by Larry Jock

MARYLAND SETS 2010 FLOUNDER REGULATIONS

March 17 - Although "overwhelming" public support was received in favor of a 19-inch flounder and a season that would run through November, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources has decided to ignore public opinion and put into place the following flounder size and creel limit for the 2010 season:

18.5-inch minimum; 3 fish per person/day; April 24-Sept. 24 season

This is just another case of the government not working for the people AND the opinion of Chesapeake Bay anglers holding more weight than those of coastal anglers. It is also a sham for the DNR to hold "public" meetings and then totally disregard the public's wishes, especially when they are "overwhelming"(the DNR's word, not mine).

It looks to me that the DNR was afraid of going with the longer season, through November, and then having to close the fishery after the summer data was accumulated. I guess they figured their own risk of getting "heat" from a possible closure outweighed the public's desire AND the fact that the shorter season costs local businesses money. Tackle shops and head boats will suffer with the DNR's decision.

Chalk another one up for the bad guys.

If you would like to register your approval or disapproval, you can call the John Griffin, Secretary of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources at 1-877-620-8367.


AREA MARINAS SWITCHING TO NON-ETHANOL GAS

March 16 - The Ocean Pines Yacht Club and Marina has announced that they will provide non-ethanol gas this summer, saving area boat owners much aggravation and money. The Marina will open on April 19th.

The Ocean City Fishing Center will be providing ONLY non-ethanol gas while Sunset Marina will dispense both non-ethanol and ethanol gas at their pumps.


NEW PRE-SEASON STRIPED BASS CATCH & RELEASE RULES BEGIN ON MARCH 22ND

March 16 - The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Fisheries Service will implement new regulations March 22 addressing pre-season striped bass fishing. These restrictions will be in effect until the April 17 start of the spring trophy season.

These restrictions apply in all open catch and release areas. The catch and release fishing areas include the Chesapeake Bay from the Brewerton Channel to the Virginia line including Tangier and Pokomoke Sounds. Spawning rivers and the Upper Bay spawning area are off limits until June 1 to striped bass fishing.

The Preseason Regulations:

* Stinger (trailing) hooks are prohibited.
* Barbless hooks are required when trolling. Simply pinch the barb down to facilitate the careful release of your fish.
* Non-offset circle hooks or J hooks with a gap of less than a half-inch are required when using natural bait.
* No more than 6 lines may be employed while trolling regardless of the number of anglers on board.


2010 MD FLOUNDER REGULATIONS COMING THIS WEEK

March 15 - According to a representative of the MD Department of Natural Resources, the state is planning to release their 2010 flounder regulations by the end of this week. It looks like it is coming down to one of the following two options:

Option #2 - 18.5" minimum / 3 fish / April 24 - Sept 24
Option #5 - 19.0" minimum / 3 fish / April 17 - Nov 22

Although the anglers along the coast overwhelmingly support Option #5, where flounder fishing can continue into the fall, I hear that Chesapeake Bay anglers are more for Option #2. I also read the minutes of the MD Sport Fishery Advisory Commission, where they threw out Option #5 and MD DNR representative Marty Gary made a motion to recommend Option #2, which the group ended up supporting. Funny how the majority of the public input, from meetings and emails, supported Option #5, yet this group throws out the option for one that is coincidently favored by the Chesapeake Bay anglers. And Mr. Gary wonders why those along the coast feel that they are treated like second class citizens. Here's why!

The Commission's input, I was told, does not hold any more weight than any of the other methods of gaining input (meetings, emails, letters, etc...). I guess we will see. Stay tuned.


NOAA ADMINISTRATOR RESPONDS TO ESPN REPORT

March 13, 2010 - Eric Schwabb, NOAA's Assistant Administrator for NOAA's Fisheries Service responded to an ESPN report that stated the Obama administration could be siding with some environmental groups to shut down large areas to recreational and commercial fishing. (see story below titled, FISHERMEN BEWARE. POLITICAL HANKY PANKY GOING ON)

Mr. Schwabb's statement follows:

"The Ocean Policy Task Force has not recommended a ban on recreational
fishing."

"The draft reports by the Ocean Policy Task Force do not contain a zoning map
and do not establish any restrictions on recreational fishing, nor make any
judgments about whether one ocean activity or use is better than another.
Instead, the reports set up a policy and framework for effectively managing the
many sustainable uses of the ocean while upholding our responsibility to be
stewards of our oceans, coasts and Great Lakes."

"As a member of the task force, NOAA Administrator Dr. Jane Lubchenco, has
said, and I echo her on this, that saltwater recreational fishing is vital to this
nation and NOAA is committed to building a strong partnership with America’s
saltwater anglers to ensure that Americans have opportunities to fish sustainably
for generations to come."

"Saltwater recreational fishing matters to me on a personal level as a recreational
fisherman, it matters to millions of Americans who enjoy this great sport and it
matters to our economy. Our most recent economic report shows it supports a
half million jobs and generates $82 billion in sales each year."

