FISHERMEN/More BS about Fluke!!!!

[1captainron]

I could hardly believe my eyes when I read that "Primary Data for July & August on Fluke stocks indicate that the catch was in excess of 3 Million Pounds!!!! Is this some kind of Halloween Joke? Do the powers that be really think we are that stupid?

First: Who the hell had their boat in the water, if they had a boat left after the storm?
The Bay and Ocean up here looked like a dessert! Boats didn't start coming back into the Harbor until August and I can tell you for a fact, we were catching CRAP!!! Did all the Southern guys have a banner year? I doubt it, not to the tune of 3 million pounds....

There were no fish (with the exception of the first week or two) in the back bay, the Reach, Old Orchard, West Bank, all were dead zones this season. Unless Capt. John and the Sea Hawk reported some kick ass numbers, I just don't get it!
3 Million pounds? What's the data going to show for the full season 7-8 millions pounds? Same old BS every year and we will pay once again...I don't know about you but I'm sick and tiered of having someone with their thumb in my ass!! Too many years of this crap is starting to take it's toll.., then again, Maybe that's what they want??:mad:
BS. Capt. Ron

[RussA]

It is the tactic they choose to use... They did it to NY for years, welcome aboard, the SS Eff you every chance they get with BS Data.:mad:

[tautog]

Since my average fluke this year weighed 17lbs, I think those numbers are totally plausible.:D

[bowhunter]

I thought our Buddy Frank Palone was going to get this all straightened out.Guess He was too busy helping write Obamacare.Now He's way to busy defending it to help fisherman.

[tuna john]

south sucked... June was ok july no good aug got lil better September was very good. I did a lot of trips had my limit only 4 times. When i was on the party boat in cape may if i said the avg guy had 1 keeper that may be a high estimate

[BigChalupa]

I'll start off by saying I really don't think there is any plausible way to accurately estimate the catch. That being said, 3,000,000 lbs doesn't seem like it would be out of the realm of possibility...

I was out a ton during the summer and the North was far from a dessert. I feel like most boats were back in the water by June.

Not looking to start a war and I don't have any silent motives, just saying if you do the math it doesn't seem far fetched.

[Gerry Zagorski]

This could be part of setting up the doom and gloom negotiation mentality that seems to be pervasive as of late with all the fisheries.

Tell the public you have to close down the fishery because the stocks are depleted. At the last minute your throw them a few scraps so at least they have some season and they are greatful since it was better than no season at all. This is exactly what happened with Cod this past spring and what happened a few years back with Fluke.

[fishpro28]

It is 100% impossible. Fluke fishing was way off this year. It got good in the end (late august-September). I know a lot of guys that lost their boats and didn't bother getting new ones or fishing in general. The South wind and swell that came with it shut everything down and cooled off the water temp. I don't know for a fact but I'm sure given the water temps, shore anglers didn't do that well......so who are the people that magically overfished? Total BS based on made up numbers...

[JBird]

Please post a link to where this BS info came from.

[joe987654321]

Here is a link to article in APP:

http://www.app.com/article/20131101/NJSPORTS06/311010054/Early-data-shows-big-fluke-catch

[Pete]

Ok, I have no idea where the data was posted for. Aren't these numbers usually coast wide? Or are they saying NJ is 3 mil. over? NJ no effing way, not this year! Coastwide it could be possible. NY had a banner year with limit fishing routine, which meant 4 fish @ 19". And further north did just as good. From what I've read and heard Virginia had a good year as well.

Now, could the fish have stayed away from the usual NJ haunts? Very possible. Sandy really put a hurtin' on us. Where was all the bait? Not local, I can tell you that. Was structure destroyed? You bet your butt it was, maybe that kept them away? The fish were clustered together on some small patches rather than a spread all over. Fluking definitely took a hit here in NJ.

If these numbers are coastwide, then maybe we see an increase in bag and season. Statewide we are doomed.

[Capt.Yasar]

3,000,000 pounds of Fluke for 60 days amounts to "DAILY" catch of 50,000 pounds. A DAILY cath of 300 Flukes over 10 pounds, 2000 Fluke 5 pounds each and 900 Fluke 3 punds each. if any days were not fisable that will add to the Fluke numbers to be had to reach approx 3,000,000 pounds......does this sound reasonable to anyone? I'm still scratching my head on this.. to get approximation you can add/decarease numbers 10-pounder(1 fluke)=5-pounders (2 Fish)= 3-pounders (3fish)...again this is approximation.

