CENTRAL NEW JERSEY FISHING NEWS - May 2, 2008

ASMFC Withdraws New Jersey TAUTOG (Blackfish) Noncompliance Finding.  On March 27, ASMFC Chair George D. Lapointe notified the Secretaries of Commerce and the Interior that the Commission has withdrawn its noncompliance finding for the State of New Jersey concerning its Tautog management program.  Under the threat of a season closure, New Jersey notified the Commission on March 25, 2008 that it has implemented management measures that achieve a 25.6 PERCENT REDUCTION in exploitation as required by Addenda IV and V of the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Tautog.  The measures include reductions in recreational bag limits, and season closures for both the recreational and commercial fisheries.  Here is how the change effects New Jersey recreational anglers:

JANUARY 1 through APRIL 30 - Four (4) Blackfish per angler per day - 14-inch minimum size.

MAY 1 through JULY 15 - SEASON CLOSED - NO Blackfish.

JULY 16 through NOVEMBER 15 - One (1) Blackfish per angler per day - 14-inch minimum size.

NOVEMBER 16 through DECEMBER 31 - Six (6) Blackfish per angler per day - 14-inch minimum size.

Yet another blow to anglers and boatmen… the regulatory changes leave little for party boats to fish for between the Blackfish season close on May 1 and the opening of the Fluke season on May 24.  See our It's The Law page for a complete listing of Federal and NJ recreational fishing regulations.

For comparison, here are LAST YEAR'S REGULATIONS…

JANUARY 1 through MAY 31 - Four (4) Blackfish per angler per day - 14-inch minimum size.

JUNE 1 through NOVEMBER 14 - One (1) Blackfish per angler per day - 14-inch minimum size.

NOVEMBER 15 through DECEMBER 31 - Eight (8) Blackfish per angler per day - 14-inch minimum size.



IN MEMORIAM – CAPTAIN FRED MOORE  1926-2008

Captain Fred Moore passed away peacefully on Tuesday, March 18, 2008 at Mariners Hospital in the Florida Keys.  Born in 1926, he was just a couple of weeks shy of his 82nd birthday.  He is survived by his wife Helene, sons Wayde and Fred Jr., daughter Courtney, granddaughters Erica and Ashley, and sisters Sue and Noreen.

Captain Fred along with his brother, the late Captain Everett Moore and father, the late Captain Charles Moore operated the TEAL, the TEAL II and the MISS MOORE party fishing boats for nearly fifty years.  The family fishing business started in 1942 with the first TEAL sailing from Perth Amboy, NJ.  In 1956, they moved the business to Great Kills, Staten Island, NY and sailed from there for the next thirty years.

His long-time Mate and lifelong friend Ken Ekberg recalls…

"When Fred and I were together, we were together seven days a week and we were like family.  One time, when I had to take a day off, he had a particularly rough day, and when I returned, he said, 'I hope you don't make a habit of this.'

Fred lived fishing and he loved fishing.  Many times, we would still be anchored up long after when three whistles should have blown. Sure enough, the fish would start to bite and supper was cold when we got home.  Fred also had a wonderful gift for gab.  Besides the gift, he also had the professional knowledge to back it up."

Captain Fred was cremated in Florida and his ashes were scattered at sea on April 12 during a memorial service aboard the TEAL, Atlantic Highlands, NJ.

Captain Fred is in our hearts and prayers and we wish his family and many friends peace during this stressful time.  Boatmen and friends that would like to send letters of condolence can email them to Captain Wayde Moore at commanderwpm@yahoo.com.

So now all fishermen be of good cheer
And always remember Your Lord is near
The word of a hymn which can give courage to thee
Are "Jesus Saviour, Pilot Me".  Thomas Keats


MIKE’S MARITIME MEMORABILIA Department:



Longtime local angler, Mike Daniewicz combed through his extensive collection of vintage party boat photos, postcards and other neat stuff and picked out over 1,000 choice items for our enjoyment.  Depending on how long you have been fishing around the New Jersey and New York area, you (or your dad or granddad) will likely recall a few good memories.

April's additions to Mike's Maritime Memorabilia pages are a study in black and white photography, and include fifteen vintage photos of New Jersey and New York party fishing boats dating from 1890 to 1959.

Special thanks go to Captain John Bogan Jr., Phil Castellano and Phil Nuss for generously contributing some of the fine photographs and background information for this month's additions.

You can see the April additions to Mike’s Maritime Memorabilia on our Just Added page.


THE FLUKE THAT ROARED UPDATE:

The New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife met Thursday, March 6 and made their final choice for this year's Summer Flounder (Fluke) regulations.  FOR 2008, THE NEW JERSEY SUMMER FLOUNDER SEASON WILL OPEN ON MAY 24 AND CLOSE ON SEPTEMBER 7.  THE MINIMUM SIZE IS 18-INCHES AND THE POSSESSION LIMIT IS EIGHT FISH.

