Winter commercial fish species in NJ?

[FISHGERE]

Originally Posted by bulletbob

I am wondering about what exactly local NJ commercial fishermen catch this time of year.. Is everything they catch a 100 mile or better run out each way?.. I see the same local fish for sale on ice mid winter as I do mid summer. Sea Bass, Scup, Flounder, Bluefish, various mackerel types, maybe something a bit more exotic such as Monkfish or Swordfish on occasion. Still see Whiting and Ling often[both marketed as Hake] but all the Whiting are little spikes more the size of big Spearing than of the Whiting we used to catch.. Do the local sport species catch any breaks at all once they move offshore?, or is it just game on even when they are out on their wintering grounds?.. Just wondering, as I really don't know that much about what is keeping NY Bight commercial netters going, while for hire sport fishing boats are getting hammered worse each year with regulations and restrictions... I just dont know how the sport fishing captains can close up shop for 3 or 4 months and "stay afloat", no pun intended..bob

I live near the fish co op in point pleasant I’ve spoken to some Dec hands fluke and sea bass maybe 50 miles of the beach right now this is why we don’t have the fluke fishing we had years ago they net these species going and coming. At night I have pictures of the fridgearated trucks waiting for boats to return