ARLINGTON, Va., — February 26, 2014 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass Management Board will meet via conference call on Thursday, March 13, 2014 at 10:00 a.m. to consider approval of regional proposals for the 2014 summer flounder recreational fishery and state proposals for the 2014 black sea bass recreational fishery in accordance with Addendum XXV to the Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass Fishery Management Plan.
Addendum XXV, approved by the Board in February 2014, establishes regional management measures for the 2014 summer flounder recreational fishery with the intent of providing more equity in recreational harvest opportunities along the coast. The regions are Massachusetts and Rhode Island; Connecticut through New Jersey; Delaware through Virginia; and North Carolina. Under the regional management approach, all states within a region will be required to have the same possession limit, size limit, and season length. Collectively, these measures are intended to achieve, but not exceed, the 2014 recreational harvest limit.
The Addendum also continues the use of ad hoc regional management measures by northern (Massachusetts – New Jersey) and southern regions (Delaware – North Carolina) for the 2014 black sea bass recreational fishery. States in the southern region will implement measures consistent with federal regulations (currently under development), while northern region states have proposed state-specific management measures. The regulations of the two regions combined are intended to achieve the required coastwide harvest reduction in order to not exceed the 2014 recreational harvest limit.
The public is welcome to listen in on the discussion by phone (888.394.8197; passcode 499811) and view the webinar using the following link: https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/617005454. The meeting agenda is posted to the Commission website at: http://www.asmfc.org/files/Meetings/March2014SF_Scup_BSB_BoardAgenda.pdf. Time permitting, there will be a limited opportunity to provide comments at the end of the agenda. The Board Chair will provide additional information on the procedures for accepting public comment at the beginning of the conference call. We ask the public and other nonparticipating attendees to please mute their phones in order to minimize distractions to the Board’s deliberations. For more information, please contact Toni Kerns, ISFMP Director, at tkerns@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.