Striped Bass

Commercial handline fishermen had earlier raised two issues concerning the current striped bass regulations: redefining the PCB-related closed area line along the Atlantic Coast of Long Island further to the west if PCB contamination data allowed for this, and some relaxation of the current prohibition on the possession of tagged striped bass legally caught east of this closure line in the closed area west of the line as fishermen steamed back to home port.

Mr. Colvin stated that DEC had been working on a comprehensive fishery regulatory package to remain in compliance with ASMFC’s several fishery management plans. In the case of striped bass, this was interrupted by the lapse last winter in DEC’s legislatively-granted regulatory authority over this species. Because of delays in Albany’s review of the regulatory package, DEC had to pull out those parts of the package which required immediate action via emergency rules, e.g., fluke, shad, and eel. Now, that entire comprehensive package, including the striped bass rules, must be reactivated for normal consideration, which takes 6-9 months. Therefore, changes to striped bass regulations could not be undertaken this year.

Mr. Colvin acknowledged that the current closure line for commercial striped bass fishing along the south shore of Long Island is further to the east (Rockaway Inlet) than the PCB data required it to be; this was done primarily for enforcement considerations, not pubic health. As the regulations establishing the open and closed areas along the South Shore were being promulgated in 1995, since the adjacent New York Harbor area had been closed, there was a concern that allowing commercial striped bass fishing between Debs and Rockaway Inlets would promote transit and even possibly fishing in areas of New York Harbor which were closed. At the time, it was also pointed out that the Rockaway Inlet area was a very intensive striped bass fishing area, and drawing a boundary line through the middle of it would promote compliance problems. Therefore, the closure line was moved eastward in the final rule. Mr. Colvin pointed out that what is being requested now is to revisit the previous decision on the basis of old information. Any redrawing of the closure line could only follow a thorough examination of new striped bass PCB body burden data developed through another survey as intense and widespread as that historically used by DEC and the State Health Department for this issue. DEC staff person Byron Young confirmed that more recent PCB data from striped bass, derived from the New York Harbor Estuary Program, was not as comprehensive as routine PCB surveys conducted periodically by DEC.

In response to a question, Captain Otterstedt of DEC’s Division of Law Enforcement said he thought that some provision to stow commercial striped bass gear adequately might be developed that, if complied with, would allow vessels with legally-caught striped bass to transit the closed area along the western south shore. He considered it a reasonable request, and his superiors would discuss it.

The Council agreed to take up the issue of possibly altering the south shore striped bass closure line westward from Debs to Rockaway Inlet at its 18 July 2000 meeting.

Lobster Trap Tags

John Mason of DEC informed the Council that emergency regulations had been passed on 15 May 2000 to set up New York’s lobster trap tag program. He distributed the announcement which was going out immediately by fax and mail to all holders of commercial lobster licenses, with order forms attached for ordering the trap tags. Tag orders received by 22 May 2000 would be filled by 10 June. Tag allocations will be based on information regarding the number of pots fished by an individual supplied by the fishermen to the DEC on their lobster permit applications from 1995-1998. They would receive the highest number submitted over that time period, or a flat number of 50, or they could submit new information. There would be an appeals process on the number of tags allotted. Mr. Mason stated that Connecticut had communicated with him that their law enforcement activity on checking/enforcing trap tags would not begin in earnest until mid- or late June.

Mr. Colvin pointed out that these emergency rules were finalized and open to public comment. Captain Otterstedt said that DEC Enforcement would allow a reasonable length of time beyond 6 June for affixing the lobster trap tags. Mr. Mason noted that an individual did not have to purchase his/her full allocation of tags at one time. A single tag manufacturer/supplier was being used coast-wide by all members of the ASMFC.

Fluke and Other Finfish

127 holders of the special summer flounder commercial harvesting permit have declared themselves in the special hand-line category. Under the special gear category established this year on an experimental basis, handliners would get 5% of New York’s annual commercial fluke quota. The current trip limit was 200 lb. but would decrease to 50.

Gordon Colvin presented the background for the recreational limit on scup and the commercial fluke quotas for the year 2000. Both fluke and scup are managed by joint fishery management plans adopted by the ASMFC and the federal government. This year, ASMFC adopted quotas for fluke, scup, and sea bass and also adopted recreational measures for these fish for the year 2000. The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (MAFMC, re the federal plan) made recommendations to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) consistent with these decisions. The original commercial catch quota recommendations were made in September and the recreational recommendations in January. However, to date, there are no final federal rules in place. The ASMFC adopted a coast-wide 50 fish limit on scup. NMFS wrote MAFMC that additional measures would be necessary to restrict the recreational scup harvest in 2000. Fluke compliance depends on a quota, which is the same this year as last. Currently, there is a lawsuit by conservation organizations which claim that the fluke quota was too high. In April, a circuit court decision found in favor of the plaintiffs and remanded to NMFS for further action the 1999 commercial fluke quotas, which were the basis for the 2000 quotas.

The recreational scup harvest must be cut by 32% because the 1999 allocation was exceeded; that is why NMFS declared the 50 fish limit insufficient. Recreational scup measures were to be remanded to the ASMFC to look at conservation equivalency to attain the 32% reduction. Most likely, the ASMFC and MAFMC technical committees would determine that late fall closures would be needed; the 50 fish limit resulted in only a 3% reduction. Mr. Colvin pointed out that when the DEC adopted scup quotas in September 1999, both MAFMC and ASMFC recommended to NMFS addressing by-catch and discards from small mesh trawl fisheries, particularly for squid. The scup by-catch from these fisheries far exceeded the total coast-wide recreational harvest. NMFS took no action by January 2000. Imposing severe restrictions on the recreational harvest made no sense as long as the far larger problem of discards of juvenile scup was ignored.

John Mason said that NMFS was negotiating with the plaintiffs how to "pay back" the 1999 fluke overages. MAFMC recommended both that NMFS include representatives from ASMFC and the Council in these discussions, and that a strategy be developed to include the 2001 quota after the new assessment of biomass growth is completed. The 1999 quota had been a total of 18 million pounds, but the target should have been 14 million, with 60% allocated to commercial and 40% to recreational fishing. The commercial harvest exceeded the quota by about 2 million, and the recreational harvest by about a million. The entire pay-back for the 1999 overage will be put against the 2000 commercial fluke quota. Under the low case scenario, with all the penalty assessed against the commercial quota, the allocation would be reduced from 11 to 8 million pounds and New Jersey, North Carolina and Virginia would have to shut down immediately. Mr. Colvin added that in addition, the recreational fishery could also require significant seasonal closures. Negotiations with the plaintiff conservation organizations would determine the allocations for 2001. Federal courts already established that quotas cannot be changed in mid-year, but it would be up to the fishermen and states involved to appeal a mid-year adjustment. There is hope that the NMFS fall survey might show a significant upturn in biomass of both fluke and scup. Mr. Colvin described the problem that since the federal quotas for 2000 had not been set, the states could set their own quotas and then shut down federal permit holders while allowing state permit holders to continue fishing. Mr. Colvin did not know how many of the 450 fluke permit holders also held federal licenses. There was already discord about summer scup fishery management with different quotas proposed by NMFS and ASMFC; litigation could result. Councilor Dearborn remarked that many party/charter boat operators had relinquished their federal permits.