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Published in Asbury Park Press 9/11/04
by Kirk Moore, Staff Writer
(from Jersey Coast Anglers Association October 2004 Newsletter)
State Senate President Richard J. Codey, D-Essex, is calling a special Senate session Sept. 20 to pass new rules for striped-bass fishing -- an emergency measure that recreational fishing groups say is essential to head off a shutdown that could cost the state economy millions of dollars.
The striped bass legislation -- S-1691 -- is identical to rules passed by the state Assembly earlier this summer. But the Senate went into recess before acting on the rules, which the state Division of Fish and Wildlife drafted to bring New Jersey into compliance with coastwide conservation plans.
Without final approval of the rules, New Jersey is out of compliance with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission striped-bass management plan. Under federal law, the National Marine Fisheries Service may order a moratorium on the taking and possession of striped bass in states that don't comply with the commission's plan adjustments.
"We would have found out on Monday," said Thomas P. Fote, legislative chairman of the Jersey Coast Anglers Association and a longtime New Jersey representative to the Atlantic states commission. New Jersey's commissioners were planning to meet Monday with NMFS director William Hogarth and seek more time for New Jersey to adopt its rules, Fote said.
Under Codey's plan, the Senate Environment Committee will meet at 9:30 a.m. Sept. 20 to approve the bill, followed by a vote of at least 30 senators. The bill would then be taken to Gov. McGreevey for his signature, Fote said.
To adjust New Jersey's rules to ASMFC conservation goals, the legislation would change the current daily catch limit of one striped bass of at least 28 inches and one between 24 and 28 inches.
The new rules would still allow fishermen to keep one fish between 24 and 28 inches -- the "slot fish" limit -- but bump the minimum size on the second bass up to 34 inches.
Those size limits have been intensely debated in the fishing community because fishermen in different areas tend to catch fish of different sizes, anglers say. But with the possibility of losing time to a moratorium, fishing advocates have agreed to squelch their debate for now, said Ed Cherry, a Stafford fisherman who tracks striped bass issues for the Jersey Coast Anglers Association.
"We're willing to eliminate all our concerns at the moment," said Cherry, whose group would have preferred a daily limit of two fish with a 28-inch minimum.
"My most commonly caught fish is 32 to 33 inches," said Cherry, who ranges by boat from his Manahawkin home down to Little Egg Inlet.
The slot-fish limit and higher minimum size for a second bass "leaves too big of a gap for a lot of people," he said.
Still, all the differing fishermen agree that accepting the new rules for the coming season is preferable to risking a shutdown, Cherry added.
"Even a couple days of moratorium would be very harmful to the businesses," including tackle shops and party fishing boats, he said. After overfishing and pollution left striped-bass populations at an all-time low in the early 1980s, the species slowly recovered under a strict conservation plan. Now the fishery is robust and has a significant impact on the economy through fishermen's spending and purchase of big-ticket items, such as boats and four-wheel-drive vehicles for the beach.
"I spoke to the Senate staff on several occasions. . . . We had talked about the economics," Fote said. "We have the Governor's Surf Fishing Tournament coming up Oct. 3 at Island Beach. Fourteen hundred people will be fishing. Half of them will be kids. Do we really want to have the governor's tournament if we can't keep striped bass?"
Kirk Moore: (732) 557-5728
