http://www.app.com/article/20110405/NJSPORTS06/110405029/Fluke-regulations-will-set-Thursday?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Frontpage|p
Written by - John Oswald
Size, season and bag limits for New Jersey's 2011 recreational summer flounder season will be set this Thursday at the New Jersey Fishery Management Council meeting in Absecon. The meeting is scheduled for 4 p.m. at the Galloway Township Public Library, 306 E. Jimmie Leeds Road and is open to the public.
More relaxed regulations are expected this year as the Mid Atlantic Fishery Management Council approved a 33 percent increase in total allowable catch for summer flounder for the 2011 season. Anglers across the state can thank, in large part, the work done by the Save the Summer Flounder Fishery Fund for funding research that demonstrated that summer flounder stocks were not in the dire shape fishery managers had portrayed.
The question will be just how liberal will the regulations be.
There will be four options up for consideration this Thursday. All provide for a more relaxed season than 2010, which allowed for six fish at 18 inches and a season that ran from May 29 to Sept. 6, a total of 101 days.
Option one allows eight fish at 18 inches and a season from May 14 to Sept. 18, for a total of 128 days. Option two allows eight fish at 18 inches and a season from May 7 to Sept. 25, for a total of 142 days. Option three offers one fish greater than or equal to 17• inches and five fish greater than or equal to 18 inches with a season from May 21 to Sept. 5, for a total of 108 days of fishing. The final option offers one fish at greater than or equal to 17 inches and five fish greater than or equal to 18 inches. The season for this option would be from May 28 to August 28 for a total of 93 days.
Those interested in expressing their opinion on the 2011 summer flounder season should attend Thursday's meeting and have their voices heard. For directions, visit the Galloway Township Public Library website.
Whichever option in selected, it's gratifying to know the needle is moving in the right direction when it comes to allowing recreational anglers a little more access to a favorite fishery.
