And Now for seabass 2017

[dales529]

MAFMC and ASMFC meetings today in Kitty Hawk have a heavy Seabass Agenda.
Here is a link to the briefing materials
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/511cdc7fe4b00307a2628ac6/t/5893a752579fb35d028370e1/1486071639873/Tab06_BSB-Specifications.pdf

Here is a link to the Agenda:
http://www.mafmc.org/briefing/february-2017

You can listen to the meeting via webinar at:
http://mafmc.adobeconnect.com/february2017

Also Note the Summer Flounder Addendum will be discussed at 5PM today.

Brief read through the seabass materials actually appears that a more logical approach is being taken. I will let you decide for yourselves but sure wish they would take this approach with Fluke. I believe they are more reasonable with the seabass now because they recognize the stocks are in good shape.

[tautog]

Best hope is last year's crappy limit even though the species has been rebuilt for years.

[frugalfisherman]

I read this and first it says 52% increase then it says 8% decrease. Can someone translate this for me.

[captain george angler]

Last year we caught 60 % more then the quota This year they will raise the quota by 52% which is still 8% less than we caught last year so they will try to cut the catch by 8%. George

[Jpell15]

I still don't get how they determine the recs went over their quota

[frugalfisherman]

Who's catching all these freakin' seabass. By the time seabass opened in October they were moving offshore. When I went offshore it was more porgies than bass. Then the weather shut down 1/2 the days you could fish.

[dales529]

Motion approved for federal waters as status quo . See attached. NJ and NMFC only 2 to vote no. Maine and US Fish and Wildlife were absent from the meeting.
Again Capt Adam did his best , I believe his quote was something like " We are increasing the quota by 52% and the best we can do is status quo? I cant look my people in the eye and tell them we cant do better"

Another motion was presented to allow an experimental 2018 Jan / Feb (wave 1) Recreational Federal Permit holder Fishery @15 fish pp, suspended minimum size limit and a zero discard policy so basically no matter the size its kept and goes against your bag limit . Experimental is to see how the data effects the RHL. 2nd motion was to postpone this to "get it right" and vote on it at the April / May meetings.
More to come about this then but glad its on the table

[captnvinny]

Thank you to Captn Bob Bogan / Gam , Captn Howard Bogan / BJ, Captn Jeff Gutman / Voy and Captn Bob Rush / SH for expressing our displeasures about this BS increase but no increase in our creel limit. I am optimistic that they mentioned a possible Jan/Feb, I fell back in my seat, but we shall see. Sounded like the item was tabled until April so they can gather more info.

[Angler Paul]

If you want to see who is catching all the sea bass now, just look at the chart on page 9 of the ASMFC's technical committee report. Obviously it is the states to our north who never used to catch nearly as many as us. Our regs have become so tough that the population of sea bass increased dramatically and expanded to the north. Now the states there catch them instead of us. Just look at how NJ's percentage of the harvest has gone down since the 80's and 90's. Totally unfair as NJ gets screwed as usual.

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/511cdc7fe4b00307a2628ac6/t/58a222af59cc684aff13cd8f/1487020720328/TC+Review+of+BSB+Rec+Measures_Final.pdf

Paul Haertel - JCAA board member and Past President

[pectoralfin]

The 52% increase all goes to the commercial fishery and we get the 8% decrease.

[Angler Paul]

Looks like our regulations will remain the same as last year though the NJMFC could alter it to something else provided it would keep us within our target quota. This is what was decided at the MAFMC/ASMFC meeting on 2/15.

The Council/Board approved status quo measures for 2017. They approved a 53% increase in the recreational harvest limit in 2017 based on the new assessment, but due to the extremely high preliminary 2016 harvest estimates a reduction of 8% was technically due. Again, they approved staying at status quo and not take a reduction.

[Ice Cream Bill]

Thanks dales and Paul for the info. Loved your 2016 in review video!

While not perfect, regs for black sea bass here in NJ are not as bad as the previous two years. In 2015, you may recall we were issued a one week Labor Day opening, then shut down again until Oct. 22nd. In 2016, we were given a bag limit of 10 when the season opened in May, then size increased to 13" after the Oct. 22nd reopen. The 2 fish by-catch in July is a joke! Party boats often go to Shrewsbury Rocks to "limit out" on sea bass, then continue fluke fishing. Just do away with it.

I have fished up in RI and CT the past few years, often catching 15"+ black sea bass (4-6 lbs.). PM me for details on the boats. The sea bass fishing is night and day better vs. NJ. To get fish that big, you have to book an offshore trip in November or December. Most sea bass I catch here are 12.5-13" and have to be measured just to check if they are of legal size.

With the Gulf of Maine warming faster than most other bodies of water, I'm told the black sea bass fishery is getting better each year. It's a fishery that hardly existed just a few years ago as other species decline in N. England.

Bill

[AndyS]

I want the winter offshore sea bass fishing back !!! So out of NJ you have maybe 6 boats that do this fishing through the winter (if open)
You can keep your tiny 15" sea bass, I want my 7 pounders !
Then take into account we had gale warnings 3 out of 7 days each week this winter, how much are we ACTUALLY catching and keeping during this 2 month period ?

[Angler Paul]

Thanks for the compliment Ice Cream Bill. I disagree on one thing though and that is the 2 fish seabass limit in July and August. Of course I would like it to be more than that but still it has bailed me out on days when the fluking was slow. I fish out of Barnegat and the fluking was slow last summer until mid-August. There were a number of days when it was a struggle to catch couple keepers but at least my friends and I could spice our catch with a few nice sea bass. It really pissed me off in previous seasons when it was closed in the summer and we had to throw back some sea bass over 4 lbs. I think being able to keep a couple sea bass on the party boats help them too when they are fluking because most people want to be able to bring a couple fish home to eat. The entire sea bass thing is a joke though, there are so many of them, that they are a nuisance at times. I can't even get my fluke baits to the bottom on some of the wrecks I fish. At least I can keep two of them now though and since I keep them in the live well I can often cull them.

Paul Haertel

[Castaway]

What an absolute joke! The season that 95% of the fishermen were actually able to fish for seabass was not even 4 weeks, and only a 10 fish bag! How the hell was it over fished by 60%?! It just keeps getting better every year.

[Angler Paul]

It is not only NJ, we are in a region with states to our north and they have been hammering them. They are catching a much higher percentage of the harvest than they used to while our percentage of the harvest has been nosediving. It is not that we can't catch them, its that our regulations are too strict. I can't even really blame the states to the north though as there are in fact tons of sea bass there. The population has exploded and as it has done so their range has expanded. The real problem is with our fisheries managers who have set the quotas far too low.

Paul Haertel