"NOAA is committed to adopting policies that will ensure that current and future
generations have the opportunity to enjoy the great tradition of recreational
fishing."

Editors note: Everyone needs to be careful reading any statement that comes from a politician or a government agency. I have never met Mr. Schwabb, but a statement like, "NOAA is committed to adopting policies that will ensure that current and future
generations have the opportunity to enjoy the great tradition of recreational
fishing" could include shutting down fisheries under the pretense that it will improve stocks and ensure future fishing opportunities. I'm not saying that this is what Mr. Schwabb means by his statement, I'm just saying that we should read these types of statements with some suspicion.


DELAWARE SETS NEW WEAKFISH AND BLACK DRUM REGULATIONS

Following a series of public hearings, new weakfish and black drum regulations have been approved by DNREC Secretary Collin O’Mara. The changes for 2010 are as follows:

Weakfish limits: To enable Delaware to remain in compliance with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Interstate Fisheries Management Plan for weakfish, the recreational creel limit has been reduced from six fish to one fish per person, per day.

Black drum regulation: Under a new addition to Delaware Tidal Finfish Regulations, Delaware is entering a joint fisheries management plan with New Jersey and will apply the same limits in managing black drum. The regulation establishes a 16-inch minimum size limit and sets a recreational creel limit of three drum per angler, per day.

These regulations will go into effect 10 days after publication in the next issue of the Delaware Register of Regulations.

For more information, please contact the Fisheries Section at 302-739-9914.


TUGBOAT AND BARGES SUNK ON DE ARTIFICIAL REEFS

March 11, 2010 - Delaware’s Redbird Reef, the largest site of sunken vehicles and vessels in the state’s network of artificial reefs, was enhanced for recreational diving this week with the sinking of a retired 74-foot tugboat, while another reef site received as fish habitat commercial barges that will make for more bites for anglers.

The Sandy Point, a towboat, went down near the Bay Tide and Crazy Horse, two retired fishing boats sunk on the Redbird Reef within the last year.

The Redbird Reef has almost 1,000 of the stainless steel vehicles within the reef site. Retired naval vessels and trawlers also reside on the ocean floor there as attractions for anglers as well as divers to Delaware’s most popular reef site.

Another Delaware artificial reef, Site 11 (of the state’s 14 permitted reef sites) located 5½ miles outside the Indian River, received its first deployment of reefing material in more than a year with the sinking of two barges whose length exceeded 100 feet and four sectional barges each approximately 25 feet long.

A third artificial reef and newest in the state’s network, the Del-Jersey-Land Inshore Reef, will later this year welcome the ex-USS Arthur W. Radford, a Navy destroyer, as the largest vessel ever reefed on the East Coast. The 563-foot-long Radford is expected to be sunk in early summer.


FISHERMEN BEWARE. POLITICAL HANKY PANKY GOING ON

March 10, 2010 - Coastal Fisherman reader Brad Martin was kind enough to forward me a link to an ESPN story that all fishermen should read. Looks like the Obama administration could be siding with some environmental groups to shut down large areas to recreational and commercial fishing. Here's the link:

http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/saltwater/news/story?id=4975762


VIRGINIA VOTES TO LOWER FLOUNDER SIZE IN 2010

March 8, 2010 - At the end of February, the Virginia Marine Resources Commission voted to lower the size limit for flounder in 2010. The new regulations set the new size limit at 18.5 inches, down from 19 inches, but reduce the bag limit from five to four flounder per day for the rest of the year. A loosening of the size limit was possible because of an increased harvest quota established by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.


COMMITTEE CHAIRWOMAN CALLS FOR NOAA LAW ENFORCEMENT DIRECTOR TO STEP ASIDE

March 8, 2010 - House Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife Chairwoman Madeleine Z. Bordallo (D-GU) today, during a hearing of the Subcommittee, called for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Office of Law Enforcement Director Dale Jones to be temporarily relieved of his duties, amid allegations of unauthorized document destruction during an ongoing investigation by the U.S. Department of Commerce's Inspector General (IG).

According to the office of Commerce IG Todd J. Zinser, Jones initiated and authorized the destruction of documents and records at the NOAA law enforcement headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland, while his office was simultaneously under investigation by the IG for allegations of heavy handed, unfair, and poorly managed fisheries law enforcement operations. The document disposal effort was not approved by the IG's office or by his superiors at NOAA.

"As the top cop at NOAA and a long-time investigator himself, Dale Jones must be acutely aware that shredding documents during a federal investigation raises serious questions about his commitment to a full and fair look at all the facts," Bordallo said. "At a time when transparency and accountability in the way our government operates is of utmost importance, this type of behavior cannot be condoned, and Mr. Jones should step aside until the IG's investigation is completed."

Zinser confirmed to the Committee that his investigation of NOAA law enforcement programs was already underway, and his staff had met with Jones to discuss the nature of the review and the processes that would be followed, when Jones allegedly initiated an office-wide paper shredding effort.

