations must be implemented by NMFS, and they have not done that yet (even though the MAFMC voted for it in December of last year)

So, it may open in state waters on 5/19 but not necessarily in federal waters (outside 3 miles)

From NMFS last week:

Clarification -- MANAGEMENT MEASURES ARE FOR RECREATIONAL FISHERMEN ONLY!

NOAA is currently in the process of finalizing new federal fishery management measures for the summer flounder, scup and black sea bass recreational fishery for the 2012 fishing year. Included in these measures is a recommendation by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council to open the black sea bass recreational fishing season three days earlier this year – on May 19. We remain hopeful that we will be able to implement these measures before the new start date. However, we do want to caution fishermen that there is a chance this will not happen. If we are not able to finalize the new regulations in time, the black sea bass recreational fishing season would open on May 22, 2012 as it has done in previous years.
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