Anyone following the summer flounder (fluke) fishery is very concerned about the allowable catch quota for 2008. The federal law mandates that the Mid Atlantic Fishery Management Council develop annual quotas for federal waters, i.e. from three to 200 miles offshore. Annual fluke stock assessments are used as a basis to set the yearly quotas. Because of the importance of the stock assessments, it is extremely important that they include all of the most complete and accurate fishery information as well as having the assessments use the most complete analytical techniques, referred to as modeling

As stock assessment scientists gain experience and the biological data being collected becomes more extensive and complete, some of the analytical techniques are continually modified or new ones applied in order to provide the very best scientific advice possible. Because of the important nature of the fluke stock assessments, the JCAA has requested that a totally independent scientific review be done this year by the National Academy of Science. At the same time, we requested that the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) support this request. The Commission voted to fund such a review, but at its August meeting it was persuaded to change its position and instead support what is called a benchmark assessment. This process will involve the use of three federal scientists and a fourth independent scientist to serve on the Stock Assessment Workshop this coming June.

Because of the importance of the stock assessment for fluke and the reluctance to have a truly independent stock review, the JCAA, RFA, United Boatman of NY and NJ, and the Garden State Seafood Association and the NY Tackle Trades Association have formed an ad hoc group to determine how best to be involved in the Benchmark Stock Assessment Workshop scheduled for June 2008. We have agreed that we need several independent stock assessment scientists to be involved not only with the June meeting but also in several preliminary meetings leading up to the June workshop. We are in touch with scientists from Rutgers University and we will be looking for other scientists from New York and Virginia. In addition, we will need to hire a highly respected stock assessment scientist to lead this effort. We have contacted a highly qualified scientist and we are getting cost estimates to form a budget to pay for his services and travel expenses.

We will present this budget to our membership clubs for final approval and action. I will become directly involved in the stock assessment process and I have already contacted the Mid Atlantic Council to have my name added to the Workshop group roster and plan to attend the preliminary meetings and the June workshop in Woods Hole in MA.

I will keep you continually updated on the progress of this most important and urgent study which is so crucial to the problems we face with the fluke fishery.

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