President's Report

Pot Bill  

At the time I am writing this report, we have received assurances that the Pot Bill should come up for a vote in the Senate on January 7th and in the Assembly on January 3rd. If all goes well, it should move on to Governor Corzine for signature. There was some reluctance in getting this bill posted for vote in both houses due to pressure from commercial interest groups. I wrote letters on behalf of the JCAA to Senator Codey and Assemblyman Roberts urging them to post the bills for vote. Additionally, a letter was prepared and sent out to Assemblyman Jeff Van Drew urging him to use his influence in getting this bill posted for a vote, and that letter went to him with signatures from the RFA, NJSFSC, JCAA and the NJ Outdoor Alliance. This pot bill has been a joint effort among our groups. A special thank you is order to Anthony Mauro from the NJ Outdoor Alliance for coordinating the comments from our respective groups in developing the final letter that went to Assemblyman Van Drew. At this point, I have my fingers crossed and hope for the best. If this bill becomes law, it will be a great victory for recreational anglers. If not, we will have to take up the same fight during 2008.

Fluke Hearing  

I went to the December 11th meeting at the Holiday Inn in Secaucus to hear what the Mid-Atlantic States Marine Fishery Council and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission had to say what lies ahead next year for our summer flounder quota. I listened to two hours of discussion including the absurd idea of closing down the fluke season for one summer month to reduce our catch, the same time when the party and charter boats make most of their income. After testimony from the angling community who protested about how these regulations are ruining the industry, and this testimony seemed to fall on deaf ears, I decided to take a different tactic. I told the management councils that they should impose the lowest quota, stop fishing during July or August, and close the fluke season for all of next year! This way in a few years down the road the waters will be teeming with fluke, but there will be no marinas left or boats to fish for them since they all will be out of business! I said this is the scary scenario we are facing with marinas already in financial trouble and developers would love to buy them to make high priced condos that adjoining towns would like to see for increased rateables. I said that once these marinas are gone they are not coming back! I also testified that while fishing management must fashion rules to abide by the Magnuson Stevens Act, it is also incumbent on them to inform Congress that these regulations are destroying the fishing industry and that there needs to be a pause in the enforcement of these regulations to see if more flexibility, etc. can be incorporated in them. I finished by saying that “we all see a train wreck coming and that something needs to be done to stop it!” One of the Council members even lamented on these regulations, “we will burn the village in order to save it.”

We will soon learn what the 15.77 million pound quota will translate into minimum size and season for next year. However, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has the final say on this matter and they have not been responsive to the problems they have created for the fishing industry. In fact, it came out in testimony that not one study has ever been done by NMFS and other management councils to determine the socio-economic impacts that their regulations have on the angling community since quotas have been introduced over the years!

Fluke Stock Assessment  

The JCAA membership has recently approved $15,000 for the hiring of several scientists to evaluate the information and the analytical techniques used by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) in developing stock assessment for fluke quotas in 2008. While the JCAA supports a complete and independent review of the statistics and methods used to determine fluke stocks, the NMFS has agreed to a benchmark review of fluke stocks that includes a number of scientists that will review if the information and analysis that goes into the 2008 fluke quota is correct. There is a Benchmark Assessment Workshop that is scheduled for June of 2008 and our group of scientists will be participating in it. More money most likely will be needed to fund this project and other fishing groups have expressed interest in assisting us. More detailed information on this issue is in Tom Fote’s Legislative Report that follows in this newsletter.

JCAA Dinner Dance  

We had a full house and a good time was had by all. I want to thank all of you for supporting our dinner dance since it is also a fundraiser and it is nice just once in awhile to spend a night with your fishing friends and have good food and a good time.

2008 will be a Challenging Year  

With all of the Draconian fluke regulations that we will be facing and, of course, more issues will surface in this ever-changing industry. The First Vice President position is vacant and needs filling. We will need people to sit in on the numerous hearings that go on during the year for bluefish, fluke and other species. Please get involved! We need to expand our Board to better address our increasing responsibilities and please contact me if you are interested, especially in the Vice President position. I can be reached at (732) 656-0139 or at tothjohn@verizon.net. Thank You!

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