Size limit on Fluke
Next stop for size limits?
Increasing minimum sizes and shortened seasons have mobilized the fishing community to save the summer flounder fishery before it is too late.
By KIRK MOORE
With the legal minimum size for summer flounder climbing to 18 inches this month, anglers and recreational fishing businesses have decided to do something about it before they end up in the same boat as New York fishermen.
"We as a group need to stay together. We have a long way to go in this struggle. The summer flounder is in trouble, and our way of life is in jeopardy," Greg Hueth told supporters when the Save the Summer Flounder Fishery Fund held a major fundraiser on April 11.
Hueth and other fund organizers have looked north and seen what their future could be. New York state officials plan to raise the minimum size for fluke there to 20.5 inches, the latest step in an escalation that passed 18 inches a long time ago, and left party-boat operators with near-empty decks.
Increasing minimum sizes and shortened seasons have been the norm since scientific advisors warned the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council that the summer flounder population appears to have plateaued — prematurely in the eyes of biologists, who say the East Coast stock still has a long way to go before reaching the optimum levels demanded by federal law.
"We decided we needed to get involved in the scientific process," said Ray Bogan, a Point Pleasant Beach lawyer who's deeply involved with fisheries issues. "For years, studies on summer flounder have been peer reviewed, investigated every which way. But intuitively, something seemed to be wrong," Bogan said.
The Save the Summer Flounder Fishery Fund hired Mark Maunder, senior scientist at the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission and an expert on stock assessment and ecological monitoring. Bogan insists the fund is not "looking for a specific conclusion," but does want "to be at the table" as scientists review the status of summer flounder going into this summer.
So far, Bogan says, there are already interesting developments, including "some information which has never been included in the stock assessment."
Maunder thinks that data regarding 3- and 4-year-old fish — those that are typically targeted by the escalating minimum sizes — have not been properly used in the model that drives the stock assessment, Bogan said.
After listening to some of those discussions, Bogan admits he can't grasp all the technical points.
"Sometimes it's like watching a foreign movie without the subtitles," he quipped. "But still, you can tell it's a really good movie."
Maunder is also working with the Partnership for Mid-Atlantic Fisheries Science, a group financed by recreational and commercial fishing groups that has attracted scientists with Cornell University, and Brian Rothschild, the former dean of the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth School of Marine Science and Technology.
Rothschild has testified before Congress on behalf of fishing groups that have argued for longer rebuilding schedules and more flexible population targets in fisheries management, and this year he's been named to the Mid-Atlantic council's science and statistical committee. Environmental activists, fishing groups and other interests already battle over the balance of power on the regional councils, and the summer flounder controversy could extend that struggle to how science advice is solicited.
"That's a new twist with some of these industry groups," said Lee Crockett, who heads federal fisheries reform efforts for the Pew Environmental Trust. If the third-party scientists recruited by interest group can act disinterestedly, "that's one thing," Crockett said. "Federal and academic scientists are pretty much above reproach as far as their economic interests go. We'll be watching that closely."
Flounder fishermen have been putting a lot of pressure on legislators, and in 2006 they forced a three-year extension of the flounder rebuilding period, to 2013, as the political price for reauthorizing the federal Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.
"It's been mis-evaluated over the years," said Assemblyman David P. Rible, R-Monmouth, who asked state legislators to endorse federal legislation that would extend rebuilding periods. "Both the recreational and commercial people are on board with this."
More than 250 fishermen, captains, tackle shop owners and others turned out for the Save the Summer Flounder Fishery's fundraising dinner at the Crystal Point Yacht Club in Point Pleasant. Along with the ticket sales, organizers raffled off hundreds of pieces of tackle and gear donated by supporting businesses.
"It's all going to pay our scientists," said Dave Arbeitman, owner of the Reel Seat tackle shop in Brielle and a fund organizer. Earlier, donations came in when word of the group began circulating on the docks late last year.
"I've had guys give me $200, $300," said Ron Santee, captain of the party boat Fisherman in Atlantic Highlands. "I said to them, "What are we doing?' They tell me, "If you go out of business, what am I going to do for recreation?' "
"Ron started talking about it last year," said Mitch Jevic of Hillsborough, who's been a regular on Santee's boat for about five years. "We saw the way it happened in New York. Even down in Belmar, half the boats don't go out for fluke now. . . . You're boating 100 or 200 fluke, and maybe a fifth of them are keepers. It's only a matter of a half-inch most of the time."
"I've been fluke fishing for 50 years," said Jevic's friend, Eric Jensen of Basking Ridge, "and I've never seen fluke fishing as good as it is now."
But the anxiety level is higher than ever, too. Top officials with the National Marine Fisheries Service have repeatedly warned the summer flounder fishery could be closed late this summer if the service's recreational survey shows anglers are overruning their 40 percent share of the 15.7 mil
Next stop for size limits?
