2013 Fluke Regulations Set

[Angler Paul]

The NJMFC voted unanimously in favor of a recreational fluke season that will begin on May 18th and end on September 16th, with a 17 1/2" size limit and a five fish bag limit. The groups I represented at the meeting supported a longer season or at least one that extended the season further into the fall. However, the vast majority of those who spoke favored the option that was chosen. However, there is still a little ray of hope that the season might be extended further. After all states have set their regulations, the ASMFC will review them. If they determine that the regulations are likely to result in a coastwide underage of the quota they may allow New Jersey and New York to liberalize their regulations somewhat. New Jersey and New York were the only two states who were forced to take a reduction due to overfishing their quotas last year. If the ASMFC does allow us to liberalize somewhat the NJMFC may do so by adding a few days to the end of our season. However, there was some concern by council members that doing so could cause us to exceed our quota. I pointed out that we are more likely to underfish our quota this year because there will be far less participation. This is due to all the marinas, boats and coastal homes that were damaged or lost due to Hurricane Sandy. If we are given the option to liberalize further, the NJMFC will consider doing so at their next meeting on May 2nd.
The NJBMF is still working on the sea bass options for this year. They are expected to be ready sometime in the near future. The regulations will then be set at the NJMFC meeting on May 2nd.

Paul Haertel

[SaltLife1980]

But we did not over fish our quota.. So how come we are taking the heat for it.. They really have no idea how many were taken..

Glad we only lost 20 days instead of more.. I think it will be fine.

[Rob B]

thats not to bad,i guess it could have been worse.

[JBird]

I guess I'm not shocked these clowns didn't consider that participation will be much lower this year due to Sandy. Take one look at Atlantic Highlands Harbor and you will know that far fewer people will be fishing this year. I'd be surprised if all those piers get fixed this year at all. At least the size limit stayed the same.

[vinntastic]

just seen on channel 12 news today [friday] summer flounder season cut 25 days shorter...

[Mike K]

Thank you for your efforts Paul.

[Blackfish Doug]

Hey Paul why is there no talk ever about the winter Flounder? I feel like most the creel limit should be increased or a federal water season say like a fall season to fill in the gaps. There are plenty of deep water Flounder around in the early fall that could fill in those gaps even if it's 2 fish. Those Flounder are big & 2 of those fish could easily feed 3 people or more.

[broken bobber]

just seen on channel 12 news today [friday] summer flounder season cut 25 days shorter...

yeaaaaa... that was a great choice..... :mad:

[Flygaff]

I'm sorry guys but my stand on the NMFS is this. I throw back 90% of all the fish I catch. I pay my taxes to the state and the federal government. I believe in not wasting our natural resources but... If I want to keep a fish that day for dinner or whatever, I will keep it. It is the commercials that need to be controlled.

[Reel Class]

Hey Paul why is there no talk ever about the winter Flounder? I feel like most the creel limit should be increased or a federal water season say like a fall season to fill in the gaps. There are plenty of deep water Flounder around in the early fall that could fill in those gaps even if it's 2 fish. Those Flounder are big & 2 of those fish could easily feed 3 people or more.

Agree 100% Doug. Anything on this Paul? It'd be nice to legally keep flounder when we pull them outta the bottom in 200' during the summer when we ling fish :D

[AndyS]

This year you lose 20 days, next year you lose 25 days and the year after that you will lose 30, better shine up the golf clubs now, and don't forget to sign the useless Saltwater Registry.

[acl1075]

I agree about recreational participation by the private boat owner, who isnt going to launch his boat this year(myself included) being way down. But I bet the Head Boats will be railed. Good for them

[captain george angler]

You got it. We were railed last year, Only down 18% from 2011 with a longer season. This year they cut us 15% off the bat. The 17 1/2 inch size limit did nothing for us but I read time after time it is good for the charter and head boats. I was the only head boat captain from north Jersey at yesterdays meeting and I asked for an 18 inch fluke and longer season. The only other person I saw from North jersey was John Toth from Bergan County Anglers and they wanted option 2. This was the poorest turnout I have seen in years and years of going to these meetings. I can only guess that if we had the May 4 to September 25 option there would have been a better turn out. Captain George Angler

[biggamefisherman1000]

