Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Board Approves Draft Addendum XVIII for Public Comment
(Revises January 24, 2006 Release with the inclusion of information on the North Carolina public hearing)
Washington, DC – The Commission’s Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Management Board has approved Draft Addendum XVIII to the Summer Flounder Fishery Management Plan for public comment and review. The Draft Addendum proposes to alter the summer flounder recreational specification process in 2006 only. If approved, the Addendum would provide states that are facing large recreational harvest reductions (New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts) the opportunity to implement smaller reductions based on anticipated savings achieved from other states maintaining their 2005 recreational fishing rules in 2006. As such, states that have the option to liberalize their 2006 summer flounder recreational regulations could choose to maintain their 2005 regulations in order to distribute the savings to New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. This assumes the states maintaining regulations would land the same amount in 2006 as in 2005.
Based on the 2005 summer flounder stock assessment, the 2006 coastwide total allowable landings were significantly reduced from an expected 33 million pounds to 23.59 million pounds, resulting in smaller state recreational harvest limits than anticipated. On a coastwide basis, the recreational fishery did not harvest its entire 2005 limit, with the majority of states harvesting less than their state share. However, due to the drop in the 2006 harvest limit, it was necessary to reduce coastwide landings by 3.85 % (based on projected landings data from NMFS MRFSS waves 1-5).
The States of Rhode Island and New Jersey have scheduled the dates and times of their public meetings to gather comment. The details of those meetings follow:
Rhode Island Division of Fish & Wildlife
February 15, 2006; 6:00 pm
Corless Auditorium
University of Rhode Island
South Ferry Road
Narragansett, Rhode Island
Contact: Brian Murphy, (401) 423-1941
New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife
February 14, 2006; 7:00 pm
Ocean County Complex, Room 119
101 Hooper Avenue
Toms River, New Jersey
Contact: Tom McCloy, (609) 292-7794
North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries
February 13, 2006; 6:00 PM
Roanoke Island Festival Park
1 Festival Park
Manteo, North Carolina
Contact: Chris Batsavage, (252) 726-7021
Fishermen and other interested groups are encouraged to provide input on the Draft Addendum either by attending public hearings or providing written comments. Copies of the Draft Addendum can be obtained via the Commission’s website at www.asmfc.org under Breaking News or by contacting the Commission at (202) 289-6400. Public comment will be accepted until 5 PM on February 16, 2006 and should be forwarded to Toni Kerns, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at 1444 ‘Eye’ Street, NW, Sixth Floor, Washington, DC 20005; (202)289-6051 (fax) or comments@asmfc.org (Subject line: Draft Addendum XVIII). The Board will meet in February to review public comment on the Draft Addendum and consider its final approval. For more information, please contact Toni Kerns at (202)289-6400 or tkerns@asmfc.org.
