December 11, 2017 — Flounder fishery regulations will be part of the discussion next week at a meeting of two fishery management bodies in Annapolis, Maryland.
“The purpose of next week’s meeting is to make a decision on whether or not the federal government will put in place a coastwide measure and all states will fish under the same regulations, or if it will defer to individual states,” said Adam Nowalsky, a former charter boat captain out of Atlantic City.
Under something called conservation equivalency, states have the right to set different regulations if they are expected to achieve the same level of harvest, Nowalsky said.
“Conservation equivalency will be the direction I expect things to go,” he said.
Last year New Jersey defied the ASMFC and federal regulations, and eventually won the right from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the federal Commerce Department to set its own rules. The state convinced those bodies its regulations would be as protective to the species.
Read the full story at the Press of Atlantic City