Big Hearings Regarding Recreational FLUKE, BSB, Scup & Bluefish coming up!! SPEAK UP

[dales529]

The bigger issue here as I understand it and depends where you stand on it is that they want to separate recreational For Hire vs Private Rec anglers. They currently have different bag limits for bluefish and tilefish For Hire vs Private Recs.
Now looking to do the same on summer flounder , scup and seabass. Seems like they are trying to further separate us / fraction the Rec community?

While I always will support the For Hire Rec community is this where we want to go??

[Broad Bill]

This is all about management reporting to the Department of Commerce. They prioritize for some reason revenue generation (commercial and for hire) versus spending which is the economic impact recreational brings to the table. A fish caught commercially generates revenue by catch value from commercial to processing plant, again from processing plant to distributors or wholesalers, again from wholesales to retailers (restaurants / fish markets etc.) and finally to the consumer for restaurant consumption or a home cooked meal. In my opinion, they view the recreational sector as the red headed step child and will never allocate fisheries or make decisions equitably to both sectors as they view economic impact completely different between both.

[Gerry Zagorski]

Looks like this meeting has been rescheduled to 2/25

UPDATED: MAFMC and ASMFC to Hold Public Information/Scoping Hearings on Recreational Sector Separation and Data Collection Amendment
Please note: This press release revises the February 3rd announcement by changing the date of the New Jersey hearing from February 24 to February 25. The hearing time and location remain the same.

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (Commission) have scheduled a series of scoping hearings to gather public input on the range of issues and information to be considered in the Recreational Sector Separation and Data Collection Amendment to the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fishery Management Plan (FMP) and the Bluefish FMP. Hearings will be held February 25 – March 5, 2025. Written comments will be accepted through March 20, 2025.

[Gerry Zagorski]

Originally Posted by dales529

The bigger issue here as I understand it and depends where you stand on it is that they want to separate recreational For Hire vs Private Rec anglers. They currently have different bag limits for bluefish and tilefish For Hire vs Private Recs.
Now looking to do the same on summer flounder , scup and seabass. Seems like they are trying to further separate us / fraction the Rec community?

While I always will support the For Hire Rec community is this where we want to go??

I'm inclined to agree with you Dave and think this might not be what we want..