For comparison, the 2007 NJ Summer Flounder season was open from May 26 through September 10; the minimum size was 17-inches and the possession limit was eight fish.  In 2006, the NJ Summer Flounder season was open from May 6 through October 9; the minimum size was 16½-inches and the possession limit was eight fish.

Wacky environmental zealots are still pushing for additional quota reductions in 2009, and the specter of a complete fishery closure still looms as the unreachable biomass goal of 214 million pounds by the end of 2012 approaches.  Summer Flounder fillets are selling for about $16 a pound now; next year, you'll likely pay $25 a pound.  Hmm, I wonder how well tartar sauce goes with hot dogs.

The Fluke is still roaring and recreational anglers still have an uphill battle to fight to make Summer Flounder regulations more reasonable.  Mels-Place.com supports the SAVE THE SUMMER FLOUNDER FISHERY non-profit organization and urges you to open your wallet and send them a donation.

By the way, the fisheries management craziness doesn't stop with Summer Flounder.   So far this year, Weakfish regulations became more restrictive; a fisheries management plan for regulating 39 species of coastal sharks is in the works; and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission declared New Jersey is not in compliance with mandatory management measures for Tautog (Blackfish) and has ordered a closure of the season on April 1, 2008!  (Postscript - On March 18, the New Jersey Marine Fisheries Council adopted a revised Tautog management plan with a reduced season and possession limits, and will submit it to the Atlantic State Marine Fisheries Commission with the hopes that a closure will be averted.)


THE FLUKE THAT ROARED Department:

Summer Flounder (Fluke) stocks are in good shape and the biomass is at the highest levels ever recorded.  However, we cannot say the same thing for the fishery.  In spite of great progress in rebuilding Summer Flounder stocks, another round of federal quota cuts are on the way for 2008 and the National Marine Fisheries Service has threatened to ban fishing for Summer Flounder in 2009.

In 2005, the federal Summer Flounder quota was 30.3 million pounds; for 2006, the National Marine Fisheries Service cut the quota 22% to 23.6 million pounds and for 2007, they cut the quota 38% to 17.11 million pounds.  

The proposed 2008 federal quota for Summer Flounder is 15.77 million pounds, an 8% reduction from this year's 17.11 million pound quota.  This doesn't sound too bad, but when you consider that environmental zealots are urging the fisheries managers to reduce the Summer Flounder quota to 11.7 million pounds, it is a whopping 46% reduction!

This bizarre situation is yet another example of a fisheries management system that is rigid to a fault, unrealistic, filled with incorrect assumptions, bad science, inaccurate and conflicting fisheries data, and influenced by a small, but powerful and well-endowed group of national environmental zealots who are more interested in preservation instead of conservation.

We all want sustainable fisheries so that we can continue to enjoy fishing and ensure that our kids can do likewise when they grow up, but this situation is ridiculous and the time has come to stop it.  Make no mistake... changing the government juggernaut will be a very difficult task, but we can win if we speak out and put our money where our mouths are.



You can help by supporting the SAVE THE SUMMER FLOUNDER FISHERY FUND.   It is a non-profit organization made up of party and charter boat owners, tackle and bait shop owners, tackle distributors, bait wholesalers and others whose livelihoods are dependent on a healthy and vibrant recreational fishing industry. For plenty of additional information, visit the organization's web site at
www.SSFFF.net .

The SAVE THE SUMMER FLOUNDER FISHERY FUND has two important goals:

1. Support HR 4087, which is an emergency legislative intervention that will enable fisheries managers a reasonable level of REGULATORY FLEXIBILITY.  The organization will work with existing angling lobbying organizations and public sport fishing advocacy groups such as the Recreational Fishing Alliance who have the structure and contacts already in place, along with the proven ability to get things done in Washington.

2. Generate private funds for a COMPREHENSIVE SCIENTIFIC STOCK REVIEW.  The organization will hire independent marine scientists to generate the data needed to prove that the current summer flounder population targets and stock rebuilding deadlines are dangerously punitive, ridiculous in their intention and truly unnecessary.

Right now, the organization needs your financial support to fund these political and scientific goals.  Please send your donation to:

SAVE THE SUMMER FLOUNDER FISHERY FUND
PO Box 86
Brielle, NJ 08730

Two upcoming events will benefit the SSFFF and we encourage you to grab your fishing rod and participate.

