January 27, 2017 — POINT PLEASANT BEACH, NJ – The state’s fishing industry could be crippled unless proposed federal regulations that would cut the harvest of summer flounder — the state’s No. 1 fish — by almost half are stopped, advocates warned at a protest rally held at the commercial fishing docks.
“It’s an attack on our economy, it’s an attack on our way of life,” said Bob Martin, head of the state Department of Environmental Protection, who organized the rally to bring attention to the looming regulations that he warned would devastate the state’s fishing industry, particularly the recreational fishing boats that are a mainstay of the summer tourism season. .
“You can barely stay in business as it is. If they shove a 19-inch size limit in our face, then we’re done,” said Captain Will Hammarstrom, owner of the Carolyn Ann III, one of only two party boats left in Barnegat Light.