This was released 4/24/2007
DEC ANNOUNCES REVISIONS TO 2007 RECREATIONAL
MARINE FISHING REGULATIONS
Changes, Effective Immediately, Necessary To Meet Federal Requirements for Fluke
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) today announced changes in 2007 recreational fishing regulations for summer flounder, also known as fluke. The new emergency regulation, which is effective immediately, opens the season year-round and raises the size limit to 19.5 inches total length. This change is expected to achieve a federally-required reduction in the number of summer flounder harvested by recreational anglers in New York.
The emergency regulation increases the 2006 length regulation of 18 inches by 1.5 inches, to 19.5 inches, and removes the limited season dates of May 6 to September 12 thereby allowing fluke fishing all year long. The daily possession limit will remain at four fish per angler.
The emergency regulation was chosen from among several options available to DEC because it will be most effective in helping sustain the recreational fishing opportunities and positive economic impacts that fluke fishing provides, while also meeting federal requirements to protect the fishery. The changes reflect input received from anglers, party and charter boat associations, other stakeholder organizations, and the Marine Resources Advisory Council.
New York State participates in the cooperative management of migratory marine fisheries under the Interstate Fishery Management Program of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC). Under that program, ASMFC adopts Interstate Fisheries Management Plans (FMPs) for individual species or groups of fish and determines if states have implemented provisions of FMPs in a timely manner. If ASMFC determines a state to be in non-compliance with an FMP, the Commission notifies the U.S. Secretary of Commerce. If the Secretary concurs in the non-compliance determination, the Secretary may promulgate and enforce a complete prohibition on all fishing for the species in the waters of the non-compliant state until the state comes into compliance with the FMP.
Under the FMPs for fluke, ASMFC assigns each state an annual harvest target or “quota.” The state’s harvest for the upcoming year is projected, assuming regulations remain the same and harvest patterns and rates remain the same as the previous year. If the projected harvest exceeds a state’s assigned quota, the state must, as an FMP compliance requirement, make its harvest regulations sufficiently more restrictive to prevent the state from exceeding its assigned quota. ASMFC reviews, and must approve, each state’s regulations as compliant with the FMP.
Without the regulatory change, New York’s projected fluke harvest for 2007 would exceed the state’s assigned quota by 49 percent. The regulatory changes in the emergency rule announced today are projected to achieve a harvest reduction of approximately 56 percent for fluke, keeping New York in compliance with the FMP. New York’s commercial quota has also been significantly reduced in 2007 to 619,123 pounds, down from 935,943 pounds of fluke in 2006.
For additional information about the regulations, contact DEC’s Marine Resources Division at 631-444-0435. Marine fishing regulations can be viewed on the DEC website at:
http://www.dec.state.ny.us/website/d...h/swflaws.html
The Department is proposing to adopt the emergency rule as a permanent rule. Public comments on the proposed rulemaking may be sent to DEC for consideration by writing to: Fishing Regulations, DEC Marine Resources, 205 N Belle Mead Rd, Ste 1, E Setauket, NY 11733-3400; or by email at
[email protected] . The public comment period on the proposed regulation ends on June 25, 2007.