If you’re a fluke or porgy angler, you’re about to get some good news, but if you like to fish for sea bass, you’re in trouble.
In a joint meeting of the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council and the Black Sea Bass, Scup and Summer Flounder Management Board of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission in Wilmington, Del., on Wednesday, approval was given to recommendations to increase summer flounder and scup quotas for the 2012 fishing season by 1.55 million pounds and 21.43 million pounds, respectively.
The overall black sea bass quota will be the same for 2012, however, the recreational catch target will be decreased by nearly a half million pounds to account for increases in discards.
Following the advice of the Council’s Science and Statistical Committee, there was much debate about the summer flounder and scup quotas, but the final decision to increase the quotas was rendered with overwhelming support from both the council and the board.
Black sea bass, however, was far more contentious. Capt. Adam Nowalsky, chairman of the New Jersey chapter of the Recreational Fishing Alliance and serving as New Jersey’s Legislative Commissioner’s Proxy to the ASMFC Board, put forth a motion with strong support from New Jersey’s other members to keep the 2012 recreational catch target the same as for 2011. This motion passed the council, but was defeated by the board. Because the species are jointly managed, both the council and the board must approve any measures, which resulted in a failed motion.
A motion was put forth that would have reduced the black sea bass 2012 catch target by almost 700,000 pounds, but an amendment again put forth by Capt. Nowalsky won favor by both bodies resulting in a lesser 470,000-pound reduction.
“In making its recommendation, the monitoring committee cited concerns about increased discards in the recreational fishery as their basis for lowering the 2012 catch target,” Capt. Nowalsky said. “Discards are a result of decreased quota and more restrictive management measures, combined with high abundance of black sea bass. Further restricting recreational fishermen’s access to a stock that is not overfished and is not experiencing overfishing sends the wrong message.”
The question everyone is now asking is what this will mean for 2012 recreational size, season and bag limits for all three species? That answer will not be known until December, when both management bodies will reconvene to review the performance of 2011’s measures.
