http://www.app.com/article/20100216/...on-in-jeopardy

The summer shark-fishing season may still be saved, if New Jersey can convince federal fisheries regulators that it is committed to adopting a long-delayed package of rules that include conservation measures for sandbar sharks and other coastal species.



The state Department of Environmental Protection "will work with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission to see that the summer shark season goes ahead without disruption," said DEP Assistant Commissioner Amy Cradic, hours after the commission announced that New Jersey is officially out of compliance with the interstate shark management plan, and potentially subject to a ban on shark fishing enforced by federal order.


"We need to show the commission we are making progress," Cradic said.


The shark regulations need to be published in the New Jersey state Register, public comment obtained and the regulations adopted — a process that could go to September while the commission and federal authorities hopefully delay any further action, she said.


"This is the lifeblood of so many sport clubs along the Shore. . .to pull that away would be devastating," said Peter Grimbilas of the Greater Point Pleasant Charter Boat Association, whose Mako Mania tournament is one of the big-money shark fishing contests of summer.


With 305 boats entered last year, "there's over 1,500 people who migrate to the Shore for just one event — and that's not counting their families," Grimbilas said.


The impending rules, which were initially drafted in 2007 and ready for adoption last year, are not covered by Gov. Chris Christie's moratorium on new regulations, Cradic said.


Ironically, Grimbilas said, the rules package may have been held up by the former Corzine administration reluctance to deal with an unrelated controversy between recreational and commercial fishermen over use of artificial reefs.


Proceeds from the Mako Mania tournament have been used for reef additions, "so now all this is in danger because of that delay," he said.
Regulatory changes aimed at bringing back diminished shark populations include measures such as seasonal fishing restrictions from Virginia to New Jersey to protect sandbar sharks when they are giving birth to their pups, according to Atlantic states fisheries commission officials.


The commission coordinates fish conservation among East Coast states, and by law it can request that federal authorities enforce fishing bans in states that fail to comply with the rules. It's that implicit power that gets some credit for strict conservation measures that brought striped bass back from near extinction and created a thriving fishery for that species.


But last month recreational fishing advocates warned the Christie administration that New Jersey's delayed regulations carried the danger that the Atlantic states commission would rule the state out of compliance. That action came Tuesday when the commission made the formal noncompliance notification to the U.S. Department of Commerce.


"The secretary of commerce will go through a decision process," said Robert Beal, director of the commission's interstate fisheries management program. "What I recommended to the DEP was that they contact the National Marine Fisheries Service and talk to them about the status of New Jersey's rules. NMFS does have discretion."


Commerce officials now have 30 days to make a determination on New Jersey's status, and then the fisheries service has a "six-month discretionary window" before taking any action such as closing the fishery, Beal said.


The last Atlantic states commission threat to shut down New Jersey anglers came in March 2008, when the commission and state officials differed over the need for a nearly 26 percent cut in the harvest of tautog, also known as blackfish. The DEP finally relented to change state regulations and avert a shutdown.