2014 Pending Fishing Regulations Master Thread

[CaptBob]

Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council

Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 18, 2013

PRESS CONTACT: Mary Clark

(302) 674-2331 (ext. 261)

Council and Board Adopt 2014 Recreational Measures for Summer Flounder, Scup,
and Black Sea Bass

[1]PDF/Printer-friendly version

Annapolis, MD —The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council met jointly with the
Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black
Sea Bass Board last week to adopt 2014 recreational management measures for
summer flounder, scup, and black sea bass. During the meeting, the Board
approved Draft Addendum XXV for public comment. The addendum, which is intended
to provide more equity in recreational harvest opportunities, includes options
for regional management of summer flounder and ad-hoc regional management of
black sea bass. The Council and Board's recommendations for 2014 were based on
the current management systems for both fisheries, and some recommendations were
contingent on the outcome of the addendum. [2]Click here for more information
about Draft Addendum XXV on the Commission's website.

Summer Flounder
Based on the recreational harvest limit of 7.01 million pounds, the Council and
Board recommended the use of conservation equivalency for the recreational
summer flounder fishery in 2014. Conservation equivalency allows individual
states or voluntary regions to develop recreational measures that achieve a
region- or state-specific harvest target. The combination of state- or
region-specific measures would be equivalent to the Council- and Board-approved
non-preferred coastwide measures of an 18-inch TL minimum fish size, a 4 fish
possession limit, and a May 1 – September 30 season.

Black Sea Bass
The Council and Board recommended that the 7% coastwide reduction needed to
achieve the 2014 recreational harvest limit (2.26 million lbs) be taken in both
state and federal waters. If the state waters measures under Addendum XXV
address the required reduction, the Council and Board recommended that federal
waters measures include a 12.5-inch TL minimum size, a 15 fish possession limit,
and open seasons from May 19 – September 18 and October 18 – December 31. If the
addendum does not address the required reduction, then coastwide measures for
both state and federal waters would be set at a 13-inch TL minimum size, a 5
fish possession limit, and a June 1-September 30 season.

Scup
Based on the associated recreational harvest of 7.03 million pounds, the Council
and Board approved federal water measures including a 9-inch minimum size, a 30
fish possession limit, and open season January 1-December 31. In state waters,
the Board voted to continue using a regional approach to scup management under
which states may set different measures.

Additional information and background documents are available on the [3]December
2013 Council Meeting Page.

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council is one of eight regional councils
established by the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act of
1976. The Council has primary responsibility for twelve species of fish and
shellfish in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) between 3 and 200 miles off the
Mid-Atlantic coast. Member states include New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania,
Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina. [4]Visit our website for more
information.