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JCAA Testimony before the NJ Marine Fisheries Council on Black Sea Bass & Summer Flounder(from Jersey Coast Anglers Association April 2012 Newsletter) JCAA Black Sea Bass Position Jersey Coast’s member clubs met on Tuesday and held a lengthy discussion on the merits of each of the options presented. As with all JCAA positions and decisions, a member club makes a motion, the issue is discussed and a vote is taken. We urge the Council to liberalize black sea bass by the full 57% approved by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. In the past NJ has endured drastic reductions in black sea bass. If the ASMFC moves to a state-by-state quota system, NJ will be forced into a quota based on historically low landings due to the recent reductions in quota over the past few years. NJ needs to get its landings up as much as possible to avoid such a situation and take full advantage of what the ASMFC will allow us to catch. In the event the Council does not adopt a regulation that takes advantage of the full 57% liberalization allowed, we are forced to support Option B. JCAA Summer Flounder Position Jersey Coast’s member clubs met on Tuesday and held a lengthy discussion on the merits of each of the options presented. As with all JCAA positions and decisions, a member club makes a motion, the issue is discussed and a vote is taken. As much as we would like to see the size limit reduced at this time we do not feel that would be a prudent decision. With the possibility of a very strong year class becoming available for landings, we feel a reduced minimum size with a reduced bag limit from the current eight fish bag limit could be a recipe for disaster in 2013 if NJ were to go over quota in 2012. We also feel the reduced bag limit and season to gain a half an inch is not worth losing and therefore support Option 2 to enable our anglers the greatest opportunity to catch summer flounder and also reduce pressure on other species by keeping the summer flounder season open when others are closed.
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