[RussA]

Welcome to the hell NY faced for years and years... People laughed and said so what, now it comes to their door and knocks and its unfair.

Welcome to NY Redux...

[Solemate]

The real question is where the NMFS gets its data and the accuracy of it.

[Billfish715]

Captain Ron, You would know better than anyone about what goes on during the fluke season. It's your livelihood and your life. You keep logs of your trips and you know your totals for the season. Has anyone from any government division ever asked you or any of the other captains for those logs? Is there someone at the dock to do a survey each day when you or any of the other boats pull in? It's easy to go to the co-ops and check the catch totals for the commercial boats. Those are logged in for payment to the captain. Each co-op has records that can be authenticated. If the feds are saying that we are 3 million pounds over the limit, that would mean we caught over 1.5 million fish more than we should have given an average weight of 1.5 lbs. for each fish. That is interesting since the recreational quota for 2013 was a little over 7.6 million pounds and the commercial quota was a bit over 11 million pounds. If you add the questionable 3 million pounds to the total, the recreational catch for 2013 would be almost the same as the commercial catch (in tons) for the same year. How can that be? I'll guarantee that the recreational catch was not 3 million pounds over. These regulations are supposed to be set by examining "scientific data"! What science and what data? Does someone look at the commercial totals and then figure out the recreational catch from that? Does anyone out there have the formula that is used to compute the quotas? As for the length of the season......it wouldn't have mattered if the season lasted until Christmas. The impact of extending the season would not have any effect on the quota. The idea of having a season is almost as silly as having a quota if you base things on "science". Just my 2 cents

[Pete]

He only cited July and August which came in @ 3 mil. over. Factor in the rest of the season. Look out!!

[shrimpman steve]

Shinannigans!

[Capt Sal]

Put an extra $5 on all fares!!!This will pay the fine and screw the regs!!!!

[Chrisk]

Bribery was legalized in 97 and we did nothing but believe newsmen and now were seeing what a couple bucks will buy in DC.

[dales529]

Not trying to put words in Capt Rons mouth but I believe the intent of the post was to state that the numbers were BS and if you read the article its the same across the board.

See Capt Adam Nowalskys quote below:
"Capt. Adam Nowalsky, chairman of the New Jersey Chapter of the Recreational Fishing Alliance, conceded that the preliminary Wave 4 numbers were very high but said that he didn’t have much faith in them.

“I have no reaction to the number, because I have no faith in it as an actual number,” he said. “It’s only useful for providing trend information over a long period of time. It doesn’t surprise me if it’s high or low, I have no confidence in what it reflects as a specific number.”

He did say the confidence intervals or percentage standard error (PSE) associated with New Jersey’s numbers were very high. The PSE is an an indication of how accurate the data is and the higher that number means there is a greater range of what the actual number might be. The bottom line is that the numbers are far from certain.

Nowalsky said that the ASMFC went ahead and initiated an addendum on Tuesday to take a look at alternative management strategies for summer flounder in 2014. Those strategies will be worked out over the next six weeks and while no specifics were given, Nowalsky said ideas might include a more regional-based management system.

Nowalsky said he had no expectation of what impact Sandy would have had on the data because, “whatever it spits out is as random as throwing dice. I continue to hold that belief. ”

So given that this is the same fight every year: The data is flawed and not even real at this point. The fight will be fought again and you see that those who choose to fight are already ON THE CASE. That is why is sooo important to support the fishing rights club of your choice because they are the ones that GO to the meetings and question the data and fight for better data. Unfortunate it has to be done this way.

So in a sense yet another political post! They post the BS and we react/ accuse which is what they want because we don't react in force and dollars which is the only way to CHANGE the system.
Also doesn't matter which "political party" Both sides get greased and some from each side help while some from each side don't help.

SSFFF also ON THE CASE as always with their studies to prove this wrong.

[Rich Pfish]

Does the SSFFF still exist or was that a wasted donation? I went to DC also. Had a great time on the bus but was that a wasted day as well?

I am losing faith and believe we have lost the war against the liberals.