Mr. Colvin distributed several summaries about the activities and outcome of emergency rule-making decisions on 2002 recreational fishery regulations for fluke and scup.

Fluke

The Atlantic States Marine Fishery Commission (ASMFC) has projected that, if left unaltered, New York's 2001 recreational regulations for fluke would result in the state's 2002 recreational catch falling short of the state's 2002 recreational fluke harvest target by 13%. The 2001 recreational fluke regulations were 17" minimum size limit, 7-fish possession limit, 02 May - 31 October open season. DEC developed several alternatives for 2002 recreational fluke regulations: 1) no change in 2001 regulations; 2) 17" minimum size, 8-fish possession limit; year-round season; and 3) 16.5" minimum size, 4-fish possession limit, early May - late September fishing season. After receiving comment from the Council and the public, the Department opted to leave the 2001 regulations in place for 2002. Reducing the minimum size below the current 17" risked having the 2002 New York recreational fluke landings exceed the 2002 catch target, which would trigger substantially more restrictive regulations in 2003.

Scup

Under the ASMFC Fishery Management Plan for scup (porgy), New York must to reduce its 2002 recreational harvest of this species by 15% from that of 2001. The scup recreational regulations in 2001 were 9" minimum size limit, 50-fish creel limit, and a 01 July - 17 November fishing season. All states are increasing the scup minimum size limit in 2002 to 10", which will capture 10% of the required 15% decrease in recreational scup landings. DEC discussed several alternatives to achieve the remaining 5% reduction with the Council and members of the charter/party boat industry. None of these options was universally supported. By emergency rule-making, DEC adopted the following measures for recreational scup fishing in 2002: 10" minimum size limit; 50-fish possession limit; and a fishing season 25 June - 30 November, with a mid-season (15 September - 30 September) closure for anglers fishing by any mode other than aboard a charter or party boat. Mr. Colvin noted that, under this option, there would be a reallocation of the recreational scup harvest to charter/party boats from the other segments of the recreational scup fishery. The late September closed season for all recreational scup modes other than charter/party boats allows the possession limit to remain at 50 fish, which representatives of the charter/party boat industry said was essential if they were not to lose customers to other states. New York's recreational scup harvest target is expected to rise in 2003. Mr. Colvin stated that it was the Department's intention, under that scenario, to revise the 2003 regulations to remove the non-charter/party boat late September season closure. This would reestablish parity in allocating the scup harvest among all segments of the recreational fishery.

Black Sea Bass and Lobster Escape Vent Regulations

Under its emergency rule-making authority, DEC has adopted regulations affecting the escape vent size in traps used to harvest black sea bass and American lobster that are necessary if New York's management measures are to remain in compliance with the adopted fishery management plans for these species. For black sea bass, the new minimum escape vent sizes are 1 3/8" x 5 3/4" or 2" x 2". The minimum size on recreational-caught black sea bass was also increased to 11.5".