Editor's Note: During this year's saltwater fishing season more than ever, saltwater anglers are particularly sensitive about the government's fishing regulations. The reason is that this year's fluke size limit, 18 inches, is killing the fishery, because relatively few of the fish grow to that size. The size limit, meant to help the government increase the fluke population, is a hair away from an essential closure of the fishery, the most popular fishery along the coast. It would be one thing if the fluke population seemed in danger. The consensus among the fishing industry is that the fluke population is the best that the industry has ever seen, and that the government's survey of the population is grossly inaccurate and negligent. If we at Fishing Reports Now sound touchy about this subject, it's because we're watching the charter boats, party boats, tackle shops and other fishing businesses getting their backs pushed against the wall in the most threatening way that has ever occurred, and many are probably going to go under if this continues. We don't know what the below announcement from New Jersey Fish and Wildlife is all about yet, but we hope that this isn't some quick, haphazard effort from the government to fix this problem, and that the government is being caring about this survey that it's now announcing. For now, we encourage you to participate. We also encourage you to support those who are now undertaking the fight for anglers to make the government more responsible in its fishing regulations, like the Save the Summer Flounder Fishery Fund. Ultimately it's up to you, the angler, to change this situation, and nobody else. The fishing industry is fighting hard, but cannot win without you.

From the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife on 7/2/08:

Attention Saltwater Anglers!

The NJ DEP Division of Fish and Wildlife is implementing a new angler survey to collect information on certain marine fish important to recreational anglers. Current data collection efforts for recreational fisheries are hindered by sampling only a small portion of the fishing public and from collecting only minimal data on discarded fish. Information collected through this voluntary survey will provide data which may support alternative management strategies that increase fishing opportunities for the public.

The focus of this voluntary survey is catch and effort from fishing trips in marine and estuarine waters of the state and surrounding areas. For catch information, we are interested in collecting information on the number and size of both kept and released fish.

Thank you for your assistance with this project. Please note that this is a new survey, so the appearance of the survey page may change slightly over time - we hope you'll be a regular contributor. We value and appreciate your input toward the management of our marine resources.

The survey is located at http://www.njfishandwildlife.com/marinesurvey08.htm on the division's website. Anglers are encouraged to submit a survey whenever they return from saltwater fishing.

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