March 3, 2023 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:
Meeting Summary: The Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass Board (Board) met via webinar to consider black sea bass and scup recreational regulations for the 2023 fishery.
Background: In December 2022, the Board and the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) met jointly to set recreational measures for 2023. The Percent Change Approach, as implemented under Addendum XXXIV to the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fishery Management Plan (FMP), was used in conjunction with the Recreational Demand Model (RDM) to determine that both scup and black sea bass require a 10% reduction in recreational harvest in 2023.
For black sea bass, the Board and Council decided to proceed with the regional conservation equivalency process as outlined in Addendum XXXII, which requires each region (MA-NY, NJ, DE-NC) to implement black sea bass regulations that will achieve a cumulative 10% harvest reduction by weight. For scup, the Board and Council recommended reducing the federal possession limit to 40 fish and shortening the season to May 1 – December 31. Given these measures would not achieve the full 10% reduction, the Board and Council agreed that states would further modify their measures through the Commission process to achieve the full 10% coastwide harvest reduction.
In January and February 2023, the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Technical Committee used the RDM to recommend options for 2023 recreational measures for black sea bass and scup which achieve a 10% reduction for both species.