Fishing Regulations

[Gerry Zagorski]

There's been a lot of talk here recently about the regulations for Fluke and Sea Bass specifically but I thought it might be interesting to discuss regulations in general....

I think we can all agree that regulations are necessary to assure a balance between the health of the stocks and the interests of commercial and recreational fisherman.

I know I'll take a few harpoons from some of you when I say the commercials need to be allotted some quotas as well. People who don't fish want to eat fish and they provide those fish. Having said that, commercial fishing regulations should not be at detriment to the fishery or the recreational sector, there needs to be a balance there as well.

There are people in our recreational ranks who are somewhat divided here about our recreational regulations, but I think we can all agree we need to protect the stocks for ourselves and future generations.. We can't however continue down the path we are on now. It's not working. What we need are the right regulations.

Take a read here and you'll see that there are some in the scientific community arguing the very regulations and methods we use to manage the stocks is causing the very situation we are in now https://www.scientificamerican.com/a...-exploitation/


You can apply some of these conclusions to our local fishery....

- Fluke where we're forced to target and harvest larger fish which are all large females. Dakota did a great job here providing the analysis to argue that point.

- Dogfish which were protected for the longest time and now our waters are practically polluted with them and they prey on other species.

- You could say the same thing about Black Sea Bass, which by all accounts are totally rebuilt yet we have such restrictive regulations. You know how aggressive and prolific they are and it wouldn't be a stretch to think at a the detriment to other species.

There is however some progress being made.... The work the SSFFF has done funding the Fluke study on age and sex is vitally important. It's my understanding they've been invited to provide input with their new model into the 2018 Fluke Stock Assessment. Great news here and once again, it's not about more favorable regulations, it's about the right regulations.

Much more work to be done here but these are strategic initiatives that don't happen over night. They have to be fought for and face a bureaucratic system which is currently not working for the fish or the fishermen. We need sweeping changes on how these fisheries are managed or we're going to be in the same position we are every year. Fighting over the scraps we are tossed when they set the quotas and regulations that hurt, don't help the fisheries.

OK now that I've created a lightening rod here, feel free to comment and state your opinions but please do it respectfully.

[Rocky]

I will be the first one to leave my boat high and dry if needed to rebuild our fishing stocks. Unfortunately for us recreational fisherman that wouldn't help too much. The problem is a fisheries management issue plain and simple. Decisions based on science and fact would be a good start.

[Charlie B]

I agree we do need some commercial fishing. I mean I enjoy eating seafood at a restaurant and do sometimes buy fish at the market. But I am very selective about what I buy. I refuse to buy flounder and even though I love smoked whiting I don't want to support the commercials wiping out the whiting so I don't buy them anymore. Commercial fishing is needed but rapeing the sea should not be allowed. And in some cases it seems the commercials are now being allowed to rape the sea. Dead discard should not be allowed and should be counted against the quota. Seasons should be shortened and eliminated during the most vulnerable times for the fish. And gear restrictions put in place to eliminate the most damaging gear. And finally a more equitable split between recreational and commercial. And get real with the fluke regulations. Forcing the taking of the breeder females clearly is not working. Lets get some common sense regulations...Charlie

[frugalfisherman]

Regulations? We don't care about any stinkin' regulations!

[Gerry Zagorski]

Originally Posted by Charlie B

I agree we do need some commercial fishing. I mean I enjoy eating seafood at a restaurant and do sometimes buy fish at the market. But I am very selective about what I buy. I refuse to buy flounder and even though I love smoked whiting I don't want to support the commercials wiping out the whiting so I don't buy them anymore. Commercial fishing is needed but rapeing the sea should not be allowed. And in some cases it seems the commercials are now being allowed to rape the sea. Dead discard should not be allowed and should be counted against the quota. Seasons should be shortened and eliminated during the most vulnerable times for the fish. And gear restrictions put in place to eliminate the most damaging gear. And finally a more equitable split between recreational and commercial. And get real with the fluke regulations. Forcing the taking of the breeder females clearly is not working. Lets get some common sense regulations...Charlie

All great points here Charlie!!

[mstolte617]

Now i'm no Jacques Cousteau, but i am pretty sure i read (on this message board actually), that a mature male fluke will only grow to a maximum of about 19 inches. Whereas the female fluke will continue to grow throughout its life span.
Has Science and research verified that ? Why wouldnt the clowns that regulate the fluke regs, have this info as well ??
I have been out 3 times this year, and the fluke fishery is off to a bad start this year.

[hammer4reel]

If we are really going to work on the problem I think a lot more info is needed .
What is the actual number of fish in each age class that makes up the whole fishery ?

Broken down by Fish in say 2" increments

How many are males and how many are females ?
Possibly the offspring isn't 50/50

Many involved in the sexting studies believe for the most part the males and females are not intermingled .
So when a boat catches a net full of fish it will usually be mostly one sex in the net .

So without multiple areas involved in the sexting those numbers can be in error.

If anything a lot more research should have been done way before reaching this point

[Gerry Zagorski]

Originally Posted by hammer4reel

If we are really going to work on the problem I think a lot more info is needed .
What is the actual number of fish in each age class that makes up the whole fishery ?

Broken down by Fish in say 2" increments

How many are males and how many are females ?
Possibly the offspring isn't 50/50

Many involved in the sexting studies believe for the most part the males and females are not intermingled .
So when a boat catches a net full of fish it will usually be mostly one sex in the net .

So without multiple areas involved in the sexting those numbers can be in error.

If anything a lot more research should have been done way before reaching this point

Yes - agreed Dan... I think the work that the SSFFF is doing gets us closer though. One step at a time... At least now Fisheries Management is open to outside opinions and science that was not hatched by them. That in itself is huge!!

[Gerry Zagorski]

Originally Posted by mstolte617

Now i'm no Jacques Cousteau, but i am pretty sure i read (on this message board actually), that a mature male fluke will only grow to a maximum of about 19 inches. Whereas the female fluke will continue to grow throughout its life span.
Has Science and research verified that ? Why wouldnt the clowns that regulate the fluke regs, have this info as well ??
I have been out 3 times this year, and the fluke fishery is off to a bad start this year.

A few things here:
- The size/sex study the SSFFF funded said the 90 some percent of the fish @ 19 inches were females... This study was overseen by a well renowned and respected fisheries scientist, Dr. Patrick Sullivan and in cooperation with field studies being conducted by Rutgers and Cornell. You can read more about that here http://ssfff.org/id48.html
- I was out a few weeks ago on the NJRFA/SSFFF Fluke fund raising trip. Every fish the mate cleaned (all fish over 18 inches) was a female.
- This years Fluke season has been off to a slow start for sure in NJ. However water temps are still way down inshore and in the bay and there is no bait being marked. I've also heard that certain people know where they are at and all you have to do is look at reports up north and out east to see there are no lack of Fluke there.

Lastly, I'll bet you a stack of hundreds that in spite of the fishery being slow here in NJ, we will be deemed to have over fished this year and pay for that next year.

It's a vicious circle and time for us to get off this Merry Go Round.....

[Joey Dah Fish]

I'm all for regs that help our fishery. But what I'm not for is pencil pushing numbers crunchers that have no clue aboutfishing or the damage their regs do to the fishery . How changing regs on one species changes another and the overall effect on the marine environment. Worse fluke regs more pressure on other species etc.