NJ 2024 and 2025 Fluke Regulations Decided

[Fishin Dude]

Was a victory for those of us who supported option 32, and as an added bonus attached to option 32, the Scup Season will only be closed for 2 months of the year as opposed to 7 months closure last year, size & bag limits stay the same. That will also benefit the Party/Charter/Tackle Shop guys and those fishermen who love the Porgies. That fishery will open as soon as the Commissioner signs the option.
2023 Season was only open from 9/1- 12/31 , 2024 & 2025 will now be open 1/1 - 6/30 & 9/1 - 12/31, same bag limit of 30 @ 10"

[Broad Bill]

Originally Posted by dales529

BB: Fair points and I wouldn't say most that advocate on behalf of the Fluke stock are celebrating. Just picking the battles as they come and what we can influence. In this case and just my opinion option 32 was what was best for NJ overall, the NJ for hire and related industries that can at least stay in business while the battles outside our NJ Fishery continue. NJ hands were tied on the federal level so this outcome while not a cause to "celebrate" was again in my opinion the best option available for this battle.

Capt. Dan did in fact raise the issue on commercial take to the council so at least it was on record for future consideration but again on your data points on biomass / recruitment is as you stated a federal issue for NOAA, ASMFC, MAMFC and Secretary of Commerce and we all know how that's gone.

Again if MRIP acknowledges a 40% anomaly in fishing effort / harvest and again in my opinion I don't see how these recreational regulations destroy the stock. Yes taking breeders is not optimal but as you state often the correction for the stock is on the commercial side so leave recs out of it and lets fish with conservation as the goal .

Couldn't agree more. While I'm happy for the businesses and recreational anglers that count on or enjoy this fishery, I'm equally concerned about the long-term impact these regulations will have on the stock. If they've caused the need for a 28% reduction, right or wrong, for the next two years why would anyone believe the same regulations will not pose a more serious problem when it comes time to discuss 2026 / 2027 regulations. Using the same regulations or making the same decisions and hoping for a different outcome has never worked in my business career and I don't believe it will work here. Hope everyone has a great 2024 season.

[hammer4reel]

Originally Posted by Broad Bill

Couldn't agree more. While I'm happy for the businesses and recreational anglers that count on or enjoy this fishery, I'm equally concerned about the long-term impact these regulations will have on the stock. If they've caused the need for a 28% reduction, right or wrong, for the next two years why would anyone believe the same regulations will not pose a more serious problem when it comes time to discuss 2026 / 2027 regulations. Using the same regulations or making the same decisions and hoping for a different outcome has never worked in my business career and I don't believe it will work here. Hope everyone has a great 2024 season.

Most of the states fluke fishing took big hits against their quota , so hopefully cumulative it makes a difference .
I saw NC took a 70% reduction , which was mostly made up from commercial .
Though they are still landing 11000 a week .
They had 2 drops , goung from 30000 to 15000 to 11000 .
And in another year instead of 70% to commercial 30% to recs
Will be 60/40 then 50/50 the following .
So some big changes there , hopefully not entirely too late .
Seems recreational fisherman there after only having a 2 week season , and being told they still over fished had enough .

[hartattack]

Thanks for the comm update Cap. Is that for 2 years too?

[Broad Bill]

Originally Posted by hammer4reel

Most of the states fluke fishing took big hits against their quota , so hopefully cumulative it makes a difference .
I saw NC took a 70% reduction , which was mostly made up from commercial .
Though they are still landing 11000 a week .
They had 2 drops , going from 30000 to 15000 to 11000 .
And in another year instead of 70% to commercial 30% to recs
Will be 60/40 then 50/50 the following .
So some big changes there , hopefully not entirely too late .
Seems recreational fisherman there after only having a 2 week season , and being told they still over fished had enough .

Hammer could you provide source for your percentages. Where do you see NC took a 70% decrease and where do you see a 70/30 allocation between commercial and recreational? I thought a few years ago, NMFS based on the MRIP debacle, adjusted the allocation from 60/40 to 55/45, when did it go to 70/30? If you look at the allocation for 2024 / 2025, it looks to be more like 55/45. Just curious where you're getting your numbers from. If commercial goes from a 70% allocation of the overall catch to 50%, that would be a substantial move in the right direction for this fishery, just don't see those numbers reflected anywhere.

