Sea Bass Options Update and Survey

[Angler Paul]

JCAA ALERT - SEABASS REGULATORY UPDATE AND SURVEY
by Paul Haertel

The bad news is that although New Jersey expected to receive a 20% liberalization, regarding our sea bass regulations, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) decided to give a 27% increase to states to our north and a 16.5 % increase to states to our south, leaving NJ with what is left over. Depending on exactly what regulations the other states develop, that should allow us to liberalize by 15-17%.
The good news is that even a 15-17% increase will result in a very significant liberalization to our regulations. Our Bureau of Marine Fisheries (NJBMF) is working on a range of options that must first be approved by the ASMFC. Then they will be reviewed by the New Jersey Marine Fisheries Council’s (NJMFC) sea bass advisors committee, which will whittle the options down to just a few which will be made available to the public. Finally, the public will have a chance to comment on these options at the NJMFC’s meeting on March 26th. Upon conclusion of the public comment period, the council will vote on which option will become law for both 2026 and 2027. In the meantime, the NJDEP Fish & Wildlife and the NJMFC are interested in input from the public on possible sea bass measures for 2026. Those interested may take the survey below to provide general guidance regarding the regulations. The chart below includes samples of options that may be approved. However, they are likely to be tweaked or modified and a couple more similar options may be developed. Option 1A would allow the one fish limit to begin on 6/22 and run into September with the possibility of the ten fish bag limit season beginning later that month, perhaps even while fluke season is still open. That option would allow the season to be open for 43 more days than last year, 26 one fish days and 17 ten fish days. Option 2A would allow for a two fish limit from 7/1-9/15. There would be a ten-day closure at the end of June and a two-week closure at the end of September before the ten fish season opens on 10/1. Option 2B would allow for two fish from 6/22-9/6. There would be no closure in June but then the season would close for more than three weeks in September. Options 2A and 2 B would allow the season to be open 19 more days than last year. There is a comment section in the survey. You may want to state whether you prefer the one fish or two fish option and whether it is more important for you to extend the season further into June or extend it into September. You may simply indicate your preferred option number or make any other suggestions that you have.

Please complete the 2026 BSB Measures form only once.
Those without internet access may request a paper copy by calling the Marine Resources Administration at 609-748-2020.
Submissions must be received by 11:59 p.m. on March 11, 2026, in order to be considered.

The following chart includes SAMPLES of a couple of the options which will likely be tweaked or modified further. Additional options may be developed from these as well.

Run Name SEASON 1 SEASON 2 SEASON 3 SEASON 4 Total Extra Days Open
NJ Current Regulations Date 5/17-6/19 7/1-8/31 10/1-10/31 11/1-12/31
Bag 10 1 10 15
1.A Date 5/15-6/21 6/22-9/17 9/18-10/31 11/1-12/31 43
Bag 10 1 10 15
2.A Date 5/15-6/21 7/1-9/15 10/1-10/31 11/1-12/31 19
Bag 10 2 10 15
2.B Date 5/15-6/21 6/22-9/6 10/1-10/31 11/1-12/31 19
Bag 10 2 10 15

https://forms.office.com/Pages/Respo...ce=govdelivery

[hammer4reel]

Typical bullshit .
Nj never fights for its shares of the fisheries .

Why they would push a 1-2 fish limit when many are fishing , with a 15 fish bag limit when way less are is just stupid .

Increase the bag limit during fluke seasons to 3-4 fish and let kids keep what they catch instead of throwing them back all day .

Actually promoting future generations of fisherman .

Instead of pushing all the quota into a two month time that also has a lot of other stuff to fish for .

Keep a 10 fish bag limit for those 2 months , no need for it to go to 15



I would say the reason other states recieved more quota , is their minimum size limit is much larger than ours . Most over 16” So their actual amount of fish kept is much less

[AndyS]

I like watching 30 boats fighting over a single rock pile when the seasons opens for 12-inch fish that gets picked over in a day.
If I had it my way JANUARY and FRBRUARY would be open with a bag limit of 25 like the old days. 5-pound knuckleheads with a smattering of dinner plate sized porgies with cod, pollock, and hake.

