Editor's Note: The below release means that the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission approved New Jersey's and other states' proposed 2008 bag limits and seasons for fluke. See the article NJ's Proposed 2008 Fluke Regs for New Jersey's proposed regulations. The states develop such proposals based on the federal government's required quota of total allowable landings of fluke, and then the proposals have to be approved by the federal government. New Jersey will now vote to choose one of its four proposed regulations, probably in March.

From the Atlantic States Marilne Fisheries Commission:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, FEBRUARY 7, 2008

The Commission's Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Management Board approved state management proposals for the 2008 recreational fishery for summer flounder.  In developing measures to stay within the coastwide recreational harvest target of 2.05 million fish, states used state-specific performance factors developed by the Summer Flounder Technical Committee. The performance factors account for states' past performance in achieving their quota target, as well as increased effort, increased stock size, and percent standard error considerations in state-specific estimates generated by the Marine Recreational Fishery Statistics Survey. States that fail to implement the approved management measures (or measures developed through the approved methodology) will be required to implement a precautionary default measure of a two fish possession limit at a 20-inch minimum size with an open season from July 4 to September 1, 2008.

The state-approved management measures fall under the Commission's summer flounder management program, which allows for the use of conservation equivalency. Conservation equivalency provides states the option of crafting state-specific management measures that best meet the needs of their fishermen while also meeting the conservation requirements of the resource program. All conservationally-equivalent management measures must be reviewed and approved by the Summer Flounder Technical Committee and the Management Board before they can be implemented. Since conservation equivalency was initiated in the summer flounder management program in 2001, the states have had mixed success in limiting coastwide recreational harvest to within the specified harvest target. The inclusion of the performance factor in developing state-specific measures this year is intended to help the states constrain their recreational harvest to meet both the overall recreational harvest target as well as state-specific harvest targets.

States will now have to go through their own individual regulatory processes to finalize their summer flounder recreational measures. For more information on those measures, contact your state marine fishery agency.

The Board also approved scup recreational management measures for the northern region (Massachusetts through New York). The private and shore-based fishery will have a 10.5-inch minimum size, 10 fish bag limit, and an open season of May 24 through September 25. The for-hire fishery (party and charterboat) will have an 11-inch minimum size and a 10 fish bag limit for 81 consecutive days (each state will determine their own season, to fall anytime between May 15 and October 15). The for-hire fishery will also have a bonus season for 45 consecutive days (also selected by the states) with a 45 fish bag limit.  For more information, please contact Toni Kerns, Senior Fisheries Management Plan Coordinator for Management, at (202) 289-6400 or tkerns@asmfc.org.
ASMFC Vision: Healthy, self-sustaining populations of all Atlantic coast fish species or successful restoration well in progress by the year 2015.

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