The NJMFC voted unanimously in favor of a recreational fluke season that will begin on May 18th and end on September 16th, with a 17 1/2" size limit and a five fish bag limit. The groups I represented at the meeting supported a longer season or at least one that extended the season further into the fall. However, the vast majority of those who spoke favored the option that was chosen. However, there is still a little ray of hope that the season might be extended further. After all states have set their regulations, the ASMFC will review them. If they determine that the regulations are likely to result in a coastwide underage of the quota they may allow New Jersey and New York to liberalize their regulations somewhat. New Jersey and New York were the only two states who were forced to take a reduction due to overfishing their quotas last year. If the ASMFC does allow us to liberalize somewhat the NJMFC may do so by adding a few days to the end of our season. However, there was some concern by council members that doing so could cause us to exceed our quota. I pointed out that we are more likely to underfish our quota this year because there will be far less participation. This is due to all the marinas, boats and coastal homes that were damaged or lost due to Hurricane Sandy. If we are given the option to liberalize further, the NJMFC will consider doing so at their next meeting on May 2nd.
The NJBMF is still working on the sea bass options for this year. They are expected to be ready sometime in the near future. The regulations will then be set at the NJMFC meeting on May 2nd.

Paul Haertel

It would be cool if they could increase the bag limit. It was better like 2 years ago when it was a 8 fish per person. But this state has better fluke regulations than New York.

[biggamefisherman1000]

You got it. We were railed last year, Only down 18% from 2011 with a longer season. This year they cut us 15% off the bat. The 17 1/2 inch size limit did nothing for us but I read time after time it is good for the charter and head boats. I was the only head boat captain from north Jersey at yesterdays meeting and I asked for an 18 inch fluke and longer season. The only other person I saw from North jersey was John Toth from Bergan County Anglers and they wanted option 2. This was the poorest turnout I have seen in years and years of going to these meetings. I can only guess that if we had the May 4 to September 25 option there would have been a better turn out. Captain George Angler

Yes. Even decreasing the bag limit for just 1/2 inch is not worth it. I agree with you.

[Angler Paul]

John Toth of the SWABC actually testified in favor of option 3.

[Angler Paul]

Here is the only thing I have recently heard about concerning winter flounder:

The NJ DEP Division of Fish and Wildlife is advising the public that
comments are being accepted until April 10 on the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission's (ASMFC) Draft Addendum III to Amendment 1 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for the Inshore Stocks of Winter Flounder. The Draft Addendum proposes an annual specification process to set commercial and recreational fisheries measures for the Gulf of Maine (GOM) and Southern New England/Mid-Atlantic (SNE/MA) fisheries.

The ASMFC manages the inshore stocks (0 - 3 miles from shore) of winter flounder in the GOM and SNE/MA. The New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) manages winter flounder in offshore waters (3 - 200 miles). NEFMC annually establishes specifications for winter flounder stocks, including an annual catch limit (ACL), the allocation of the ACL by sub-component, and accountability measures (AMs). The federal sub-components of the ACL are subject to the established AMs. These specifications are forwarded to NOAA Fisheries Northeast Region for final approval.

Since the ACL must account for all winter flounder harvest, state water harvest is estimated as part of the federal specification process. The state water estimate is not an allocation (ACL or a target), but an estimate of catch based on the state water landings history and state regulations in both the commercial and recreational fisheries.

The Draft Addendum proposes an annual specification process to set commercial and recreational fisheries measures, including trip limits, seasons, size limits, and possession limits, that are based on the federally-established state water sub-component ACL. These measures would be subject to review by the Commission's Winter Flounder Technical Committee and approval by the Management Board. The Draft Addendum also proposes a harvest control measure using a trigger that will reduce commercial trip limits when a specified percentage of the state water sub-ACL is reached.

Since New Jersey is not conducting a public hearing on Draft Addendum III, fishermen and other interested groups are encouraged to provide written comments to ASMFC. Draft Addendum III is available on the Commission website ( www.asmfc.org/ ) under Breaking News or by contacting the Commission at 703.842.0740. Public comment will be accepted until 5:00 PM (EST) on April 10, 2013 and should be forwarded to Melissa Yuen, FMP Coordinator, at 1050 N. Highland St., Suite 200 A-N, Arlington, VA 22201; 703.842.0741 (FAX) or myuen@asmfc.org (Subject line: Winter Flounder Draft Addendum III). For more information, please contact Melissa Yuen at myuen@asmfc.org .