[bulletbob]

Originally Posted by AndyS

I like watching 30 boats fighting over a single rock pile when the seasons opens for 12-inch fish that gets picked over in a day.
If I had it my way JANUARY and FRBRUARY would be open with a bag limit of 25 like the old days. 5-pound knuckleheads with a smattering of dinner plate sized porgies with cod, pollock, and hake.

I get where you are coming from.. Problem is, January and February is for die hards with the money, time, and desire to run offshore in high winds and 20 degree temps, leaving the average Joe out of the loop when he takes his kids out in the summer.. Its a tough call of course, but I would rather have a few more fish to keep in spring and summer when the vast majority of people are out fishing.

[AndyS]

Then have both, open the offshore fishery again. I mean how much is the public really putting a dent on the offshore fishery, maybe 4 or 5 head boats, combine that with a weather window and we are hardly scratching the surface.

[frugalfisherman]

Run Name SEASON 1 SEASON 2 SEASON 3 SEASON 4 Total Extra Days Open
NJ Current Regulations Date 5/17-6/19 7/1-8/31 10/1-10/31 11/1-12/31
Bag 10 1 10 15
1.A Date 5/15-6/21 6/22-9/17 9/18-10/31 11/1-12/31 43
Bag 10 1 10 15
2.A Date 5/15-6/21 7/1-9/15 10/1-10/31 11/1-12/31 19
Bag 10 2 10 15
2.B Date 5/15-6/21 6/22-9/6 10/1-10/31 11/1-12/31 19
Bag 10 2 10 15

https://forms.office.com/Pages/Respo...ce=govdelivery[/QUOTE]

Something must be wrong with my brain, but I can't make heads nor tails of this.

[hammer4reel]

Originally Posted by frugalfisherman

Run Name SEASON 1 SEASON 2 SEASON 3 SEASON 4 Total Extra Days Open
NJ Current Regulations Date 5/17-6/19 7/1-8/31 10/1-10/31 11/1-12/31
Bag 10 1 10 15
1.A Date 5/15-6/21 6/22-9/17 9/18-10/31 11/1-12/31 43
Bag 10 1 10 15
2.A Date 5/15-6/21 7/1-9/15 10/1-10/31 11/1-12/31 19
Bag 10 2 10 15
2.B Date 5/15-6/21 6/22-9/6 10/1-10/31 11/1-12/31 19
Bag 10 2 10 15

https://forms.office.com/Pages/Respo...ce=govdelivery

Season breakdown , approx 4 sections with dates .
Bag limit in order of each section

[Angler Paul]

In response to Dan's comments and questions:
Nj never fights for its shares of the fisheries .
NJ does fight very hard for our fishermen, particularly Adam Nowalsky, who is one of our representatives on the ASMFC. Our state even went out of compliance regarding the fluke issue a number of years ago and the Secretary of Commerce sided with us. The real problem is that is some cases like fluke and sea bass we are in our own region. States to our north and south sometimes band together against us.

Why they would push a 1-2 fish limit when many are fishing , with a 15 fish bag limit when way less are is just stupid .

Increase the bag limit during fluke seasons to 3-4 fish and let kids keep what they catch instead of throwing them back all day .
You pretty much answered your own question. There are so many people fishing and so many sea bass available in the summer that if we went to 3 or more fish it would eat up much of our quota. That would make things tougher in the spring and fall particularly for the for-hire fleet because there would be little else to fish for.


Actually promoting future generations of fisherman .

Instead of pushing all the quota into a two month time that also has a lot of other stuff to fish for .

Keep a 10 fish bag limit for those 2 months , no need for it to go to 15
The for-hire fleet has to run far offshore during November and December. Those trips are expensive so to sell their trips they need the 15 fish limit. It’s also important to note that reducing the bag limit to 10 would only give us a couple extra days during the rest of the season.

