Good News...the DEC has received word the ASMFC has no reason to
disapprove their latest proposal on the NY State fluke reg's for 2001 and while although
unofficial...it is in all probablity a reality. The fluke reg's will be seven (7)
fluke at 17 inches with a season of May 2 through October 31. Finally...it is
over. Read Down the page for the evolution of the Fluke Reg's over the last
weeks and for Capt. Al Ristori's View On Fluke Problem
April 12th
Another Change to
Fluke Reg’s Comes Down
The last couple of weeks I’ve been writing about the
ever-changing fluke regulations. While I write this story as it comes from the officials
at the DEC each Thursday or Friday afternoon, by the time you folks read it the following
week things have changed… again. Well the same holds true this week. It is Thursday
afternoon and I just spoke with Gordon Colvin at the DEC on Long Island.
At the meeting of the MRAC council at
DEC headquarters April 10 in which a very large turnout resulted in the fishing industry
being very well represented, there were no DEC proposals from the week prior all could
agree on. Remember different parts of the Island catch larger and fewer fluke while some
larger numbers of smaller fluke on average. Since they could not get interested parties to
agree on any of the 10 proposals, the DEC had to step in and make another proposal they
felt would be beneficial to all. The major concern was the length of season. Party boats
and tackle shops live by season length being the number one priority. Second priority is
the number of fish one can possibly catch per trip. While true sportsmen only take what
they need for table, many anglers need the illusion of a decent number of fish they can
take home. Third is the size limit of the fish.
Taking all concerns to heart, the DEC
came up with the following proposal that was submitted on April 12 to the ASMFC for final
approval. It was seven (7) fluke at 17 inches for a season of May 2 through October 31.
While some in the industry may not be
happy with the size of the fish because of geographic areas, their first two priorities
were met. A nice long season, actually longer than any plan submitted so far, and the
possibility of catching seven fish, also the highest proposed so far.
Last week I mentioned the 60/40 split
in the TAL of the fluke fishery. In my conversation with Gordon Colvin, he mentioned
“the ASMFC and NMFS will be taking the approach on the 17.9 TAL for 2001 with a
statement insisting that a facilitated negotiation process be instituted immediately for a
fairer split of the fluke fishery.” While he said the statement from last week on
historical data of the fluke fishery was wrong because of faulty date used from 1979,
there will be other concerns for the ASMFC to address such as paybacks for recreational
overages of the quota which commercial fisherman want us to have as well. If this is
brought to the table than it is only fair we get a large split of the pie.
Some feel if we had a 50/50 split we
wouldn’t be in the mess that is not true. Mr. Colvin says a 50/50 split in 2000 would
have meant somewhere in the neighborhood of 8 million pound for us. In reality the
recreational catch in 2000 coast wide was 15 million pounds, therefore the idea that
paybacks of overages be taken off the top the following year may be in discussion.
Obviously this is not over so stay tuned. I hope to be writing about fishing and not
limits next week…we’ll see?
April 5th
Enough Is
Enough…Another Change to Fluke Reg’s Comes Down!
By Rich Johnson
You can fax your
comments or which plan you prefer to 631-444-0434
Last week I wrote of the impending fluke regulations and how
recreational anglers continue to bear the brunt of conservation. Reviewing last
week’s column, recreational anglers were asked to accept a 32% reduction in fluke
catches. When all was done there were several plans the DEC came up with a pair of which
seemed to work best for all.
REVIEW OF THE PLANS. Plan 1:
Recreational anglers keep five (5) fluke at 16.5 inches, May 11 to October 1. This reaches
our 32% reduction rate. Plan 2: I felt was better and allow four (4) fluke at 16.5
inches, but the season gains 24 days running May 1 through October 14. Other plans allowed
six (6) fish at 16 inches, but we’d also close the season from seven to 14 days in
the middle of the summer. Plan 3: Plus or minus 4 fish at 16 inches with a season
of May 25 through Oct. 1, with a closing for 7 to 14 days.
NOW WHAT? The National Marine
Fisheries Service (NMFS) informed the Atlantic State Marine Fishery Council (ASMFC) on
April 3 they had revised the Total Allowable Landings (TAL) from 20.5 million
pounds down to 17.9 pounds. This started with the Audubon lawsuit against the government
on the premise of faulty data and the management plan was doomed with an 82% probability
of failure. They won.
Now the National Resources Defense
Fund’s lawsuit has federal agencies running for their lives and we are in some mess!
