01-15-2005, 05:11 AM
[font "Arial"][#009999]Flounder closure averted
[/#009999][/font][font "ARIAL, HELVETICA"][#000000][size 2] Published in the Asbury Park Press 1/14/05 THE PROPOSED RULES: 10 fish, 12 inches, 60-day seasonEvery one of the 400 people who attended the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission winter flounder hearing Jan. 5 in Belmar should know that their presence was important.
Tony Bogan, a spokesman for the United Boatmen of New Jersey and New York, said attendance at that hearing and the one in New York were vital in preventing the closure of the fishery.
The ASMFC's winter flounder board met Tuesday in Rhode Island and backed off its March-April closure and six-fish or two-fish possession options.
"I can assure you that without that turnout, we would have been closed down in March and April or had a two-fish limit," Bogan said.
"I'm not pleased with what we got, but there is no question in my mind it would have been a lot worse," he said. "My hat goes off to all the people who showed up and all of the organizations who fought these proposals."
What the recreational fishing community got was: a 12-inch minimum size, a 10-fish bag limit and a 60-day fishing season.
Bogan explained that the 60-day season can be chosen by the state Marine Fisheries Council at any time of the year, but cannot compose more than two-thirds of March and April.
As an example, the season could open March 21 and run straight through to May 19 or it could be any combination of days, spring and fall, as long as 20 days during the March-April period are closed.
Herb Moore Jr., director of government affairs for the Recreational Fishing Alliance, said he finds the board's decision inconsistent with management positions in the past.
"Usually they say their decision is based on the best scientific data available," he said. "This isn't based on that. I'm not happy with this at all.
"It seems as if the board just pulled the numbers out of their hat," he said. "They usually rely on the Marine Recreational Fishery Statistics Survey, but, according to that data, New Jersey catches as many flounders in November and December as it does in March and April.
"If that's the best available science, the board should accept that," he said. "Instead, they say shut down one-third of Wave 2, March and April, and set a 10-fish bag limit and 12-inch minimum size.
"How do they come up with these numbers?" he asked. "That isn't science. They rely on MRFSS for their best available data on fluke and blackfish, and when we question it, they throw it in our face.
"When they're talking about winter flounders, and MRFSS information doesn't fit, they reject it," he added. "Now they're saying MRFSS data are not correct."
Bogan said the ASMFC board further rejected the possible economic and social impacts of their regulations.
"The ASMFC is not being held to any standards," he said. "A lot of boatmen and businesses are going to be hurt by these regulations, but the board is saying they will study the impact after the regulations have been put in place.
"The federal government does socio-economic studies, but the ASMFC will not do one," he said. "The ASMFC seems to say it will worry about the impact on people after it happens."
Moore said the RFA has been making a list of the businesses that rely on the winter flounder fishery as their primary source of revenue in the spring.
"I have a list of 45 businesses from Bayonne to Tuckerton already that will be affected," he said. "This doesn't include those that are only partially affected."
Moore said the ironic part of the board's decision is that it is not proposing regulations with a goal in mind.
"They talk vaguely about 50 percent, but they have no idea what the numbers will be," he said. "It's a lot of speculation. They have no grasp of the impact these regulations will have."
Moore said the board is only guessing at what recreational landings will be, and, in fact, did not address commercial landings in state waters.
"There are no corresponding regulations for the commercial fishery in state waters," he added.
Bogan reminded that after all of the sacrifices, ruined businesses, lost quality of life and deprivation of food for anglers have been tallied, the board admits it could be for almost nothing.
"The board has admitted that 'reductions in fishing mortality achieved in the recreational sector may have a negligible effect on the recovery rate of the southern New England-Mid-Atlantic stock,' " he said.
The next step in the management process will be the proposed regulations will be brought before the full ASMFC at a meeting in February. At that time they will be ratified or rejected.
If they are approved, the state Marine Fisheries Council would have to act on them at its March meeting. In any case, the spring flounder fishery will remain intact in New Jersey with an unlimited possession limit, 11-inch minimum, and a season running from March 1 through May 31.
The new regulations would be put in place sometime in July and affect the fall fishery. Assuming the council chose to keep only the spring fishery open, there would be no fall fishery this year, unless it would be possible to choose a 60-day season in the fall of this year and then adopt a new plan for a 60-day spring season in 2006.
