Editor's note: The following is from an e-mail from Tom Fote from the Jersey Coast Anglers Association on July 20. Also see a related e-mail from Fote from the previous day. Also click here for an explanation of the process for determining the fluke bag limit.

 
Summer Flounder Monitoring Committee voted to reduce the current total allowable landings (TAL) of 17.1 million pounds to between 11.6 to 12.9 million pounds.  This is one more example of total incompetence of NMFS’s management of summer flounder.  They refuse to fess up to the fact that models do not work and their targets are too high for the present biological conditions.
 
This recommendation would be a cut of 25% to 32% from the 2007 TAL.  This is more of a reduction than when we set the 2007 quota at 17.1 compared to 2006’s quota of 23.6 million pounds. Remember we were at 30.3 in 2005.  This is a smaller quota than we had in 1993. Look at these numbers to put it in perspective.

NMFS Figures

1993                            2000                            2005
 
Quota:
20.73                           18.52                           30.3
 
Spawning Stock Biomass:       
20,460,000                  42,680,000                  67,320,000
 
Total Biomass:                        
46,860,000                  61,380,000                  104,060,000
 
Page 7 of Summer Flounder Stock Assessment Summary says NMFS estimated the 2007 SSB to be 36,400 MT (80,248,162) and 49,600 MT (109,349,283) and the total Stock Biomass of between 40,900 MT (90,169,064) and 55,000MT (121,254,244)). You can go to (click here) to convert tons to pounds.
 
Here is a list of all the quotas

Year                Quota  
                        Pounds

1993                20.73
1994                26.68
1995                19.40
1996                18.52
1997                18.52
1998                18.52
1999                18.52
2000                18.52
2001                17.91 Lawsuit payback
2002                24.3
2003                23.3
2004                28.2
2005                30.3
2006                23.6
2007                17.1
2008 proposed 11.6 to 12.9
 
In September 2004 the NMFS requested the National Research Council (NRC) of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to review current recreational fishing surveys funded or conducted by NMFS. The NAS discovered what a mess MRSS was and determined it should not be used to make fisheries management decisions.  NMFS is now trying to fix the mess they have created.  These same inaccurate MRSS figures are being used to determine summer flounder statistics.  These are the statistics used to determine the mortality and the recreational catch figures.  The NSA needs to review the summer flounder targets and modeling.  The current practice has no credibility with the public and Congress. Just think about this – we are using lousy MRSS data to create a stock assessment and management measures that no one trusts with the possible exception of the NMFS personnel.  More to come
 
I have also included two interesting articles on summer flounder and the relationship between summer flounder and water quality and between summer flounder and squid (pdf files: summer flounder and water quality; summer flounder and squid).  I wish the scientists from the National Marine Fisheries Service would pay some attention to this information when they set their targets.

Sincerely
Tom Fote
Release for Tomorrow
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Legislative Chairman
Jersey Coast Anglers Association
WEB PAGE: http://www.jcaa.org

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