Mr. Colvin stated that DEC is beginning the process of deciding what specific changes to current marine finfish and shellfish regulations it will propose for 2005.  The following is a brief summary of the changes that might be proposed.

Hudson River

There has been some discussion about the prospect for changing regulations for striped bass in the Hudson River.  As a first step for taking action on the striped bass regulations and securing the approval of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) under Amendment 6 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Striped Bass, in August the Department submitted proposed regulatory changes required by ASMFC’s Striped Bass Technical Committee.  The committee acted favorably on the proposals and has presented them to ASMFC’s Striped Bass management Board, which then approved them at its annual meeting.

The proposed changes in the Hudson River would be to raise the minimum size limit in the Hudson River to 28” and to make two changes applicable to recreational fisheries for striped bass that use bait: to require circle hooks and to prohibit treble hooks.

Another change in the Hudson River is to require permit and reporting in charter boat and guide fisheries targeting AFSMC-managed species in the Hudson River Estuary that would be equivalent to the permitting requirements that are in place for those fisheries in the Marine District.

Shellfish Regulations

The current Interstate Fishery Management Plan for American Lobster requires states to impose and enforce the most restrictive requirements on fishermen who declare that they fish in more than one Lobster Conservation Management Area (LCMA).  Some New York lobster fishermen do fish in more than one LCMA.  DEC needs to have the regulations specified for those who declare that they are fishing in areas other than Area 6, Long Island Sound or Area 4, the South Shore.  Recently, substantial changes have been made to the lobster management regulations in LCMA’s 2 (Southern New England), 3 (Exclusive Economic Zone) and the Outer Cape and some New York fishermen are declared in those areas.

It has been brought to DEC’s attention that certain commercial lobster permit holders who were out of the lobster fishery for one reason or another, were distributing letters to other persons authorizing them to fish their lobster gear, use their lobster trap tags, etc.  This amounted to a transfer of a lobster permit and that is not what the law ever intended.  The regulations need to be tightened to deal with this matter.  The holder of a lobster permit may authorize someone to tend their gear, but only on an emergency basis and for a very limited time.

Regulations are need to stipulate how commercial crab pots must be marked and where they may be set.  Minimum size limit on crabs may also be a point to address.

Finfish Regulations

Mr. Colvin distributed a handout listing changes that DEC might propose to the current regulations governing harvesting of marine finfish.  He emphasized that some of these things were identified by DEC staff as appropriate to consider and some had been suggested to the Department by the Council and/or fishermen and fishing groups.  It is a catch-all list and the draft regulatory changes eventually proposed by the Department will almost certainly not include every item on the list.

1. Striped bass in the Marine District, as approved by ASMFC
   1. increase recreational possession limit to two fish
   2. institute a slot limit of 28” – 39” in the commercial fishery
   3. 2005 commercial harvest cap of 877,180 lbs.
   4. recalculate minimum mesh size in gill nets to compensate for increase in slot limit
   5. possible increase in by-catch trip limit allowed to trawl fisheries and gill net fisheries not in the directed gill net fishery; limit, presently 7 fish, will not exceed 21 fish per vessel per trip
      
2. Bluefish
   Increase the 10-fish recreational possession limit to 15 fish.  Should there be a minimum size restriction?
   
3. Require electronic reporting for dealers
   Mandatory electronic recording was instituted this year for federally-permitted fish dealers; develop parallel requirement for those dealers who have only a State shippers/dealers license.
   
4. Commercial foodfish license decal requirement
   As recommended by the Council, require any vessel engaged in commercial fishing activity in State waters to display a readily-visible sticker identifying it as a commercial fishing vessel.
   
5. Winter flounder
   ASMFC’s Winter Flounder Management Board is deliberating over the adoption of the final measures to be implemented by the states in 2005  under Amendment 1 to the Interstate Fishery Management for Inshore Stocks of Winter Flounder.  New York will need to revise its regulations for this species consistent with the measures adopted for the Southern New England/Mid-Atlantic stock area.
   
6. Update scup (porgy) and black sea bass mesh and escape vent changes (for pots) so that New York’s regulations meet the current federal interstate requirements.
   
7. Toadfish possession prohibitions (possible season closures, catch limits and/or minimum size limits)
   
8. Requalify fluke commercial permit holders
   
9. Enable weekly or bi-weekly commercial trip limits

#’s 8 & 9 relate to dialogue between ASFMC and the Mid Atlantic Fishery Management Council, who are considering measures to change the current distribution of the commercial quota among the states.  Several states have proposed that some portion of the increased quota authorized for 2005 and 2006 be allocated by a different formula.  In a meeting in the fall of 2004, it was recommended to the ASFMC, who in turn voted to adopt an addendum to make some modest changes to the allocation of the quota.  New York would benefit (by transfer) with an extra 50,000+ pounds of fluke per year.  With this additional allocation comes an expectation that these states will actively address commercial fluke discards.  Among the ideas were to address latent and/or inactive fluke permits to reduce the number of extant permits.  In some instances experiment with weekly/bi-weekly trip limits.

10. Implement apprentice program. – (Authorize legislature to start this program)
    
11. Update shark regulations to confirm to new federal regulations
    
12. Update groundfish regulations to confirm to Amendment 13
    
13. Restrict the use of livewells on boats
    This idea had been suggested as a means of reducing the illegal harvest and sale of some species by anglers fishing without a commercial foodfish license.  At an earlier meeting of the Council, it had engendered considerable opposition from some recreational fishing representatives on the Council.
    
14. Fyke Net Registry –  (abolish the current registry, which is no longer necessary due to the current mandatory reporting for all commercial food fish license holders)
    
15. Black Sea Bass length definition –  (current definition of a standard length for black sea bass includes the filament; DEC proposes to revise it to exclude the filament.  It is also thought the minimum size limit should be increased to 12)
    
16. Mandatory reporting for party and charter boat license-holders–  (Impending comprehensive regulations to require trip reports by commercial food fish license holders, crab and lobster license holders, and seafood/fish shippers and dealers; DEC will propose to extend this to include holders of the charter and party boat operators license)
17. Blackfish –  (increase the minimum size limit)
    
18. Weakfish – (increase minimum size limit to 15”)

 

Page last modified Sunday, January 9, 2005 by George E. Carroll