April 30, 2014 — The mid-Atlantic region, including New Jersey, is the only coastal area in the nation where no fish stocks are overfished, according to report released this week by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The NOAA report looked at nine distinct coastal regions in the nation and found many fish species were depleted. In New England, NOAA found 12 species overfished, including commercially important species such as cod, halibut and yellowtail flounder. There were four species in trouble in both the South Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico regions.
But in the mid-Atlantic region that includes New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, New York and Virginia, there were no stocks in trouble.
Each fish species is assigned to a management council set up for the different regions. The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council is charged with overseeing summer flounder (fluke), scup, black sea bass, mackerel, squid, surf clams, quahogs, butterfish, bluefish, tilefish, monkfish and spiny dogfish. None is overfished.
Butterfish was one of the last species to get a clean bill of health in a new assessment released in April, and this is expected to spur a resurgent butterfish fishery in southern New Jersey ports. When fish species are overfished, it usually reduces the harvests that are allowed.