Lastly the chart did not paste as good I had hoped on my post. I do not have the technical ability to correct that.

Paul H.

[hammer4reel]

Originally Posted by Angler Paul;592153[COLOR="black"

[/COLOR]]In response to Dan's comments and questions:
Nj never fights for its shares of the fisheries .
NJ does fight very hard for our fishermen, particularly Adam Nowalsky, who is one of our representatives on the ASMFC. Our state even went out of compliance regarding the fluke issue a number of years ago and the Secretary of Commerce sided with us. The real problem is that is some cases like fluke and sea bass we are in our own region. States to our north and south sometimes band together against us.
[COLOR="black"][/COLOR]

Why they would push a 1-2 fish limit when many are fishing , with a 15 fish bag limit when way less are is just stupid .

Increase the bag limit during fluke seasons to 3-4 fish and let kids keep what they catch instead of throwing them back all day .
You pretty much answered your own question. There are so many people fishing and so many sea bass available in the summer that if we went to 3 or more fish it would eat up much of our quota. That would make things tougher in the spring and fall particularly for the for-hire fleet because there would be little else to fish for.


Actually promoting future generations of fisherman .

Instead of pushing all the quota into a two month time that also has a lot of other stuff to fish for .

Keep a 10 fish bag limit for those 2 months , no need for it to go to 15
The for-hire fleet has to run far offshore during November and December. Those trips are expensive so to sell their trips they need the 15 fish limit. It’s also important to note that reducing the bag limit to 10 would only give us a couple extra days during the rest of the season.

Lastly the chart did not paste as good I had hoped on my post. I do not have the technical ability to correct that.

Paul H.

Paul I’m not saying Adam doesn’t try . I’m saying the actual state of Nj doesn’t do crap to fight for our fisheries like other states do for their sportsman . We live in a State that doesn’t seem to care about the impacts shortened seasons cause .
Our council gets handed what ever scraps is left after other states fight for more .
then they have a thankless job to try and make the best of what’s given .


Reading what pat wrote percentage wise of the summer increase as spit out by the model would increase catch 7% . And sure more guys are fishing then , but most sea bass caught then are bycatch , where even 2 an angler would benifit those fishing throughout the state . So if going to 2 fish make the Nov/Dec fishery 12 fish etc , as your targeting bigger fish if making those runs . And 12 bigger fish would still get people out for them .

And the late season won’t get as much attention as I said with stripers and tog running the inshore game .

We have lost so much of our fisheries and bag limits in the last 15 years it’s ridiculous.
Especially sea bass which used to be a year long fishery at 25 fish per person daily .

[Angler Paul]

Originally Posted by hammer4reel

Paul I’m not saying Adam doesn’t try . I’m saying the actual state of Nj doesn’t do crap to fight for our fisheries like other states do for their sportsman . We live in a State that doesn’t seem to care about the impacts shortened seasons cause .
Our council gets handed what ever scraps is left after other states fight for more .
then they have a thankless job to try and make the best of what’s given .


Reading what pat wrote percentage wise of the summer increase as spit out by the model would increase catch 7% . And sure more guys are fishing then , but most sea bass caught then are bycatch , where even 2 an angler would benifit those fishing throughout the state . So if going to 2 fish make the Nov/Dec fishery 12 fish etc , as your targeting bigger fish if making those runs . And 12 bigger fish would still get people out for them .

And the late season won’t get as much attention as I said with stripers and tog running the inshore game .

We have lost so much of our fisheries and bag limits in the last 15 years it’s ridiculous.
Especially sea bass which used to be a year long fishery at 25 fish per person daily .

Now I gotcha Dan. I just want to make it clear though, that our BMF is a bunch of dedicated people who do their absolute best for us. The problem is that they are understaffed and underfunded. The funding our BMF receives pales in comparison to other states, particularly when you take into consideration how many fishermen we have. That's the only reason why other states can do more for their fishermen. Paul H.