Pork roll or Taylor ham? Is it a hoagie or a sub? And how about fluke or flounder?
For that latter question, and perhaps even more importantly, could a north/south or perhaps inshore/offshore split for managing this iconic Jersey Shore summer species ever get legs, or are there different slot scenarios that can work for fluke and sea bass in some management scenarios from Sandy Hook to Cape May?
Lots of questions that require more data before approaching the final answers. And here’s an important first step in the process.
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s (NJDEP) Bureau of Marine Fisheries and New Jersey Marine Fisheries Council are conducting a survey to improve data collection for recreationally caught summer flounder and black sea bass to help improve management of these important species. The state needs better recreational data to determine if alternative management measures can be implemented for these two species because without better data it will be difficult to change the status quo.
New Jersey Marine Fisheries Council member Dr. Eleanor Bochenek emailed me after the May meeting of the council, explaining how the NJDEP is asking saltwater anglers and for-hire vessels throughout New Jersey – those who fish inland coastal and state waters out to 3 miles, as well as outside the 3-mile line in federal waters – to report their catches of summer flounder and black sea bass for each location on their trip.
You will not be asked to give your exact location. Record both kept and discarded summer flounder and black sea bass as well as the lengths of each fish. “We need total hours fished not steaming time or walking along the beach…as well as average depth fished as well as number of anglers that fished,” Dr. Bochenek noted, explaining how explicit instructions are located on the tally sheet.
“You do not need to record all of these fish but more data collected the better,” said Dr. Bochenek, adding “We need data collected throughout 2025 and possible into future years so we have enough data to make appropriate management decisions.”
NJDEP Fish and Wildlife’s Bureau of Marine Fisheries uses the Recreational Saltwater Volunteer Angler Survey to collect information on recreationally important marine finfish species. Information collected through this voluntary survey provides data that may support alternative management strategies that increase fishing opportunities for the public. These data are also used in fish stock assessments.
While the Bureau of Marine Fisheries is encouraging anglers to report data for all species, they are attempting to explore summer flounder and black sea bass measures in depth, and to that end they’ve developed a form for those species specifically, broken out into four options depending on your preference.
- Desktop & Laptop platform
- Mobile Device Platform
- Detailed Printable Form
- Simple Printable Form in a Tally Format for summer flounder and black seabass (new!)
Anglers should report each fishing trip in only one of the platforms that can be found online; hard copies can also be requested by emailing marine_survey@dep.nj.gov.
Somewhere smack dab in the middle of the Garden State, professional sports allegiances begin to blur, accents sometimes change, and the difference between a fluke and flounder become a little more nuanced than just the location of the eyes. But before we ever get a chance to sample new management options representing the differences between north and south, or inshore and offshore, the folks at the Bureau of Marine Fisheries need more data.
Check out the links above to consider logging your catch data, and for answers to your questions (except the Taylor ham vs. pork roll one) go to the Recreational Saltwater Volunteer Angler Survey FAQs.
