The 2013 regulaitons for summer flounder have now been finalized and both New Jersey and New York recreational anglers should be happy with the changes. Pending approval by The New Jersey Marine Fisheries Council New Jersey anglers may have an extra 11 days added back after the Council voted in March to reduce the season by 25 days while New Yorkers will see their minimum size limit drop to 19 inches. Both states pushed hard for the changes during a conference call with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission on Wednesday, when the ASMFC approved a plan that allowed other East Coast states to share their unused quotas.
Both NY and NJ over-fished their 2012 quota and faced drastic reductions at a time when Hurricane Sandy has affected hundreds of marinas in the region. There was also concern because last year’s superstorm damaged boats and the homes many anglers live in when they go fishing at the shore. The pursuit of summer flounder comprises a large part of the recreational fishing economy in New York and New Jersey, and states and cutbacks would most assuredly have hurt marinas, bait and tackle shops, party boats, charter vessels and other businesses.
%pullstart%New Jersey fluke regulations for 2013 will see a 17.5-inch size limit, 5-fish creel, and a season running from May 18 through September 27.%pullend%The other East Coast states did not over-fish their quotas last year and had already set conservative 2013 regulations that would have left 809,147 pounds of unused summer flounder quota, which according to ASMFC calculations equates to 266,781 fish. Under the new guidelines, New Jersey will receive 232,949 pounds or 85,392 extra summer flounder while New York gets 565,282 pounds or 150,022 fish. This leaves only 10,916 pounds as a hedge against over-fishing.
%pullstart%New York’s 2013 fluke regulations will see a 19-inch size limit, 4-fish creel and a season running from May 1 through September 29.%pullend%New Jersey and New York fishing officials had been in contact in recent days trying to come to agreement on how to divvy up the fish, but the exact deal happened late in the 90-minute conference call. New York wanted to use its poundage to drop its minimum size to 19 inches from 19.5 inches, the highest limit on the coast. Such a reduction, however, would have taken 569,040 extra pounds. That did not leave enough for New Jersey to have the 11 extra fishing days it sought to extend its season through a Friday (Sept. 27) on the calendar. The problem was solved when New York agreed to give one of its fishing days to New Jersey. The New York season will end on Sept. 29 instead of Sept. 30.
One concern with this arrangement is allowing more fish to be caught could put the whole East Coast over its recreational harvest limit of 2.5 million fish this year. The devastation from Sandy, which led some to vote for the plan, was cited as a reason not to worry about over-fishing at this point.