Originally we needed a 32% reduction and now that’s become 41%. Each state has
sitting members on the board and by federal law must implement federal regulations or they
can shut down our fishing entirely. The NYS DEC must now reach a 41% reduction in fluke
mortality by law. What does this mean? Well the ominous signs ahead are not good.
NEW PLANS. The need for
reduction has a new series of plans devised by the DEC, all of which are not good!
Let’s go through them as sent to me April 5. Remember this is a breaking story and
we’re first to bring it to you. They’re tabled in this order: Amount of
fluke, inch size limit, the open season, any additional season closure in bold type and
percent of fish saved.
Bag Limit |
Size |
Open Season |
Season closure |
% Saved |
Three |
16” |
5/25 - 9/4 |
7/16 - 7/22 |
41.34% |
Four |
16” |
5/25 - 8/29 |
7/30 - 8/5 |
41.02% |
Three |
16.5” |
5/10 - 9/10 |
no closure |
41.04% |
Three |
16.5” |
5/1 - 10/31 |
7/30 - 8/5 |
41% |
Three |
16.5” |
5/19 - 10/2 |
9/5 - 9/11 |
40.99% |
Four |
16.5” |
5/25 - 9/8 |
no closure |
41.01% |
Four |
16.5” |
5/19 - 9/29 |
7/30 - 8/5 |
40.96% |
Four |
16.5” |
5/25 - 9/28 |
8/20 - 8/26 |
41.02% |
Four
Five |
16.5”
16.5” |
5/25 - 9/17
5/25 - 9/19 |
9/5 - 9/11
7/30 - 8/5 |
40.99%
41.10% |
Each year the DEC asks us to tighten
our belts just a little more. Each season we take fewer fish, but at the same time they
ask us to keep larger fish. This translates into more pounds of fish being caught. When I
ask the DEC, they say fish pounds are still transferred over to numbers so they can do
their tables. However, it has to be the pounds of fish caught that determine the
reg’s each following year because if it were numbers as they say, if we take less
fish each season as they ask why all the cutbacks?
This is unacceptable to anyone making a
living on the water. As a recreational angler, I suppose I could live with a three fish
limit at 16-1/2 inches. Hell, I was agreeing to four fish at the same size so one less
fish is not going to break my bank as I fish for pleasure whether I’m working on the
TV show or a personal day off. It’s the men and women in the industry behind the
counters of the tackle shops and on the party and charter boats that will suffer immensely
if this sort of thing continues to go through.
We are in year five of a Fluke
Mortality Reduction Plan and from I see there is no light at the end of the tunnel. Each
year the DEC says we need a reduction. I was told by the DEC just last week, if we stayed
within quotas for 2001 there may be no reduction needed in 2002 and we might see an
increase in the fish we can catch. Now we need to increase the reduction rate to 41%.
While many of you say the commercial sector needs to be cut, well they have. They have
very low trip limits and are kept pretty tightly regulated. However, the split of the
resource is a problem.
Charles Witek, sitting chairman of the
Coastal Conservation Assoc. Fisheries Committee and the National Atlantic States Committee
says, “Historically recreational anglers have fished for and caught more fluke than
commercial anglers. Right now the split between the two sectors is 60% commercial and 40%
recreational. This is wrong and should be changed to at least a 50/50 split. Will that
happen? Not any time soon as commercial lobbying is one of the strongest in the nation. In
the end it all boils down to a question of stewardship. Do we do what’s right for the
resource or do we squander its long term potential in order to avoid a little short term
pain?”
This writer feels the short-term pain
has gone on too long. Every year we’re forced to take less fish. Why do recreational
anglers need more than three fish is a question many government agencies ask? They say the
attitude of recreational anglers needs to change. I say that’s never been truer!
Recreational anglers to need to get off their fannies and make the calls and mail the
letters the way our parents and grandparents did to get things done. There are many in the
industry that are convinced the wave of the future is catch and release only for
recreational anglers and I can see angler effort on the water in jeopardy in the future as
well! If you folks do not get the message by now…you are missing the boat.
Do recreational anglers need more than
three fish to have fun on the water? Probably not, but if someone is fishing for a family
of eight, three fish at 16-1/2 inches is not enough. The only light in this storm is it
gives us another good reason to take your son, daughters, fathers & mothers fishing on
the party boats or visit local tackle shops because
the more people on the boat, the more limits of three fluke you can keep! You can fax your comments or which plan you
prefer to 631-4440434
Read below for Rich
Johson's article on this subject from last week and further down the page for the
Jersey Star Ledger Capt. Al Ristori's view on the natter.
