President's Report

Fluke Update – On March 1st, a meeting was held by the NJ Marine Fisheries Council at the Galloway Township Library to decide the new fluke regulations for 2007, among other issues. There were approximately 100 in attendance and most, if not all, were members of the fishing community. The meeting place was packed and there was standing room only. Approximately 36 attendees signed up to comment on the four (4) options being considered. I went to this meeting for the purpose to tell the Council that the JCAA voted for option 3 at its February 27th meeting. The four options follow:

Size	Bag Limit	Dates		Number of Days

16.5	8	July 1 – September 3	65 day season
17	8	June 9 – September 18	102 day season
17	8	May 26 – September 10	108 day season
17.5	8	April 7 – October 21	198 day season

Nobody who took the floor supported the first and second options since the first option has the shortest season and the second has no advantage to it compared to the other options. All commentary focused on the third and fourth options. I counted approximately 28 comments made for the third option and 8 for the fourth. The party and charter boat captains indicated that a 16 ½ fluke is hard to catch for most anglers and going to 17 ½ inches makes it all the more difficult for the novice or average angler to land a keeper. Consequently, they expressed the fear that more anglers will give up on fluke and just stay home Another fear about adopting option four (17 ½ inches) is that if further quota reductions come in the future by fishing management the size would start from 17 ½ inches and then go to 18 inches or more. Consequently, it is better to go with the lower 17inch size limit. Given the overwhelming votes for option 3, the Council adopted it and this option will govern our fluke fishery for 2007. It must be said that almost everybody who testified said that ALL OF THE OPTIONS ARE BAD AND NOBODY LIKES THEM. WE HAD TO PICK THE LEAST OF ALL EVILS! We have to make the best of a bad season that will obviously hurt the tackle shops and party/charter boat industry.

We tried our best to change the thinking of fluke management by chartering buses to take anglers to make their voices heard at the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission on December 11th in New York to plead for a higher fluke quota. There was an intensive letter writing campaign to change the 5.2 million pound draconian quota first recommended by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). The quota was increased to the present 17.1 million pounds and that was due to this letter writing campaign. While that is a measure of some success, we could not get the quota set to a higher level despite the abundance of fluke. The JCAA will closely monitor what happens during this new fluke season and keep members informed of any new changes in fluke management they should be aware of.

Don’t Feed the Bears – It is incredible that hunters are prohibited from hunting bears, but more incredible that NJ’s DEP now plans to hunt for those people who are intentionally or unintentionally feeding bears. Later this month, the DEP plans to deploy conservation officers, park police and environmental inspectors across five counties – Bergen, Morris, Passaic, Sussex and Warren - to find out who may be feeding the bears directly with food, or leaving food in garbage cans, etc., where bears can easily forage for food. Violators will first receive a warning and subsequent violations will result in fines of $1,000.

The state budget has $850,000 appropriated for this DEP swat team searching for “bear enablers.” Meanwhile, the money spent for the management of New Jersey’s marine resources is only around $3 million. Is there something wrong here? Do they have their priorities mixed up? Also, a bear hunt would save the state $850,000!

Artificial Reefs – There is a growing concern about the commercial pots that are littering the artificial reefs (two in NJ’s waters and 13 reefs directly outside of our waters) and the JCAA will ask anglers to sign petitions that will be at the JCAA booth at the Saltwater Expo in Somerset during March 16th thru March 18th. The petition will be directed toward Governor Corzine and it will ask him to ban commercial pots on the two reefs in NJ’s waters and to direct NJ’s Office of Environmental Protection to petition the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council to declare NJ’s thirteen artificial reefs in the EEZ as Special Management Zones. In this category, any commercial gear on the thirteen artificial reefs will come under management guidelines where none exist today. Working with NJ’s Division of Fish & Wildlife, recreational anglers have paid to have these reefs constructed to increase fishing and diving opportunities. The numerous pots are limiting anglers from anchoring up on these prime fishing spots.

Committee Members Needed – There was intense pressure in Congress to get the Magnuson Stevens Act (MSA) passed and we were all concerned about how it would affect the fluke season. Now that is has been passed and the rules for the fluke season set, the provisions of the MSA need closer scrutiny. For example, we are now finding out that a Science and Statistical Committee will have a very large role in determining fishing quotas that fishing councils will have to follow. The time to end over fishing will become a two-year objective instead of a ten-year goal. The MSA provisions are very important to our sport and we need a committee to review the ramifications of the MSA and to guide the JCAA in providing an appropriate response. Can you serve on this committee? We need committee chairpersons and volunteers for those species that are also under attack such as blackfish, the highly migratory type, summer flounder and other concerns such as pots on the artificial reefs. If you can serve on any of these committees, please call me at (732) 446-6298 of email at tothjohn@juno.com.
 

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