MAY 20-25: BRADLEY BEACH SURFCASTERS - STRIPED BASS TOURNEY FOR SSFFF

MAY 24: NO BONES BAIT & TACKLE - SUMMER FLOUNDER TOURNEY FOR SSFFF

For details on these fundraiser tournaments, see our Events page.


YOUR BUCK$ AT WORK:

The SSFFF has hired internationally recognized fisheries biologist Mark Maunder, Ph.D.  His research specialties include the development of statistical methodology for fisheries stock assessment, protected species and ecological modeling, and he is a recognized leader in the development of methodology for fisheries stock assessment and population dynamics modeling.  Dr. Maunder will review the current Summer Flounder Stock Assessment and methodologies, and attend the upcoming Northeast Regional Stock Assessment Workshop (SAW) for Summer Flounder in June 2008.

Mels-Place.com supports the SAVE THE SUMMER FLOUNDER FISHERY FUND and we encourage you to make a donation.


THE ROGUES GALLERY

"Keep your friends close, and your enemies even closer."  These are the environmental groups, foundations and trusts who claim that they are working for the good of commercial fishermen, recreational anglers and the public, and that flexibility in the fisheries management process will make things worse.  Baloney!  They and their deeply funded activists are responsible for the lawsuits forcing the National Marine Fisheries Service and other governmental groups to rigidly adhere to arbitrary and unrealistic stock rebuilding goals and schedules.

PEW CHARITABLE TRUST

This is the 900-pound gorilla of the rogues gallery and it bankrolls the rest of the groups listed below and many others not shown.  The Pew Trust was established by the children of Sun Oil Company founder Joseph N. Pew and his wife, Mary Anderson Pew and has over $5 billion in assets.  In 2004, the Pew Trusts changed from a foundation into a nonprofit organization.  As such, it can now raise funds freely and devote up to 20% of its budget to lobbying the public sector.  The Pew Trust also funds the Pew Research Center, the third -largest think tank in Washington DC.  In 2006, the Pew Trust had over $670 million in revenues, dispensed nearly $150 million in grants and spent about $50 million to administer their programs.  They are indeed a well endowed and powerful adversary.

2005 Market Street, Suite 1700, Philadelphia, PA 19103
215-575-9050
http://www.pewtrusts.com/

MARINE FISH CONSERVATION NETWORK
Suite 210, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE, Washington, DC 20003
866-823-8552
http://www.conservefish.org/

ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE
257 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10010
212-505-2100
http://www.edf.org/ or http://www.environmentaldefense.org/

THE OCEAN CONSERVANCY
2029 K Street, NW, Washington, DC 20006
800-519-1541
http://www.oceanconservancy.org/

CONSERVATION LAW FOUNDATION
62 Summer Street, Boston, MA 02110
617-350-0990
http://www.clf.org/

Ask them some hard questions on how they are spending your donations.  They wrongfully portray fishermen (YOU) as greedy and uncaring about the future of any fishery.  Fishing is an environmental issue to them and they don't want you to fish.  Treat them accordingly.


SUPPORT OUR TROOPS Department:  You can help support our brave troops that are far away from home.  Steer your browser over to the USO (United Service Organizations) web site at www.USO.org.
A nonprofit, congressionally chartered, private organization, the USO relies on our generosity to deliver its special brand of comfort, morale and recreational services to service members and their families during the last sixty-five years.  Stop on by and spread some cheer.  We wish our troops a speedy return to their homes, their families, and their fishing poles.



Contribute to Operation USO Care Package

www.usocares.org






THE BIG QUESTION Department:  Is our fisheries management too important to be left to fishermen?  It must be so, since we continuously suffer the consequences of the decisions made by our federal fisheries bureaucrats.  Unfortunately, these non-elected fishery managers control the federal system and through their mandates, indirectly control the state systems too.  Most importantly, they are not required to directly report to our elected officials and apparently can do what they want without consequence or culpability.

The federal fisheries management system is broken or in bureaucratic vernacular, fatally flawed.  The system is rigid to a fault, unrealistic, filled with incorrect assumptions, bad science, inaccurate and conflicting fisheries data, and influenced by a small, but powerful and well-endowed group of national environmental zealots who are more interested in preservation instead of conservation.

By now, it should be clear to all recreational fishermen, party boat operators, charter boat operators, marina operators, tackle shop owners, tackle distributors, bait wholesalers, tackle manufacturers and anyone else that makes a livelihood directly or indirectly from recreational fishing activities, that WE ARE THE ENDANGERED SPECIES!   The only goal fisheries management bureaucrats have is to eliminate recreational fishing.  They are unfairly picking on the fishing community by mandating ever-harsher regulations that reduce fishing seasons, increase minimum sizes and reduce possession limits for an ever-increasing variety of fish.

