Bonus Fluke for NJ?

[Angler Paul]

I just thought I would share this letter I wrote on behalf of JCAA pertaining to draft addendum XXIV for summer flounder. If option 2 is passed it would create an opportunity for the NJMFC to request additional fluke be added to our quota for this year. If that happens our season could be extended into the fall. I wrote a similar letter for the Berkeley Striper Club. BSC and JCAA were two of only three organizations to summit comments on this matter. I believe the other group was from Virginia.
There will be a conference call on this matter held by the ASMFC on Wednesday, April 17, 2013 at 1:00 P.M. On the call the Board will review and consider final action on Draft Addendum XXIV (“sharing” recreational summer flounder). If the Draft Addendum is approved then the Board would also consider any proposal from states to utilize the additional RHL that is available. Those interested may listen in on the webinar.


To join the webinar please register at:

https://www3.gotomeeting.com/join/299081278

Paul Haertel
2nd VP JCAA
Legislative Chairman BSC



4/12/13

Toni Kerns
ASMFC
1050 N. Highland St., Suite 200 A-N
Arlington, Va. 22201


Toni,


The Jersey Coast Anglers Association which has approximately 75 member clubs supports option 2 of section 3.0 of Draft Addendum XXIV to the Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass Fishery Management Plan. We believe that it would be wise to fully utilize any projected underage of the RHL since participation in the recreational summer flounder fishery will be down significantly due to the damage caused by Super Storm Sandy.
There seems to be little downside to the utilization of additional harvest limits for this year. The only negative would be that if the projected underage of fish was allowed to be utilized and then the coast wide quota was exceeded, it could cause a reduction of the coast wide quota for 2014. However, it is very unlikely that this will happen this year. When the coast wide quota was set for 2013 and the states were assigned their allocations, they were forced to develop regulations that would most likely result in them not exceeding their quotas.
However, the problem for this year is these regulations are based on the states having nearly the same amount of participation that they had in prior years. There is no doubt that participation in New Jersey and other states affected by Super Storm Sandy will be down significantly. Many of the marinas in New Jersey were damaged or destroyed and may not open again until later in the season if they are able to open at all. In New Jersey alone there are an estimated 58,000 boats that were lost or damaged. Further, many fishermen who live in the shore area had their homes damaged or destroyed. Access to the beach for those who like to fish there is still restricted in many places. The situation is similar in other states as well and therefore not nearly as many people will be able to go fishing this year. Option 2 would allow states like New Jersey to liberalize their regulations somewhat. More specifically, if New Jersey were to receive approval to utilize a portion of the projected underage of the RHL, it would likely result in the NJ Marine Fisheries Council extending the fluke season into the fall. New Jersey had to reduce its season by 25 days from what is was last year so that it would not have to increase the size limit or reduce the bag limit. Extending the season would allow our state to stabilize its regulations by having a similar season length as last year. An extended season would result in many fishermen continuing to come to the New Jersey shore thereby giving a much needed boost to the local economy.

[1captainron]

That's great Paul, now all we have to do is "NOT OVERFISH" like they say we always do!! :rolleyes:

[bunker dunker]

Easy Ron,the Season Is Just Starting.there Will Be Plenty Of Time
To Get Upset.just Keep The Bottle Of 20 Year Old Close.;)

[Sharkyispy]

Paul, first, thank you for representing. Very well written and outlines a legitimate view on why it should be extended. Let's hope they see this with open eyes and realize the impact.

Mike

[SaltyAngler]

Thank you for your efforts and for representing our community, Paul.

A bonus fluke would be a good fluke indeed, though I'd be more interested in the extended season. (as I'm sure many others would be)

[Angler Paul]

The bonus fluke would be additional fish that would most likely be used to extend our season. However, there are some things that have to happen.
1. The ASMFC has to approve the addendum ao their conference call tomorrow.
2. Then the ASMFC would have to determine what the projected coast wide underage will be.
3. This underage would then be available to any states that request to utilize some of it provided that the ASMFC approves their request. It will most likely be approved for the only two states that had to reduce their quotas this year, NJ and NY.
4. The NJMFC would have to request that our state receive some of the underage and explain why we need it.
5. If all the above were to work out the NJMFC would then probably vote to extend our season at their July meeting though it might be possible that this could be done at their May meeting if everyone moves quickly. The number of days we could extend the season will depend on the number of fish we receive if any.

