Fluke Regs this year

[Billfish715]

Dakota, I posted this on a previous thread about the price of supermarket fluke and I agree with your conclusion regarding the targeting of spawning fluke during times when those fish are very susceptible to commercial dragging. The migration routes to and from those spawning areas near the continental shelf are well-known and documented thereby making the spawning females extremely vulnerable and exploitable.

Many members and lurkers on this board are too young to remember seeing the party boat fluke fleets fishing just off the beaches along Monmouth and Ocean Counties. Patrons on those boats were seldom disappointed when they went home. They had fresh fillets for dinner. The fish were small by today's "standards" yet there were always fluke to be caught and kept and there was no controversy or overdone intervention. Then, the regulations began to appear and the size limits kept increasing. From that point on, the fear of the "sky falling" took over. More and more mature female fluke were being taken because of the increased size limits and eventually the smaller fluke that were so plentiful along the beaches began to dwindle. With that, the party boat fleet and bait shops and the tackle industry noticeably also began to wane and disappear. Did the increased size limits have an adverse affect on the spawning stocks? Maybe, but most of the larger females (even today) are offshore and on snags and rough bottom where most party boats (back in the day) did not fish. Recreational fishermen were satisfied with the smaller, meal-sized fluke along the beaches. Now, except for the Sandy Hook and Raritan Bay fluke fishing, most of the boats from the southern inlets have to fish well offshore to have a chance at a few keepers. Lately, even some of us who fish out of the northern end of Monmouth County head to deeper water to satisfy our limit catches rather than tossing back countless undersized fluke. How many undersized fluke did everyone throw back last year? I'll bet the numbers would floor you.

This was only a theory, but it should be considered. We let them go in the rivers. We let them go in the bays. We let them go along the beaches. We release thousands and thousands of consumable fluke each year. Where do our released fluke end up? Hmmmm?

https://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/pdf/..._quota2019.pdf

https://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/comquotas.htm

The new commercial regs for fluke landings seems to have been reduced for 2019 by about 70,000 pounds (if I'm reading the letter correctly). What stands out, though, is the total allotted pounds of commercially landed fluke for the months of January and February and September and October. The quotas are drastically increased during the months when fluke are either on their spawning grounds or massing during their migration to those spawning grounds. The commercial boats may land 1500 pounds of fluke per week during those periods. The commercial limits are encouraging fishing for the spawning stocks which will eventually hurt everyone's future fishing potential including those of the commercial guys. Wake Up! I could be wrong, but I'll bet the wholesale price of fluke increases substantially during the same period. If so, the stimulus to catch more spawning fish is also substantially increased. Change the distribution of the quotas to put less pressure on the spawning fish.

[frugalfisherman]

How's this. 5 fish 17-20 inches. Anything over 20 goes back. That way you save the big breeder females. Only drawback no more pools.

Originally Posted by frugalfisherman

How's this. 5 fish 17-20 inches. Anything over 20 goes back. That way you save the big breeder females. Only drawback no more pools.

Frugal my opinion, 17"-20" are still primarily females and doesn't address the commercial problem. Look again at the first chart I posted in my earlier email. I'd propose as a start a slot as low as 14" - 15" with maybe one fish allowed over 15" with no upside limit. If commercial operators can harvest 14" fish, recreational anglers should be afforded the same opportunity. That would greatly help Party and Charter boats, wouldn't effect one fish tournaments and most important would start reducing the pressure on larger female fluke. It's a good start.

Fishery management still has to address the commercial side of this and in my opinion the way to do it involves two changes. Level the retail price differential for large and smaller fluke so that a 14" fluke brings equivalent value as a 23" fish. That would immediately eliminate the culling or dead discard problem. Once operators hit their daily quota, no one would drop their nets again if there's no incremental value to be gained. How you change the market price is beyond my pay grade but someone should be able to figure it out if the health of the fishery is what's at stake.

Second as I've said, close the spawn season for 2-3 years and conduct studies on the impact on egg reproduction. That's the only path to recovery. Remember when we had a 14" - 15.5" inch size limit with an 8 fish possession limit, the biomass increased to it's highest level on record in 2002. In addition, look at overall catch, it was almost double in 2002 compared to today. Check the chart I posted. Coincidence, again I don't believe so. That in itself should highlight the problem and be the basis of establishing a sound recovery plan which can be monitored and quantified.

[Joey Dah Fish]

Originally Posted by frugalfisherman

How's this. 5 fish 17-20 inches. Anything over 20 goes back. That way you save the big breeder females. Only drawback no more pools.

Oh there’s another major draw back you don’t realize. If you implement something like you’re thinking our season would be 6 weeks.

Billfish I couldn't agree more with your comments. I firmly believe when you compare egg reproduction with size limit increases and plot it against Rutgers "Size and Sex Study" absolutely size increases played a major role in destroying egg reproduction by changing the gender composition of the biomass. The data, their data, supports that theory 100%.

When the season closes for recreational harvest in September, it should simultaneously close for commercial and be closed in October and November as well. From what I've read, the spawn is pretty much completed by the end of November. Again don't cut the commercial quota, re-allocate it throughout the year so it doesn't occur during the spawn. Close it for a minimum of 2 - 3 years and study the impact on egg reproduction. That's where the entire focus of NMFS and ASMFC needs to be. Of the thousands of fish released during the summer, how many do you actually think survive the commercial onslaught during the fall migration offshore. Numbers killed I suspect are significant. NMFS tracks hook and line mortality but has no idea what the mortality rate is with hygrading at sea since it's self reported by commercial operators. Anyone who disagrees, we're all entitled to our opinions but I find it impossible to believe operators whose livelihood depends on commercial fishing would steam 40, 50, 60 or more miles offshore and not harvest larger females which carry a 60-70% price premium back at the dock while tossing the smaller less valuable fluke back dead. NMFS has to come to grips with that problem. Offshore commercial harvest has been happening for years which others have pointed out, what's changed is the surge in demand for Sushi grade fluke (almost exclusively larger females) creating a retail price imbalance placing a target on the heads of larger female breeders. It's a game changer and killing the fishery three ways: disrupting the spawn, increasing dead discard of smaller fish while increasing the harvest of larger females. The options discussed for the last twenty years and for 2019 don't address any of these issues and it's a monumental mistake in the manner this fishery is being managed. An almost 70% decrease in egg reproduction over the last 25 years based on a significantly larger spawning stock biomass and someone help me understand how the options proposed for '19 or any prior year are addressing that problem.