Chairman Wise opened the meeting at 2:10 p.m. to a room full to capacity, with most present there primarily to see the resolution of what management measures will be recommended by the Council for the 2008 recreational fishery for fluke (summer flounder).  The crowd was so large that the occupancy limits wouldn’t allow everyone to enter.  DEC staff asked the audience members who could not fit in the meeting room to remain in the hall or a smaller conference room; they would provide the overflow with updated information periodically throughout the discussion regarding the fluke management issues.

Chairman Wise introduced himself and the councilors introduced themselves, indicating whether they served on the Council as a commercial or recreational fisheries representative.  Mr. Wise then went over the agenda for the meeting.

Draft minutes, 22 January 2008 Council Meeting

Councilor Melissa Dearborn asked that the minutes be revised to clarify that, when she had referred to the unfairness of New York's recreational fluke anglers being penalized for catches in excess of the state's target, she was specifically referring to the 34% "performance factor" penalty for historic fluke target exceedance that had been levied against New York in determining its 2008 recreational fluke target.  It was pointed out that the statement in the minutes that any overage in 2007 of New York's recreational fluke target was directly deducted from the State's 2008 recreational fluke target was erroneous and should be deleted.  With these changes, the draft minutes were approved as revised.  
The vote was 9 in favor; 0 opposed; 1 abstention.

 

Page last modified Tuesday, April 1, 2008 by George E. Carroll