It looks like commercial took a 42% reduction in quota this year versus 28% for recreational and the allocation among states shifted from a lesser percentage to southern states to a greater percentage to northern states with NJ and NY being a significant benefactor. But does that mean NC took a 70% reduction? NC went from 3.3 million lbs. to 2.4 million lbs. or a 28% reduction but correct me if I'm wrong. Can't NC unloads there catch in NJ which means it goes against the NJ quota? If so, NC isn't limited to 2.4 million lbs. and didn't at all take a 70% reduction. Don't get me wrong, a 42% decrease is definitely a step in the right direction, now have NMFS close the commercial fishery during September and October to protect the spawn and you'll see this stock rebound like people haven't seen in 25 years.

[hammer4reel]

Originally Posted by Broad Bill

Hammer could you provide source for your percentages. Where do you see NC took a 70% decrease and where do you see a 70/30 allocation between commercial and recreational? I thought a few years ago, NMFS based on the MRIP debacle, adjusted the allocation from 60/40 to 55/45, when did it go to 70/30? If you look at the allocation for 2024 / 2025, it looks to be more like 55/45. Just curious where you're getting your numbers from. If commercial goes from a 70% allocation of the overall catch to 50%, that would be a substantial move in the right direction for this fishery, just don't see those numbers reflected anywhere.

It looks like commercial took a 42% reduction in quota this year versus 28% for recreational and the allocation among states shifted from a lesser percentage to southern states to a greater percentage to northern states with NJ and NY being a significant benefactor. But does that mean NC took a 70% reduction? NC went from 3.3 million lbs. to 2.4 million lbs. or a 28% reduction but correct me if I'm wrong. Can't NC unloads there catch in NJ which means it goes against the NJ quota? If so, NC isn't limited to 2.4 million lbs. and didn't at all take a 70% reduction. Don't get me wrong, a 42% decrease is definitely a step in the right direction, now have NMFS close the commercial fishery during September and October to protect the spawn and you'll see this stock rebound like people haven't seen in 25 years.

All info I posted came directly from NC fish and game website

[Broad Bill]

Please post link, would like to read it.

[Broad Bill]

The below links have the quotas for 2023, 2024 and I assume 2025 if we're working with a two year plan for recreational and commercial.

https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/bulle...specifications

https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/bulle...eries-and-2024

As you said, a 28% decrease in recreational quotas which translated to the same regulations for NJ we had in 2021 which I don't understand at all but it is what it is and happy for recreation anglers, party and for hire operators is a good thing. A 42% cut to commercial from 15.2 million pounds to 8.8 million lbs. is huge. What NMFS and the commercial sector need to start realizing is if they protected the spawn and bolstered recruitment, these cuts wouldn't be necessary. Maybe one day the management of this resource will finally wake up and realize there's no stocking programs for salt water fisheries and the future of every stock is defendant on strong recruitment numbers which means the spawn needs to be protected and season closed for the benefit of the stock and both sectors. It would be a win for everyone.

[Broad Bill]

Pretty sure state quotas being filled are based on where fish are off loaded, not the state the boat is registered. So if NC fishes our waters and off loads their catch in NJ, pretty sure that catch goes against New Jersey's quota. In other words, it's landings based, not based on the state the boat is registered or sails from.

NC gave a portion of their quota to Virginia. I'd bet they did so to offload their catch closer than NC and save on their largest operating costs, gas. There's no way Chris Batsavage, Vice Chair of the summer flounder fishery, gave up one ounce of North Carolina's quota and if commercial was cut 42%, NC is going to do everything they can to grab every penny of their proportionate share of catch value. I'd imagine there's changes behind the scenes, even with a higher percentage of the quota going to more northerly states where those monies will still end up in NC commercial coffers. Sounds like a way to reduce operating costs to offset quota cuts. Why depart or offload all the way in NC when you can depart and offload in NJ or NY saving substantial amounts in gas.

Pretty sure that's how offloading works and how state's quota gets impacted but again I guarantee Batsavage will not take a 70% reduction in quota when other states are taking a 42% reduction.

Either way, a 42% cut in commercial quota or 6.4 million lb. reduction is long overdue and proves management knows where the problem is but waits longer than they should to address those problems. If you need to make these kind of cuts in a fishery, that can only mean the fishery is and has been totally mismanaged.

[Andycw]

The 2024 regs in NY are 18 1/2” and 4 fish and NJ’s are 18” and 3 fish. How does that work let alone, make sense?

Thanks, Andy