Fluke, Sea Bass and Striper Regs To Be Set

[Bucktail]

From the Jersey Coast Angler's Association (JCAA)

The new striped bass legislation is on the verge of becoming law. The bill that will allow one bass at 28” to just under 43” with a second fish at 43” or greater has now passed in both the Assembly and the Senate. The bill will also allow the New Jersey Marine Fisheries Council to set regulations pertaining to striped bass seasons, size and bag limits in the future so that it will no longer have to be done legislatively. The legislation will become law as soon as it is signed by the Governor.

The next New Jersey Marine Fisheries Council Meeting will be held on Thursday, April 9, 2015 at 4:00 P.M. at the Stafford Twp. Municipal Building, 260 East Bay Ave., Manahawkin, NJ 08050.
The regulations for fluke, sea bass and our striped bass bonus program will be set at this meeting. Some tough decisions will have to be made regarding these species but I would like to point out that those serving on the council are volunteers who are dedicated to doing what is best for the majority of the fishermen in our state. I would also like to point out that despite being severely underfunded, the NJ Bureau of Marine Fisheries Council does an outstanding job of trying to accommodate us. However, their hands are often tied by quotas set by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission and the Mid-Atlantic Fisheries Management Council.
JCAA encourages all who are concerned about the regulations pertaining to these species to attend this meeting and voice their opinions. JCAA realizes that fishermen, particularly striper fishermen are very passionate and opinionated about their sport. We hope that you speak in favor of the JCAA position at this meeting but we respect your opinion even if it is different than ours.

The NJMFC will make their decision on these species after listening to all the public comments at the meeting. They usually select the options that are favored by the majority of those in the audience so it is really important to voice your opinions. It is fine to give the reasons you favor a particular option but it is also fine to simply state which options you prefer. That having been said, here is the JCAA position on these three species:

Striped Bass - The preferred option of the NJMFC is to change the Bonus Bass Program and have a 1 fish bag limit with a size limit of 24-28”. However, JCAA supports leaving the program as it is now with one fish at 28” or greater. We believe it is crucial to conserve the last good year class of 2011. These fish will be reaching the 24-28" size during the next couple of years. We want to ensure that they are able to reach spawning size and spawn at least once before they can be harvested.

Most anglers know that the program currently allows one fish at 28". Changing it now at a time when we are also changing the primary regulations to one fish at 28" to less than 43" and a second fish 43" or greater will make the regulation more confusing. That would create even more problems for our law enforcement officers.

We are also concerned that if the bonus card is used for a small slot fish it will create an enormous demand for the cards. We are concerned that this will make the program more difficult to monitor and more likely that the quota could be quickly reached or even exceeded.

Approximately 30 years ago JCAA led the fight to make striped bass a no-sale or game fish in New Jersey and we were successful in achieving that goal. However, New Jersey retained its commercial striped bass quota and decided to use it for its recreational fisherman in the form of trophy tag program where one fish over 38" could be retained. We were fearful then and still are today that if we were to give up this quota it might be transferred to other states to add to their commercial catch. However, the intent at that time was to conserve striped bass. Just as it is now with groups such as Stripers Forever, our intent was not to simply let recreational anglers kill the quota instead of commercial fishermen but rather to conserve most of that quota while allowing a small percentage of the quota to be harvested by our recreational fishermen. Eventually our program developed into a bonus program where one fish over 28" could be retained. Over the years the program worked exactly the way we had hoped as we only harvested a small portion of our quota thereby conserving many thousands of striped bass.

Today we find ourselves in a somewhat similar situation as the ASMFC recently mandated a 25% cut in mortality and many people are calling for further conservation of striped bass. Still, JCAA supports the program not only to prevent the quota from being given to other states but also due to the valuable data being collected by our BMF.

However, we urge the BMF to monitor and enforce it more tightly. We know that there will be a higher demand for the bonus cards as the primary regulations have become more restrictive making it more difficult for fishermen to catch two legal fish. In 2013 we only harvested 6096 pounds out of a quota of 331,750 lbs.. This quota has now been reduced to 241,313 lbs. With the anticipated greater demand for bonus cards we do not want to make it any easier for people to obtain the cards. Therefore, we are opposed to giving them out to charter and party boats at this time.

In fact to insure we do not exceed the quota and hopefully to continue to conserve striped bass we suggest that the BMF make it more difficult to obtain the cards. We suggest limiting the number of cards that are issued and/or considering a shorter season for this program. We also recommend that to participate in the program it should be required for anglers to submit logs of all their striped bass fishing trips prior to receiving an additional card. We would also like to see jaw tags given out instead of cards and that regulations be created to require the tags to be placed in the fish immediately upon capture. Whatever the regulations are for the bonus program, we would like to see them rigidly enforced. We urge our law enforcement personnel to have zero tolerance for those violating these regulations in any way.

