On March 7th, the New Jersey Marine Fisheries Council (NJMFC) voted unanimously in favor of a recreational fluke season that will begin on May 18th and end on September 16th, with a 17 1/2" size limit and a five fish bag limit. This will result in a season that is 25 days shorter than in 2012. I represented the Berkeley Striper Club and New Jersey Beach Buggy Association at the meeting. JCAA did not have sufficient time to poll its member clubs for a position because the options were released too late. I spoke in favor of a longer season or at least one that extended the season further into the fall. However, the vast majority of those who spoke favored the option that was chosen. However, there is still a little ray of hope that the season might be extended further. After all states have set their regulations, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Council (ASMFC) will review them. If they determine that the regulations are likely to result in a coastwide underage of the quota, they may allow New Jersey and New York to liberalize their regulations somewhat. New Jersey and New York were the only two states who were forced to take a reduction due to overfishing their quotas last year. If the ASMFC does allow us to liberalize somewhat, the NJMFC may do so by adding a few days to the end of our season. However, there was some concern by council members that doing so could cause us to exceed our quota. I pointed out that we are more likely to underfish our quota this year because there will be far less participation. This is due to all the marinas, boats and coastal homes that were damaged or lost due to Hurricane Sandy. If we are given the option to liberalize further, the NJMFC will consider doing so at their next meeting on May 2nd.
The New Jersey Bureau of Marine Fisheries (NJBMF) is developing the sea bass options for this year. A 1/2 million pound increase in the coastwide total allowable catch for recreational fishermen was recently approved by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Council. This resulted in New Jersey having to take a 32% reduction in its quota rather than the 42-53% reduction that was initially anticipated. Options are expected to be ready sometime in the near future. While the NJMFC did not indicate what they have in mind, I expect that we may have a lengthy mid-season closure unless the size limit is raised from 12 1/2" to 13". The bag limit may be reduced as well. The regulations are expected to be set at the NJMFC meeting on May 2nd.