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[/#009999][/font][font "ARIAL, HELVETICA"][#000000][size 2] Published in the Asbury Park Press 1/14/05 THE PROPOSED RULES: 10 fish, 12 inches, 60-day seasonEvery one of the 400 people who attended the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission winter flounder hearing Jan. 5 in Belmar should know that their presence was important.
Tony Bogan, a spokesman for the United Boatmen of New Jersey and New York, said attendance at that hearing and the one in New York were vital in preventing the closure of the fishery.
The ASMFC's winter flounder board met Tuesday in Rhode Island and backed off its March-April closure and six-fish or two-fish possession options.
"I can assure you that without that turnout, we would have been closed down in March and April or had a two-fish limit," Bogan said.
"I'm not pleased with what we got, but there is no question in my mind it would have been a lot worse," he said. "My hat goes off to all the people who showed up and all of the organizations who fought these proposals."
What the recreational fishing community got was: a 12-inch minimum size, a 10-fish bag limit and a 60-day fishing season.
Bogan explained that the 60-day season can be chosen by the state Marine Fisheries Council at any time of the year, but cannot compose more than two-thirds of March and April.
As an example, the season could open March 21 and run straight through to May 19 or it could be any combination of days, spring and fall, as long as 20 days during the March-April period are closed.
Herb Moore Jr., director of government affairs for the Recreational Fishing Alliance, said he finds the board's decision inconsistent with management positions in the past.
"Usually they say their decision is based on the best scientific data available," he said. "This isn't based on that. I'm not happy with this at all.
"It seems as if the board just pulled the numbers out of their hat," he said. "They usually rely on the Marine Recreational Fishery Statistics Survey, but, according to that data, New Jersey catches as many flounders in November and December as it does in March and April.
"If that's the best available science, the board should accept that," he said. "Instead, they say shut down one-third of Wave 2, March and April, and set a 10-fish bag limit and 12-inch minimum size.
"How do they come up with these numbers?" he asked. "That isn't science. They rely on MRFSS for their best available data on fluke and blackfish, and when we question it, they throw it in our face.
"When they're talking about winter flounders, and MRFSS information doesn't fit, they reject it," he added. "Now they're saying MRFSS data are not correct."
Bogan said the ASMFC board further rejected the possible economic and social impacts of their regulations.
"The ASMFC is not being held to any standards," he said. "A lot of boatmen and businesses are going to be hurt by these regulations, but the board is saying they will study the impact after the regulations have been put in place.
"The federal government does socio-economic studies, but the ASMFC will not do one," he said. "The ASMFC seems to say it will worry about the impact on people after it happens."
Moore said the RFA has been making a list of the businesses that rely on the winter flounder fishery as their primary source of revenue in the spring.
"I have a list of 45 businesses from Bayonne to Tuckerton already that will be affected," he said. "This doesn't include those that are only partially affected."
Moore said the ironic part of the board's decision is that it is not proposing regulations with a goal in mind.
"They talk vaguely about 50 percent, but they have no idea what the numbers will be," he said. "It's a lot of speculation. They have no grasp of the impact these regulations will have."
Moore said the board is only guessing at what recreational landings will be, and, in fact, did not address commercial landings in state waters.
"There are no corresponding regulations for the commercial fishery in state waters," he added.
Bogan reminded that after all of the sacrifices, ruined businesses, lost quality of life and deprivation of food for anglers have been tallied, the board admits it could be for almost nothing.
"The board has admitted that 'reductions in fishing mortality achieved in the recreational sector may have a negligible effect on the recovery rate of the southern New England-Mid-Atlantic stock,' " he said.
The next step in the management process will be the proposed regulations will be brought before the full ASMFC at a meeting in February. At that time they will be ratified or rejected.
If they are approved, the state Marine Fisheries Council would have to act on them at its March meeting. In any case, the spring flounder fishery will remain intact in New Jersey with an unlimited possession limit, 11-inch minimum, and a season running from March 1 through May 31.
The new regulations would be put in place sometime in July and affect the fall fishery. Assuming the council chose to keep only the spring fishery open, there would be no fall fishery this year, unless it would be possible to choose a 60-day season in the fall of this year and then adopt a new plan for a 60-day spring season in 2006.
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