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Fluke Comments to ASMFC

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This is worthy enough to be posted on its own merits. It's a copy of a reply to comments made in the post about fluke management. Send your comments in ASAP. If we just complain to each other, we will never be heard by the people who set the regulations.

Learned that complaining about regulations on this or any site might feel good but does little if anything addressing the issues being groused about.

For anyone interested, ASMFC (Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission) and MAFMC (Mid-Atlantic Marine Fisheries Council) will be having their Joint Meeting next Monday through Thursday October 7th - 10th. MAFMC is hosting this year's meeting in Durham NC. Their web site link is

http://www.mafmc.org/council-events/...ouncil-meeting

On the left hand side of the web page, there's an area listing upcoming events. October 2019 Council Meeting is listed at the top. Click on the meeting and you can see the agenda. This is a webinar so anyone can dial in and listen. On Tuesday, October 8th from 4:00 to 5:00, 2020 Summer Flounder Specifications is on the agenda, tab 12. If you open tab 12 under Briefing Material, pages 37 to 81 there's an Executive Summary along with prior correspondence with both the Commission and Council addressing what's happened to this fishery. I'd suggest reading it as it gives a step by step explanation supported by marine fisheries own peer reviewed data of how regulatory decisions have impacted a once thriving fishery.

I'd also point everyone here to the following instruction for public comments:

Public Comments: Written comments must be received by 11:59 p.m. on September 25, 2019 to be included in the briefing book. Comments received after this date but before 5:00 p.m. on October 3, 2019 will be posted as supplemental materials on the Council meeting web page. After that date, all comments must be submitted using an online comment form available at available at http://www.mafmc.org/public-comment.

You want your opinions and comments recorded and heard by the public, Commission and Council, you have until Wednesday at 5:00 p.m. to post them on MAFMC's website, the above link will walk you through the process. What that means is your concerns. thoughts, frustrations will be documented on their website for the meeting under Supplemental Comments and available for the Commission, Council and Public's review.

Now's the time as Mike Wells would say to "Put Up Or Shut Up". Decision is up to everyone here.

There should be a thousand comments from this site alone. Balls in each of your courts. If everyone else waits for someone else to take the lead, prepare for more cuts. If you want to make a difference, are concerned about the state of the fishery or want to have your voice and opinion heard, time to get involved. I'd suggest this for recreational anglers, commercial community, party boat captains, for hire operators and any business dependent on a fishery headed south for almost 16 years. If we do or say nothing, we're no different than the people our frustrations are aimed at.

Make a difference or at minimum try.

FYI, at this stage the only way for your comments to meat the deadline for Supplemental Material Disclosure is by emailing them as mentioned on the website to:

Executive Director, Dr. Chris Moore at cmoore@mafmc.org. I would also copy Kiley Dancy at kdancy@mafmc.org and be sure to request your comments be included in the Supplemental Material for the meeting. Kiley has been a tremendous assist and extremely responsive as has Dustin Leaning from ASMFC creating this platform so again if you want your voices heard, take advantage of the opportunity.