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[broken bobber]

This year you lose 20 days, next year you lose 25 days and the year after that you will lose 30, better shine up the golf clubs now, and don't forget to sign the useless Saltwater Registry.

BINGO....

[BigBull]

Hey Paul why is there no talk ever about the winter Flounder? I feel like most the creel limit should be increased or a federal water season say like a fall season to fill in the gaps. There are plenty of deep water Flounder around in the early fall that could fill in those gaps even if it's 2 fish. Those Flounder are big & 2 of those fish could easily feed 3 people or more.
Only problem is even if there was a federal waters open season you would still have to bring those fish back through state waters and a closed season therefore making your legal federal water catch now an illegal state water catch subjecting you to fines and other state bs

[Blackfish Doug]

Only problem is even if there was a federal waters open season you would still have to bring those fish back through state waters and a closed season therefore making your legal federal water catch now an illegal state water catch subjecting you to fines and other state bs

Thanks this does makes sense so I guess what we need is a open a late summer to fall season. If we don't try to put any effort into trying getting something started it won't happen. Thanks for the info Paul I'm going to try & contact that number & see what happens. Thanks George Angler for going to that meeting we all know you care about the Fluke industry. It's just a shame that so many people did not show up. It goes to show you that a small contingent of fisherman from Cape May swayed the vote to favor the southern region. It happened for the last 2 years I think the next time we read about the whiners we should all ask where were you when the vote was going down.

[dakota560]

What I fail to understand is why any additional cuts are necessary. The stock non scientifically appears to be extremely healthy at least in northern New Jersey and surrounding waters. I would challenge the scientists if they believe the stocks aren't significantly more healthy than 5 years ago, both in terms of quantity and quality. If the powers to be would simply better manage, not regulate out of business, the commercial interests, we would NEVER have to lose another day to the season or lower the current creel limit. As long as the stock isn't decimated and you give the current biomass of fish a chance to spawn for a few years, there's no reason to be reducing seasons by 15% or greater. Again, recreational fishing pressure, no matter how great it is, will NEVER decimate a stock of fish.

Same with Striped Bass, remember 20 - 25 years ago they were on the verge of collapse. As long as the base stock is healthy and you take away the commercial pressure which caused the collapse in the first place, the fishery will sustain itself. No need for draconian cuts, it's ridiculous. Losing two or three weeks in an already shortened season is SIGNIFICANT! Especially in prime time September. Sad.....in a few years this is what we'll be looking at.

Fluke regulations were just approved for the 2017 season.The daily creel limit has been cut by just one fish but since last years limit was only two fish that amounted to a 50% reduction in your daily allotment. On a positive note, the open season was extended by 100% to help lessen the impact of the creel limit reduction to the average recreational angler. For 2017, the open season is June 3rd through June 17th or two weeks. Since last years open season was only a week, we hope all recreational fisherman can appreciate the 100% increase to the season. Unfortunately, due to the significant increase in the open season, fishing on Saturday or Sunday will be restricted from 6pm through 6am. No daytime fluke fishing will be allowed by recreational anglers during the extended 2017 two week season to insure the operations of commercial interests are not interfered with. I hope everyone can appreciate the significance of these changes and the efforts put forth to protect your, I mean commercial guys, resources. Additionally and probably the most significant change, the size limit has also been reduced from the current 29.5 inches to 29.25, a huge benefit to the recreational fishing community!

Don't laugh, it's the direction we're headed.

Dakota

[GDubya07]

Captain George and Paul

Thank you for your efforts - we will see what happens this year -

I love Fluke fishing it is my favorite next to Flounder and it would be awesome and great if we can get a daily 1 flounder fish year round (just in case fish) and just close the seaon - it was only 2 fish anyway -

Fluking this year will be very interesting - definatley a reduction in boats on the water - less pressure - less catching - less landings ????? lets see the math this year and what exscuse is used . I am watching this one .

Cant wait to get back out on the water - See everyone soon

Be Well Be safe and Post up

GDubs-:cool: