JCAA

      



JCAA Newsletter

July 2004

President's Report   by Tom Siciliano

I hope you have been out fishing on those big bass that have been along the coast for the last few weeks.  I can remember a few years ago when a few recreational fishing groups were complaining that there were no big stripers and that more restrictions were necessary.  I think they will be silent for a while.  A question does come to mind.  Why are we seeing the abundance of big fish all of a sudden?  The answer is simple .........

Read full article


Youth Education Report by Greg Kucharewski
During the month of May we supplied information and materials to the Stafford Township School system, Toms River Cub Scouts, Fort Monmouth School Age Services, Lanes Mill School and the Hudson River Fishing Club “Hooked On the Hudson.”  Interest in youth fishing programs within the membership of JCAA is growing.  If you would like to help with our youth education efforts....

Read full article


Fisheries Management & Legislative Report by Tom Fote
On The Road
I have been on the road a great deal in the last couple of weeks.  I attended the ASMFC meeting where we voted New York out of compliance on summer flounder. Summaries of those meetings can be found at the ASMFC web site http://www.asmfc.org .  I attended the Board meeting of the Marine Fish Conservation Network.  There was a lengthy discussion about the reauthorization of the Magnuson Act.....

Read full article

Congressional Testimony Before Subcommittee on Fisheries Wildlife and Oceans

I have testified before this committee on many fisheries management issues.  However, data management is certainly one of the most important topics.  Most of what takes place in fisheries management is based on data.  Data determines the stock assessment, the size of quotas and the rebuilding period.  Without data we can’t manage fisheries.  The quality of fisheries management decisions is directly tied to ....

Read full article

Summer Flounder

At the ASMFC meeting there was a lengthy discussion about New York’s summer flounder overages and the necessary reduction.  I fought hard for a motion that would give New York some relief.  Some people asked me why I fought so hard to reach a solution that was not allowed for in the plan.  The implication was that I had not fought as hard when other states faced reductions due to overages.  My reply is that times are different and the situation is different....

Read full article

Some More Comment About Fisheries Science

Menakhem Ben-Yami is a fisheries sociologist and scientist from Israel.  I communicate with him through a message board that includes people from around the world.  He sent me this email....

Read full article

Local Anglers Not Thrilled About Introduction of Tag Bill by John Geiser, Asbury Park Press

The Assembly Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee will take a look Monday at a bill that would require a tag to catch a striped bass between 28 and 34 inches in length. Assemblyman Bob Smith, D-Gloucester, introduced the bill Thursday that provides for taking .......

Read full article

Governor Calls on U.S. to Fund Fish Studies by Todd Bates, Asbury Park Press

Gov. McGreevey has largely praised a federal commission's preliminary report on ways to upgrade protections for the ocean. But the U.S. government should fund studies of fisheries stocks instead of requiring that states impose saltwater-fishing license fees to pay for them, McGreevey said in a June 4 letter to the panel's chairman.  .......

Read full article

Recreational Groups Need Unity by John Geiser, Asbury Park Press

Schisms leave management able to impose anything, including a saltwater licenseThe Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council spent an hour Tuesday in its meeting in Secaucus reviewing the status of East Coast states' recreational saltwater fishing license programs, but not a minute reviewing the gradual deterioration of the recreational fishery .......

Read full article

Bear Hunt Vote Puts DEP on Prowl  by Lynn Olanoff, Herald Staff Writer

State Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bradley Campbell said Tuesday that he is considering changing the make-up of the Fish and Game Council in part because of the council’s approval of a bear hunt this year.  .......

Read full article


Fluke Tournament
JCAA 2004 Fluke Tournament - 972 Boats Entered  by Phil Celmer

The 10th Annual Jersey Coast Fluke tournament again was a major success.  972 boats fished in this year’s tournament.  An award to the winners at each of the 12 ports was conducted on Friday night, June 18th, at the Trump Marina Hotel Casino........

Read full article


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Calendar of Events

 

  • May 24-27 - ASMFC Meeting Week , Radisson Hotel Old Town Alexandria,  625 First Street, Alexandria, Virginia.

  • May 25th - JCAA Monthly Meeting

  • May 27th - JCAA Striped Bass Committee Meeting - JCAA Office, 7:30pm

  • June 1-3 - Marine Fish Conservation Network Board Mtg 

  • June 5th - 8th Annual Barnegat Bay Festival - Berkeley Island 10AM-4PM Rain-Or-Shine

  • June 6-9 - ASA Spring Meeting , Radisson Hotel Old Town Alexandria, 625 First Street, Alexandria, Virginia.

  • June 12 -  JCAA Fluke Tournament

  • June 18  - JCAA Fluke Tournament Award Presentation

  • June 22-24 - MAFMC Meeting - Hershey Lodge & Convention Center , W. Chocolate Ave  & University Drive P.O. Box 446 Hershey PA, 17033, (717) 520-5453

  • Aug 10-12 - MAFMC Meeting August 10-12 Wyndham Inner Harbor,101 W. Fayette Street,Baltimore, MD 21201, Tel: 410-752-1100

--> JCAA Interactive Calendar
 

Acronyms, Abbreviations & Technical Terms Used in Fisheries Management Documents

EEZ= Exclusive Economic Zone = Federal water from 3 to 200 nautical miles offshore. Fisheries in the EEZ are generally under federal Control

M
Natural mortality (M) - The instantaneous rate at which fish die from all causes other than harvest. This rate has traditionally included unmeasured bycatch mortality, but as research has documented bycatch, it is increasingly included in "F". Usually "M" is an assumption or estimate from maximum age data or the value used for other species with a similar life history strategy. Natural mortality can rarely be measured directly.

MRFSS
= Marine Recreational Fisheries Statistics Survey

MSP
= Maximum spawning potential =  The estimated female spawning stock biomass or egg production in the absence of fishing. A percentage of this value (% MSP) can be used as a measure of the health of a stock.

MSY
= Maximum sustainable yield = The largest catch, on average, which can be taken from a stock over time under existing environmental conditions without affecting the reproductive capacity of the stock.

MT
= Metric Ton = 2,204.6 pounds

Recruit
= An individual fish which has entered a defined group through growth,spawning, or migration, such as those fish above minimum legal size ( fishable stock) or which are sexually mature ( spawning stock).

Recruitment
= A measure of weight or number of fish which enter a defined portion of a stock, such as fishable stock or the spawning stock.

 SPR = Spawning potential ratio = SPR compares the spawning ability of a stock in the fished condition to the stock’s spawning ability in the unfished condition

SSB
= Spawning stock biomass = total weight of fish which are sexually mature; generally pertaining only to females

TAC
= Total allowable catch

Threshold
= that point where the fishery is regarded as  overfished

Target Values
= that value or below which allows the fishery to be self sustaining

Biomass
= The total weight of a stock of fish or of a defined subunit of a stock, such as spawning females (SSB)

Bycatch
= That portion of a catch taken incidentally to the targeted catch because of non-selectivity of fishing gear to either species or size differences. Some by catch may be retained, but most is usually discarded

CPUE
= C/E = The catch taken by a given amount of fishing gear during a given period of time. Over time, CPUE data often provides an indication of trends in abundance in a fish stock

Coastal Pelagic
= Fish that migrate along the coast, generally near shore, and live in the water column rather than in association with the bottom.

Demersal 
= Refers to organisms which live at or near the bottom, but not in (Benthic) the bottom

Estuary
  = A coastal area landward of the ocean beach where freshwater and saltwater mix. Estuaries are among the most biologically productive and environmentally sensitive habitats.

ITQ
= Individual transferable quota + A form of controlled access in which individual persons or vessels receive a property right to a share or specific allocation of the total expected harvest of fish which they can buy, sell, lease, etc.

Mortality rate
  = the rate at which fish die. Mortality can be expressed as annual percentages or instantaneous rates (the fraction of the stock which dies within each small amount of time). Fishery scientists utilize several different types of mortality to evaluate status of fish stocks, and some serve as biological reference points (Instantaneous rates are used in most stock assessments):

 A
= Annual mortality = the percentage of a fish stock which dies from all causes during a year.

Fishing mortality (F) -  A measurement of the rate of removal of fish from a population by fishing. Fishing mortality can be reported as either annual or instantaneous. Annual mortality is the percentage of fish dying in one year. Instantaneous is that percentage of fish dying at ny one time. The acceptable rates of fishing mortality may vary from species to species. There are several kinds of fishing mortality rates; some of the more common include the following:

 F max
- The rate of fishing mortality which maximizes the weight taken from a single cohort* over its entire life.
 ( * a group of fish spawned during a given period, usually in a single year)

 F msy - The rate of fishing mortality, which maximizes the weight of the harvest within a year.

 
F 0,1 - The rate of fishing mortality at which an increase in catch for a given increase in effort is only 10% of what it would be from an unfished stock.

 Z = Total instantaneous mortality = The sum of fishing F and natural mortality M

Hit Counter