Increasing minimum sizes and shortened seasons have mobilized the fishing community to save the summer flounder fishery before it is too late.
By KIRK MOORE
With the legal minimum size for summer flounder climbing to 18 inches this month, anglers and recreational fishing businesses have decided to do something about it before they end up in the same boat as New York fishermen.
"We as a group need to stay together. We have a long way to go in this struggle. The summer flounder is in trouble, and our way of life is in jeopardy," Greg Hueth told supporters when the Save the Summer Flounder Fishery Fund held a major fundraiser on April 11.
Hueth and other fund organizers have looked north and seen what their future could be. New York state officials plan to raise the minimum size for fluke there to 20.5 inches, the latest step in an escalation that passed 18 inches a long time ago, and left party-boat operators with near-empty decks.
Increasing minimum sizes and shortened seasons have been the norm since scientific advisors warned the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council that the summer flounder population appears to have plateaued — prematurely in the eyes of biologists, who say the East Coast stock still has a long way to go before reaching the optimum levels demanded by federal law.
"We decided we needed to get involved in the scientific process," said Ray Bogan, a Point Pleasant Beach lawyer who's deeply involved with fisheries issues. "For years, studies on summer flounder have been peer reviewed, investigated every which way. But intuitively, something seemed to be wrong," Bogan said.
The Save the Summer Flounder Fishery Fund hired Mark Maunder, senior scientist at the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission and an expert on stock assessment and ecological monitoring. Bogan insists the fund is not "looking for a specific conclusion," but does want "to be at the table" as scientists review the status of summer flounder going into this summer.
So far, Bogan says, there are already interesting developments, including "some information which has never been included in the stock assessment."
Maunder thinks that data regarding 3- and 4-year-old fish — those that are typically targeted by the escalating minimum sizes — have not been properly used in the model that drives the stock assessment, Bogan said.
After listening to some of those discussions, Bogan admits he can't grasp all the technical points.
"Sometimes it's like watching a foreign movie without the subtitles," he quipped. "But still, you can tell it's a really good movie."
Maunder is also working with the Partnership for Mid-Atlantic Fisheries Science, a group financed by recreational and commercial fishing groups that has attracted scientists with Cornell University, and Brian Rothschild, the former dean of the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth School of Marine Science and Technology.
Rothschild has testified before Congress on behalf of fishing groups that have argued for longer rebuilding schedules and more flexible population targets in fisheries management, and this year he's been named to the Mid-Atlantic council's science and statistical committee. Environmental activists, fishing groups and other interests already battle over the balance of power on the regional councils, and the summer flounder controversy could extend that struggle to how science advice is solicited.
"That's a new twist with some of these industry groups," said Lee Crockett, who heads federal fisheries reform efforts for the Pew Environmental Trust. If the third-party scientists recruited by interest group can act disinterestedly, "that's one thing," Crockett said. "Federal and academic scientists are pretty much above reproach as far as their economic interests go. We'll be watching that closely."
Flounder fishermen have been putting a lot of pressure on legislators, and in 2006 they forced a three-year extension of the flounder rebuilding period, to 2013, as the political price for reauthorizing the federal Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.
"It's been mis-evaluated over the years," said Assemblyman David P. Rible, R-Monmouth, who asked state legislators to endorse federal legislation that would extend rebuilding periods. "Both the recreational and commercial people are on board with this."
More than 250 fishermen, captains, tackle shop owners and others turned out for the Save the Summer Flounder Fishery's fundraising dinner at the Crystal Point Yacht Club in Point Pleasant. Along with the ticket sales, organizers raffled off hundreds of pieces of tackle and gear donated by supporting businesses.
"It's all going to pay our scientists," said Dave Arbeitman, owner of the Reel Seat tackle shop in Brielle and a fund organizer. Earlier, donations came in when word of the group began circulating on the docks late last year.
"I've had guys give me $200, $300," said Ron Santee, captain of the party boat Fisherman in Atlantic Highlands. "I said to them, "What are we doing?' They tell me, "If you go out of business, what am I going to do for recreation?' "
"Ron started talking about it last year," said Mitch Jevic of Hillsborough, who's been a regular on Santee's boat for about five years. "We saw the way it happened in New York. Even down in Belmar, half the boats don't go out for fluke now. . . . You're boating 100 or 200 fluke, and maybe a fifth of them are keepers. It's only a matter of a half-inch most of the time."
"I've been fluke fishing for 50 years," said Jevic's friend, Eric Jensen of Basking Ridge, "and I've never seen fluke fishing as good as it is now."
But the anxiety level is higher than ever, too. Top officials with the National Marine Fisheries Service have repeatedly warned the summer flounder fishery could be closed late this summer if the service's recreational survey shows anglers are overruning their 40 percent share of the 15.7 mil