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by Tom Fote
(from Jersey Coast Anglers Association March 2004 Newsletter)
Except for summer flounder, sea bass and scup, things have been pretty quiet for the past two months. However, things should heat up in March. I will be at a Board of Directors Meeting for the Marine Fish Conservation Network the first week in March and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission Meeting during the second week in March.
At the MFCN Board Meeting we will be discussing the reauthorization of the Magnuson Act and the Pew and the Government’s Ocean Reports. We still have not seen the Government’s Ocean Report since the release is continually delayed. New Jersey DEP has promised to schedule hearings on the Government’s Ocean Report. We will keep you advised.
The agenda for ASMFC Meeting is below. As you see from the schedule, there are many important meetings one of which will be the Striped Bass Meeting. New Jersey will submit a new proposal for fishing year 2004. We hope the ASMFC will approve this plan. We understand that our new proposal does not fulfill all the guidelines of Amendment 6 but Amendment 6 discriminated against recreational anglers in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and New York. Our proposal would help rectify this. We need an expedited process to address all the issues that have arisen from Amendment 6 by doing and implementing Addendum I to Amendment 6.
I am concerned about the meeting schedule. Summer flounder, scup and sea bass are very important and to have these three species addressed during the final day of a four-day meeting guarantees less than optimal attendance. It also makes the public stay an extra day to attend these meetings away from their jobs and home. Included in the schedule is a workshop on how to conduct meetings. Our focus should be on scheduling. Someone should prioritize the meeting schedule to handle fisheries management first. The primary job of ASMFC is fisheries management, not to hold workshops. All other meetings and workshops should be scheduled after the basic business of ASMFC is completed.
New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island are forced to take a reduction of 53% in the recreational fishery on scup. Additionally, New York will see a dramatic reduction in summer flounder for recreational anglers. I am very sympathetic with their plight. The statistics used to support the decision for these reductions came from the Marine Recreational Statistical Survey. We all know how flawed this survey is. It is also ironic that the stocks of scup and summer flounder are rebuilding dramatically yet the recreational sector has been over constrained in access to the resource. The summer flounder quota has more than doubled since 1994. In addition, the spawning stock biomass has risen greatly. However, recreational anglers are taking home either the same number or even fewer fish in the last few years. What this means is that we are catching a larger fish to take home but only the same number of fish are being kept. This makes no sense. The discards and the discard mortality have both greatly increased because there are more fish available to harvest but anglers have to throw them back. The system is broken. According to a study that looked at observer data in the directed scup fishery, this fishery is still discarding almost 50% of the catch. If you add the discards from the directed and non-directed fisheries, you would probably equal the total recreational quota. I was part of this plan in the early 90’s when we were told that we didn’t need any recreational or commercial quotas. What we were told was that the issue that needed to be addressed was bycatch. We have made some strides but as you can see from the report, ten years later we are having the same problem.
People keep asking me how they can keep informed. One way is to read the Jersey Coast Newspaper. You can also read magazine and newspaper articles. There is much information at the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission http://www.asmfc.org and the Mid-Atlantic Fisheries Management Council http://www.mafmc.org web sites. You can also get on the JCAA email list. You can subscribe at our web sites or send me an email at tfote@jcaa.org. This list is confidential and is not shared with anyone. I hope to receive an email from you soon.
This is only a preliminary schedule and you should anticipate there may be additional changes. To check the latest schedule go to the ASMFC Web http://www.asmfc.org page or call 202-289-6400.
ASMFC March 2004 Meeting Week
March 8 - 11, 2004
Radisson Hotel, Old Town Alexandria
901 N. Fairfax
Alexandria, VA 22314
(703) 683-6000
REVISED PRELIMINARY AGENDA
Monday, March 8, 2004
10:00 a.m. - Noon Atlantic Herring Section
1:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.Winter Flounder Management Board
3:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. American Lobster Management Board
Tuesday, March 9, 2004
8:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. ACCSP Coordinating Council
11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Atlantic Sturgeon Management Board
1:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. American Eel Management Board
3:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. Striped Bass Management Board
Wednesday, March 10, 2004
7:30 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. Horseshoe Crab Management Board
10:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. ISFMP Policy Board
1:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. Commissioner Workshop: Improving Meeting Effectiveness
- Part I
4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. Update on Federal Fisheries Issues-Steve Williams,
Director, USFWS
5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. Business Session
Thursday, March 11, 2004
7:30 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. Commissioner Workshop: Improving Meeting
Effectiveness - Part II
10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Atlantic Menhaden Management Board
2:00 p.m. - 6:00p.m. Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass
Here is an update on the tournament surveys that JCAA will be doing in 2004. We are still looking for other tournament an intern so we are running this story again. Please read the following article and contact me or Dr. Eleanor Bochenek with any recommendations.
Dr. Eleanor Bochenek, Haskin Shellfish Research Laboratory, Rutgers University is conducting a survey of key New Jersey fishing tournaments on behalf of the JCAA. The survey will collect catch, effort, socioeconomic data, and environmental information from tournament participants. We will sample the JCAA Fluke Tournament, the Governor’s Cup Tournament, a shark tournament, an offshore tournament, and a striper tournament in 2004. We are asking any of the JCAA clubs that has a tournament to participate in the study and to offer a special prize that will be awarded to one of the tournament participants. The JCAA will handle the mailings of the survey. All tournament lists will remain confidential and will not be for sale.
The requirements for a tournament to participate in the study is that it must have at least 100 boat entries or over 200 participants if it is a surf tournament and must have a history of over five years. If your club is interested in participating in the study, please write a one pager that describes your tournament’s history, the number of participants for the last three years and the date of your tournament in 2004. The one pager must be sent to the JCAA office by February 28, 2004. The JCAA Survey Committee, comprised of Tom Fote, Phil Celmer, and Eleanor Bochenek, will determine which tournaments will be selected. Selections will be made on March 31, 2004. If you have any questions, please contact Tom Fote, Tom Siciliano, or Eleanor Bochenek (609-898-0928 ext 12).
There will be a paid internship available starting in April 2004 for an undergraduate student to work with Dr. Bochenek on the tournament survey. We are looking for a student with the following skills: can identify fish, exhibits people skills, can work some weekends, displays knowledge of recreational fishing, and possesses computer skills. The internship is hourly, hours are flexible to fit an undergraduate schedule, and will run from April 2004 through January 2005. The Intern will be located at the JCAA office. If you know someone who would be interested in this internship, please contact Eleanor Bochenek (609-898-0928 ext 12).
In case some of you did not get the January JCAA Newspaper or were busy with the holidays we have reprinted two articles from last month