Fluke and Sea Bass Regulation Update 3/27/14

[Angler Paul]

Fluke and Sea bass Regulation Update 3/27/14

There will be a special meeting of the NJMFC that will be held at 4 PM on April 3rd at the Stafford Township Municipal building located at 260 East Bay Av., Manahawkin. Regulations for both fluke and sea bass will be decided at that meeting following public comment. All concerned fishermen are encouraged to voice their opinions at this meeting.
There was another advisors meeting on 3/27/14. Regarding fluke there were no changes in the options being considered. The majority of advisors favored option 2 but I sensed that there was also considerable support for option 1. I believe that either option has a good chance of being adopted. I think whichever one has the most public support at the upcoming NJMFC meeting will be the one that is chosen.
Option 1 - 18” size limit, 5 fish bag limit, season May 17th – September 21st
Option 2 – 18” size limit, 5 fish bag limit, season May 23rd – September 27th
There is also the possibility of a special 16” size limit for shore based fishermen at Island Beach State Park. This is a proposed pilot program that could be expanded to other areas next year. This possible option is being developed further and may be explained at the meeting on 4/3. However, if it moves forward, it will not be voted on until the council’s May meeting
Regarding sea bass there were a couple new options developed pertaining to the split bag season. One in particular garnered unanimous support. This new option is as follows:12 ½” size limit, 15 fish bag limit from 5/19 – 6/30, 3 fish bag limit from 7/1 – 8/31, 15 fish bag limit from 9/1 – 9/6 and a 15 fish bag limit from 10/18 – 12/31. There were 7 other options that were considered and at least a couple of them will be presented at the meeting on 4/3. I don’t want to speculate on which ones they might be but I will let you
know once they are finalized by the council.

Paul Haertel
President, JCAA

[HDMarc]

I'd like to see option 2 for fluke get passed and go later into the season. Thanks for all your efforts and keeping us informed Paul.

[Gerry Zagorski]

I like option 2 too. Especially this year because I think we are going to have a late start because of the low water temps we have now.

[Sharkyispy]

As Marc said, thanks for all you do and keeping us looped in on status.

[Garone Custom Rods]

These morons in fisheries need to have their head examined with these ridiculous sea bass options!

[GDubya07]

These morons in fisheries need to have their head examined with these ridiculous sea bass options!

x2 - Wow - that really sucks for a fishery that is supposed to be fully rebuilt for years now

There are tons of them out there and bring it down to a 3 fish bag limit from 7/1 – 8/31, during the middle of the summer ???

Who the Fudge is really paying these guys off ???

I really do not target them to hard either only a couple of trips a year but this really sucks for one of the tastiest critters out there

Thanks for the update and all you do Paul - not pissed at the messenger just the regs

Fluke Regs - start later finish later due to the winter and current temps


Ridiculous

GDubs-:cool:

[frugalfisherman]

Positive side you get the last 2 weeks of october for seabass which we didn,t have for several years. Negative side the bottom boats are going to be hammering the mudhole ling all summer.

[Tunarun]

These morons in fisheries need to have their head examined with these ridiculous sea bass options!

I concur! You are going to need an "App" on your phone to know how many you can keep and when. Yikes! Dennis

[TAGGED FISH]

Ignorant . Useless . Morons.

[SaltLife1980]

option 2

[Leif]

I say keep 5 but whatever size you want. What a novel idea having a "land" limit of 16 inches....

I'll catch 'em and eat 'em right on the boat.

Leif

[PaBeerGuy]

I say keep 5 but whatever size you want. What a novel idea having a "land" limit of 16 inches....

I'll catch 'em and eat 'em right on the boat.

Leif

lol, argh! Leif the Pirate.:eek: Never thought I'd see the day.:( kidding Leif, you're allowed to vent.:D

[Angler Paul]

Just a reminder the meeting is tomorrow. If you want the later fluke season like I do, you need to show up and let your voices be heard. The sea bass season will be closed from 9/18 - 10 17 so if the fluke season is also closed, inshore fishermen will have little to fish for. On the other hand, in the spring, sea bass season will open on 5/19 and there should be plenty of stripers around then too. There are many other reasons to support the later season as well. However, there are many people from south Jersey who are coming to the meeting to support the early season. The NJMFC will most likely choose the option that gets the most public support at the meeting

[irishc]

Any word on what the other Sea bass proposals are?

[Reel Class]

This is a perfect example of Ignorance by lawmakers who have no idea what they are trying to govern that are trying to govern and regulate something while catering to lobbyist types. They are not utilizing data that can better inform regulators for making regulations. Another example of our government or parts of our government simply overregulating another dwindling part of our society.

BTW thank you Paul for posting - you do a great job of keeping US in the loop.

[Reel Class]

Paul, I know this is selfish on my part however I remember someone mentioned in an earlier post for "different" regs for party/charter boats (like you mentioned for IBSP bound fluke anglers) in NY or Mass - is this an option in NJ? Can it become an option? I'm sure many anglers here would be open to something like this here in NJ.

[joshpio]

Any news from the 4 PM meeting?