Anyway, there are a lot of ifs but lets keep our fingers crossed and I will keep you guys informed.

[Angler Paul]

Initially I only thought the public coiuld listen to the webinar but we can call in as well. Here is the info., conference call 1PM Wednesday 4/17.

The public is welcome to listen in on the discussion by phone (888.394.8197; passcode 815277) and view the webinar using the following link https://www3.gotomeeting.com/join/299081278. The meeting agenda is posted to the Commission website at http://www.asmfc.org/meetings/sfScupBSBBdConfCall_April2013.pdf. Time permitting, there will be a limited opportunity to provide comments at the end of the agenda. The Board Chair will provide additional information on the procedures for accepting public comment at the beginning of the conference call. We ask the public and other nonparticipating attendees to please mute their phones in order to minimize distractions to the Board’s deliberations.

[Gerry Zagorski]

Thanks for getting behind this Paul.. It would be nice to finally get a break for a change.

[Fish The Drop Off]

Thanks for getting behind this Paul.. It would be nice to finally get a break for a change.



Get a break??? They already voted to reduce the 2014 Quota by 10%. They would have to change that before we see a break. For the guys fishing this year fish hard and take what you can because next year your season is going to be shorter until they raise the QUOTA. Fight for a longer season is great but how about fighting for more Quota???????

[RussA]

That's great Paul, now all we have to do is "NOT OVERFISH" like they say we always do!! :rolleyes:

Good luck with that one lol!

My prediction is they will say you over fished and next year NY and NJ will have almost identical regulations.

[GDubya07]

Paul

Thank you for your time and efforts with this and it is a great idea.

What I cant wait to see is ? What kind of numbers and BS they come up with to reduce our numbers next year with the obvious less participation, boats and anglers, we should get an increase ? Right ???

BTW - the only bonus fish I catch if I dont George Em. If I catcth the fish its a bonus

BOO-YAH

I think I am funny

Tee Hee Mee - G - :cool:

[Sharkyispy]

The Atlantic City Press has erroneously reported that the fluke extension has been put in place until Sept 27th:(


http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/breaking/new-jersey-flounder-season-extended-to-sept/article_30bfcbda-a792-11e2-a666-0019bb2963f4.html

[Angler Paul]

I listened in on the entire ASMFC conference call on 4/17. While most of the AC Press report is correct, it jumped the gun a bit as our regualtions have to be set by our marine fisheries council. Our representatives on the ASMFC supported Addendum XXIV which allowed the projected underage of the coastwide quota to be utilized by New Jersey and New
York. Our marine biologists, specifically Pete Himchak spoke of the importance of allowing our state to add extra days to the end of our season to accommodate surfcasters and others who like to fish for fluke at that time of the year.
These are bonus fish that would increase our overall quota for this year and it seems like a no brainer to me that we would accept them. However, at tonight's (4/18) NJMFC advisors meeting for sea bass, a couple advisors and council members expressed concerns about accepting these fish. Ultimately our council might decide not to accept any of the fish, or accept all of them and extend our season by 11 days or somewhere in between and perhaps utilize some of what was offered and extend our season by perhaps 6 days. The decision was made to have another fluke advisors meeting and to consider any changes to the fluke regualtions at the JULY NJMFC meeting.
The ASMFC also voted to allow all states in the northern area by 24% rather than the 32% that we had been told previously. The majority of advisors and council members present favored the following option for sea bass with a 12 1/2" size limit, 20 fish bag limit with seasons from 5/19-8/8, 9/27-10/14 and 11/1-12/31. That will result in an open season of 161 days, 30 less than we had last year. The only problem now as I see it, is that if our fluke season ends on 9/16 and the sea bass season is closed until 9/27, there will be little for inshore fishermen to fish for inshore during those 11 days. We really need you guys to come to the NJMFC meeeting and urge our council members to add these additional days to our season. Again, any change in the fluke regulations will not be considered at the July meeeting. However, the sea bass regualtions will be set at the NJMFC meeting on 5/2. While I expect the option I mentioned to be the one chosen, there will be additional options made available to the public in the near future.

Paul Haertel
2nd VP JCAA