Fluke - We are going to have a 128 day season with a 5 fish bag limit and a size limit of 18” as mandated by the ASMFC. However, the NJMFC will consider two options regarding the season. One option would be to begin the season on May 16th and extend it through September 20th. The second option would have the season begin on May 22nd and end on September 26th. JCAA supports the option with the later season ending. One reason is that there will be little else for inshore fishermen to fish for once fluke season is closed. Sea bass season will be closed at that time as well, there will be a limit of only one blackfish and not many stripers will have arrived. Also with the cold winter we have had, many expect it will take quite some time before our waters warm up and the fluke start biting. The enhanced shore based fishing program which allows a 2 fish bag limit of fluke 16" or greater for Island Beach is likely to continue but may be discussed at this meeting.

JCAA supports this program and encourages it to be expanded to other areas, particularly in the southern part of our state. That area is still suffering from the effects of Hurricane Sandy and is also losing business to Delaware as that state has a year round season with a 16” size limit.

Sea Bass – On 3/19, I attended an advisors meeting hosted by the NJMFC. Much to my chagrin the vast majority of advisors recommended keeping the size limit at 12 ½”. Worse still is that the vast majority of advisors recommended Option #1. That option would result in entirely closing the season for August and reducing the bag limit to 2 fish in July. In exchange it would allow the season to open 14 days earlier but would result in a net loss of 16 days less than option 2. In 2014, we had a 186 day season but if this option is approved, we will have a season length of only 137 days, a loss of 49 days! In addition to losing a month and a half of fishing days, sea bass season will be closed from 8/1 to 10/22!
Option 2 would allow us to retain the 12 1/2” size limit but would have a later starting date. This would allow us to fish though the month of August and at least have a 153 day season. This option would result in over two weeks more fishing days than option 1.

On the other hand if enough people speak on behalf on behalf of raising the size limit to 13” as shown in option 3, we could have a season of 175 days depending. JCAA supports option 3 as the season would be 38 days longer than option 1. Additionally, JCAA supports option 3 as the season would begin on the Saturday of Memorial Day Weekend and extend though the Sunday of Labor Day Weekend. We believe that having the season open during that period of time is most beneficial to the majority of our anglers whether they fish on charter, party or private boats. Though there would only be a 3 fish bag limit from 7/1 – 9/6, it would allow families, kids, vacationers and even more experienced anglers to bring home some fish for dinner particularly on days where the fluking is slow.


NJ Marine Fisheries Council Advisory Committee Meeting
Approved Options March 19, 2015
NJ 2015 Black Sea Bass Example Option 1
Wave 3 Wave 4 Wave 5 Wave 6 Perc Redx
2015 Example Season May 27-June30 July 1-July 31 Oct 22-Oct 31 Nov 1 - Dec 31 32.97%
137 days
2015 bag 15 2 15 15
size 12.5 12.5 12.5 12.5
days 35 31 10 61

NJ 2015 Black Sea Bass Example Option 2
153 days Wave 3 Wave 4 Wave 5 Wave 6 Perc Redx
2015 Example Season June 10-June30 July 1-Aug 31 Oct 23-Oct 31 Nov 1 - Dec 31 33.66%

2015 bag 15 3 15 15
size 12.5 12.5 12.5 12.5
days 21 62 9 61

NJ 2015 Black Sea Bass Example Option 3
175 days Wave 3 Wave 4 Wave 5 Wave 6 Perc Redx
2015 Example Season May 25-June30 July 1-Aug 31 Sept 1 - Sept 6 and Oct 23-Oct 31 Nov 1 - Dec 31 33.00%

2015 bag 12 3 3 15
size 13 13 13 13
days 37 62 15 61

[Reckless]

 

[Hunter 2]

Thanks Bob

[fluke - u]

  .... 

[striperdad]

Thanks Bob. Remembering the days when I was a kid and would throw a hook in the water and didn't have to worry about size. They were all big.

[Fishin Dude]

Wow, we are going to get screwed many times in one meeting.

[ChrisL]

I'll be there 
Should be a thrilling evening 

[wb]

Thanks Bob.

For stripers they should make it 1 over 28, if they must reduce. If they can't keep it at 2 over 28, at least allow the 1 additional over 43". Why not 38"- it is still a significant reduction...

While I am not a fan of eating those monsters, I have been known to keep a few on occasion. I am definitely not personally depleting the Big Girl stocks to any real extent.

Keep the bonus fish program at 1 over 28 for $2.
  -if this bonus fish option is confusing,I suggest trying another hobby that is not so complicated

I think this is win-win-win, as close as you can get to last year's regs, even tho you need to pay to play if you want 2 over 28.