Fishermans Headquarters Fishing Report- 8-7-08

August 7, 2008Received: Thursday, August 07, 2008 12:37 AM Subject: News on Summer Flounder for 2009

ESSINGTON, Pa. — Fishermen could get an additional 2.6 million pounds of summer flounder to take home in 2009, after a scientific reassessment reported the East Coast flounder population is far closer to being rebuilt than had been thought.

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission agreed today to propose an 18.45 million pound flounder quota for 2009, up from 15.77 million pounds this year. It's the first major increase since 2005, when federal officials ordered a reversal in what had been an expanding fishery.

"This is only the first part of the equation. But it's good news," said Tony Bogan, a Brielle charter captain and an organizer of the Save the Summer Flounder Fishery Fund, a recreational group that hired West Coast scientist mark maunder to advise experts who reappraised the flounder situation.

Their findings lead to a sharp revision downward in the biological target population for flounder, to 132 million pounds of spawning, adult fish. The Mid-Atlantic council and the National Marine Fisheries Congress are legally obligated to hit that goal by the end of 2012, and before this the target had been significantly higher at 197 million pounds.

That meant round after round of more restrictive fishing rules, even as fishermen reported more fluke in the ocean. Just how the new quota affects New Jersey anglers, in the form of minimum fish sizes and the fishing season, won't begin to take shape until the actual catch numbers for 2008 are reported near the end of this year, Bogan explained.

~ Jim T., Bridgewater, NJ

Fisherman's Headquarters
Ship Bottom, New Jersey
www.fishermansheadquarters.com