Unfortunately, as a group, recreational anglers are splintered and fragmented, and are always in a reactive mode; we jump up and down and scramble every time we hear that a new regulation is coming (and new regulations are arriving with alarming frequency.)  We meet with the bureaucrats to explain our case, we show them contrary data, and we let them know that they are affecting our quality of life.  Alas, our plea falls on deaf bureaucratic ears.

The federal fisheries management system has created debacles with Winter Flounder, Fluke, Striped Bass, Blackfish and Tuna fisheries, and will soon wreak havoc with Weakfish, American Eel, Croaker, Herring and Bluefish.  Enough already!

The fisheries bureaucrats are running amok all across the country and the crazy thing about this is that we have not heard a peep from any of the TACKLE MANUFACTURERS!  You would think that they would be very concerned; if we cannot fish, they will not be able to sell us their fishing rods, reels, lures and all of the other goodies.  Where are you Shimano, Penn, Calstar, Accurate, Berkley, Loomis, Plano, Eagle Claw, PowerPro, Mustad, Ande, Braid, Jinkai, Quantum, Sampo, Abu Garcia, Momoi, Spro and Daiwa???


SEA GULL DROPPINGS (or Why The Tops Of Pilings Are White) Department:   Hunting and fishing are our rights - they are NOT environmental issues.  If you think you are being cheated by unfair regulations, let your elected representatives know.

Here are some links, addresses and telephone numbers for the elected officials in our region.  Please note that the United States Postal Office irradiates snail mail for security reasons and this delays delivery by a minimum of two weeks.  Most of the following links connect you to the representative's e-mail contact page.  Give them a piece of your mind!

New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine • Office of the Governor, PO Box 001, Trenton, NJ 08625 • (609) 292-6000

New York Governor Eliot Spitzer • State Capitol, Albany, NY 12224 • (518) 474-8390

US Senator Frank Lautenberg (NJ) • 324 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510 • (202) 224-3224

US Senator Robert Menendez (NJ) • 502 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510 • (202) 224-4744

US Senator Hilary Rodham Clinton (NY) • 476 Russell Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510 • (202) 224-4451

US Senator Charles E. Schumer (NY) • 313 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510 • (202) 224-6542

Congressman Robert E. Andrews (NJ, District 1) • 2439 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515 • (202) 225 - 6501

Congressman Frank A. LoBiondo (NJ, District 2) • 225 Cannon House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515 • (202) 225-6572

Congressman Jim Saxton (NJ, District 3) • 2217 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515 • (202) 225-4765

Congressman Christopher H. Smith (NJ, District 4) • 2373 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515 • (202) 225-3765

Congressman Scott Garrett (NJ, District 5) • 1318 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515 • (202) 225-4465

Congressman Frank Pallone Jr. (NJ, District 6) • 420 Cannon House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515 • (202) 225-4671

Congressman Mike Ferguson (NJ, District 7) • 214 Cannon House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515 • (202) 225-5361

Congressman Bill Pascrell Jr. (NJ, District 8) • 2464 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515 • (202) 225-5751

Congressman Steven R. Rothman (NJ, District 9) • 2303 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515 • (202) 225-5061

Congressman Donald M. Payne (NJ, District 10) • 2209 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515 • (202) 225-3436

Congressman Rodney P. Frelinghuysen (NJ, District 11) • 2442 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515 • (202) 225-5034

Congressman Rush D. Holt (NJ, District 12) • 1019 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515 • (202) 225-5801

Congressman Albio Sires (NJ, District 13) • 1024 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515 • (202) 225-7919

Click here to write your Congressperson in the U.S. House of Representatives

While you’re in the swing of things, you can write to members of the New Jersey Senate and Assembly by clicking here.

For more regulatory madness on our fisheries, see our It's the Law page.  More on these unsavory topics as they unfold and hold your nose while we pass out week-old squid for your bait cup.


NEW STUFF Department:  We add new fishing links every time we update the site.  We simply stumble upon a lot of new stuff, but often, our readers send us a few hints too.  (Thanks!)  Click here to see the new saltwater fishing links that we recently added.


Welcome to the Codfish Ball 2006!   Click here to see some pictures of our gang fishing aboard Captain Joe Huckemeyer's
"HELEN H" from Hyannis, MA. The target... George's Bank Cod.

Come along and follow me
To the bottom of the sea
We'll join in the jamboree
At the Codfish Ball.

Finnan haddie lead the eel
Through an Irish reel,
The catfish is a dancing man,
But he can't can-can like a sardine can!

Tunas truck-in' left and right
Minnies moochin' what a night!
There won't be a hook in sight
At the Codfish Ball.


Follow these links if you want to see our 2003 or 2004 Codfish Ball photos.