April 1st
Fluke Reg’s Are
Final..? (from 4/1/01)
By Rich Johnson
Gossip
around the industry was we would see three fluke per person with a 16-inch size limit.
This would have shocked me but I knew the DEC wouldn’t let it happen, too many
peoples livelihood depends on the ability to catch fish. Fishing boats and tackle shops
would have been devastated if this came to fruition as the ASMFC wanted in the federal
meetings over the winter.
In speaking with Gordon Colvin, head of
DEC Marine resources, we spoke of the many options in getting a 32% reduction in fluke
mortality. When all was said and done, there were several plans that came out of the all
the public meetings. Of all the plans, the DEC came up with a pair that seem to work best
for all from the fishing industry aspect to private recreational anglers. The two plans
are very similar with one or two minor differences.
In Plan 1, recreational anglers keep
five (5) fluke at 16.5 inches and fish May 11 to October 1. This reaches our 32% reduction
rate. Plan number 2, which I feel is better for the industry and myself as a recreational
angler, allows four (4) fluke at 16.5 inches, but the season gains 24 days by running May
1 through October 14. Some plans would allow us to fluke from May 25 to the mid-September
or October 1. Granted we could have kept six (6) fish at 16 inches, but we would also
close the season from seven to 14 days in the middle of the summer trying to come up with
a solution in the target mortality reduction rate of 32%.
Why is Plan #2 better? Well the
beginning of May is an awesome time on the North Fork for jumbo fluke to 15 pounds and
while the weather may not seem like it now, if we get a decent April the fluke will move
into the bays and the first two weeks of May could be dynamite up there and around the
Island. To the west on the South Shore, the month of September and the first two weeks of
October continually see BIG fluke taken from the inlets and ocean waters as the migration
really starts up. Extending the season allows us to fish the Ambrose Channel run, which is
typically the end of September and beginning of October. Plan 1 would have shut us down
Oct 1 and the other plans Sept. 15.
Mr. Colvin submitted to the ASMFC these
two plans plus a third of plus or minus 4 fish at 16 inches with a season of May 25
through Oct. 1, with a closing for 7 to 14 days because some in the industry on the
western South Shore feel 16.5 inches is too large for their area. The polls I have
conducted on the radio show and Internet say the fishing public prefers a longer season of
5/1 to 10/14. The ASMFC will look at each state’s plan and rule on each state
individually. If all goes well and there are no complications from the ASMFC, the DEC
should know the final results in as little as four to five days.
FLUKE ANGLERS TO TAKE ANOTHER BIG HIT AS ASMFC GIVES INTO NMFS
BULLYING
By Capt. Al Ristori
The public interest was dammed Tuesday at Baltimore Airport as
special interests combined to crush the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission
(ASMFC) into submission, abandoning its scientifically-based summer flounder quota in
order to reduce to last year's quota of 17.9 million pounds as demanded by the
National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). The Service is virtually being run these days by
the Natural Resources Defense Fund (NRDC) and their environmental organization allies who
successfully sued NMFS and are calling the shots while advancing their own agenda at the
expense of millions of fluke fishermen.
By forcing NMFS to threaten closing federal waters to fluking, they brought netters to
their side as they take almost all their catch beyond three miles. With the commercials
also suing, most ASMFC commissioners caved in. To their credit, Connecticut refused to
concede and voted against the retreat while New Jersey only abstained. As a result of this
sad performance, commercials will be able to fill their 60% of the quota (plus whatever
else they can slip through without it being counted) while anglers will be so restricted
that they may well not even fill their measly 40% of what used to be an 80% recreational
fishery despite an expected abundance of fluke. In order to have any sort of season, the
16-inch minimum is an absolute must.
However, the ASMFC collapse will further tighten the season by about three weeks so it
won't go much beyond Labor Day. The Marine Fisheries Council will decide all this on April
9 with the third set of tables provided this year by the ASMFC. As bad as this is, many
other states have to take much bigger cuts. If there's anything to be learned from this
assault on the public interest it's that recreational fishing can only be saved by
lawsuits. The environmental organizations and commercial fishermen are calling the shots
at NMFS and ASMFC because they have the funds to tie them up by suing. Until anglers are
willing to do the same thing, special interests will chart the course of our fisheries for
their own purposes. (Reprint courtesy of Capt. Al Ristori)
