Ristori: Council Leaves Fluke Rules Alone

Tuesday March 8th 2005
By Al Ristori, START LEDGER staff

(from Jersey Coast Anglers Association April 2005 Newsletter)

The New Jersey Marine Fisheries Council pretty much left last year's fluke regulations in place, as expected, when they met last week in Galloway Township.

Subject to final approval by the state Department of Environmental Protection and the notification process, all of which should occur within a month, anglers will have the same 16 1/2-inch minimum length and eight-fluke bag limit. The season was adjusted to begin on May 7 and finish on Columbus Day, Oct. 10.

Tom McCloy of the Division of Fish and Wildlife said the Advisory Panel supported those regulations, as did the few anglers who attended the meeting. Since the state was only slightly over quota last year and there was an increase in allocation for 2005, some loosening of the regulations was possible, but a conservative approach was eventually taken.

Fluking in New York was devastated last year when the Empire State ended up having to accept an 18-inch minimum and just three fluke per day with the season ending after Labor Day. Anglers in New York still ended up over quota, but with the increase provided for this year, they were able to get down to a 17 1/2 minimum and up to five fluke during a longer season -- April 29 through October -- than we have.

Since New Jersey's petition to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission requesting a drop in scup minimum size to 9 inches was accepted, the council adopted that measure along with the same regulations as last year: 50 porgies per day from July 1 through Dec. 31. January and February will also be open under both state and federal regulations for those catching big porgies on far offshore wrecks.

Sea bass will have the same 12-inch minimum and 25-fish bag, but this year there will be no closed season rather than the two weeks in September and the month of December we lost last year.

[News Contents] [Top]