June 5, 2017 — If New Jersey doesn’t bring its summer flounder limits in line with federal regulations, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission said it may result in a moratorium on fluke fishing.
When summer flounder season began May 25, New Jersey decided to keep in place an 18-inch limit it felt was a fair compromise to the 19-inch limit federal regulators were requiring.
The Marine Fisheries Commission did not agree and voted earlier that week not to accept New Jersey’s rules. On Thursday, the federal agency found New Jersey out of compliance with the mandatory management measures for summer flounder, scup and black sea bass.
The commission believes the 19-inch limit achieves conservation goals and helps to end overfishing of summer flounder. The state argues the larger minimum size would result in more dead fish. Other opponents of the federal rules, including many local anglers, say the rules directly target female spawning flounder.
“We’re disappointed the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission continues to myopically distance itself from sound fisheries management and advocates for a 19-inch size limit that kills more fish through dead discards than the actual harvesting of fluke,” N.J. Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin said. “This would result in an overall higher mortality rate and be more detrimental to the fish stock that we are sworn to protect.”