Nwe Blackfish and Sea Bass Regulations Imminent

[Angler Paul]

New Blackfish and Sea Bass Regulations Imminent


At the advisors meeting of the NJMFC on 4/17 we learned that the 2012 regulations for blackfish and sea bass will be changed at the May meeting of the NJMF. The next meeting of the New Jersey Marine Fisheries Council will be held on the 2nd Thursday, May 10, 2012 at 4:00 p.m. at the Galloway Township Library, Jimmie Leeds Road, Absecon, NJ.

There is some good news for blackfish. The one option on the table at the meeting will be to liberalize our blackfish season. The change will now allow us to keep one blackfish from July 17th – November 15th and 6 fish from November 16th to December 31st. The size limit will remain at 15”.

The sea bass situation is not so good. There will be several different options presented to the public prior to the May 10th meeting. All will require about a 3 week cut in the season from what was previously approved. However,
even with the cut, we should end up with a season that that is about 3 weeks longer than the last year’s. Our state developed 10 different options but only a few of them will be presented at the meeting. While I do not know for certain it seemed that the following two will be among those considered.
May 19th – September 25th and November 1st – December 31st. This was the option that was favored by law enforcement personnel as it is the least confusing. However, another option was favored by some of the advisors. That option would allow us to have something to fish for after fluke season ends but also be open when fish can also be kept in federal waters. This option would allow a season from May 19th – September 3rd, September 23rd – October 14th and November 1st – December 31st. Other options that may be considered would cut time from June or varying parts of September while some would allow us to fish later into October even though federal waters will be closed from 10/15 – 10/31.

With all the options, the size limit will remain at 12.5” and the bag limit will remain at 25. I encourage those interested in fishing for sea bass to attend the meeting and voice their opinions.

Paul Haertel
2nd VP JCAA