The latest revelation regarding Jones comes on the heels of the initial findings of the IG's investigation, released in January 2010, where the IG found that the "systemic, nationwide issues adversely affecting NOAA's ability to effectively carry out its mission of regulating the fishing industry...have contributed significantly to a highly-charged regulatory climate and dysfunctional relationship between NOAA and the fishing industry."


NATIONAL MARINE FISHERIES SERVICE CLOSES SPINY DOGFISH FISHERY

March 8, 2010 - NMFS has determined that the 2009 Period 2 quota for spiny dogfish fishery has been harvested. Therefore, effective January 26, 2010, the fishery for spiny dogfish is closed and vessels issued Federal permits for spiny dogfish may not fish for, possess, transfer, or land any spiny dogfish until May 1, 2010, at which time the Period 1 quota for the 2010 fishing year becomes available.


UNITED STATES ANNOUNCES SUPPORT FOR PROPOSAL TO BAN BLUEFIN SALES

March 3, 2010 - The United States will continue its support for a proposal to ban all
international commercial trade of eastern and Mediterranean Atlantic bluefin tuna at this month’s meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wildlife Fauna and Flora (CITES) in Doha, Qatar, Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Fish and Wildlife and Parks Tom Strickland announced today.

Strickland, who will head the U.S. delegation to the 15th Conference of Parties (CoP15) of the 175-nation treaty said, “... in light of the serious compliance problems that have plagued the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean fishery and the fact that the 2010 quota level adopted by ICCAT (in their November meeting) is not as low as we believe is needed, the United States continues to have serious concerns about the long-term viability of either the fish or the fishery.”

United States will support the proposal to list eastern and Mediterranean Atlantic bluefin tuna in Appendix I at the 15th Conference of Parties and will work actively with Monaco and other CITES and ICCAT Parties in order to achieve positive results for bluefin tuna at CoP15 and at the 2010 ICCAT annual meeting. If the bluefin tuna is listed under Appendix I, commercial fishermen in the United States could continue to sell western Atlantic bluefin tuna caught in the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) domestically.

The Western Atlantic spawning stock has declined by 82.4 percent from 49,482 metric tons in 1970 to 8,693 metric tons in 2007, and meets the biological criteria for listing in Appendix I.

The Conference of the Parties will be held March 13-25, 2010, in Doha, Qatar.


MEETING HELD TO DISCUSS 2010 FLOUNDER OPTIONS

March 2, 2010 - Representatives from the MD Department of Natural Resources met with anglers today in a meeting to determine which of the five options for this years flounder season is the most desirable to Coastal Bays anglers.

Carrie Kennedy from the DNR told the crowd that there will be only one set of flounder regulations in 2010. In previous years, anglers in the Chesapeake Bay and those fishing in the Coastal Bays followed different size and creel limits. Carrie also said that, based on a meeting held with Chesapeake Bay fisherman, they preferred Option #2, which would set the minimum flounder size at 18.5 inches, with 3 fish per person and a season that runs from April 24th to September 24th.

At the meeting, the overwhelming desire by Coastal Bay anglers was for Option #5, which increases the minimum size to 19-inches with 3 fish per person and a season from April 17th to November 22nd.

The DNR will use this input in assisting them with setting final size and creel limits in the early spring.


THOUSANDS ATTEND FISHERMEN'S MARCH ON WASHINGTON, DC
No MD or DE politicians show up in support

February 25, 2010 - Thousands of recreational and commercial fishermen showed up next to the Capital Building on Wednesday to protest excessive fishing regulations and closures and show support for an amendment to provide flexibility in the Magnuson-Stevens Act. Around a dozen politicians from Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina took time from their day to attend the rally and make remarks to the crowd. Maryland Congressmen Frank Kratovil, Maryland Senator's Barbara Mikulski and Ben Cardin, Delaware Congressman Mike Castle or Delaware Senators Tom Carper and Ed Kaufman DID NOT take the time to attend the protest and show their support.

According to Kratovil's office, the Congressman had a full schedule and didn't receive an invitation to the event until the day before. Mikulski's office also said they weren't invited. This is refuted by Jim Donofrio, Executive Director of the Recreational Fishing Alliance, organizer of the March, who said that the Congressman and Senator both received several invitations since the date the event was organized back in December 2009. Donofrio said he wasn't sure about whether the Delaware politicians were officially invited. Carper's office said they cannot locate any invitation. We are still waiting on responses from the offices of Cardin, Castle and Kaufman.

My take on this is that the Maryland and Delaware politicians should be ashamed of themselves, especially Kratovil and Mikulski, for not attending the event. The excuse of not being invited and/or not having time on their schedule was disrespectful to the recreational and commercial fishermen they represent. As far as the other politicians are concerned, they should have known about the March, and should have taken it upon themselves to attend the event, but I guess this makes it easy to determine whether they are on the side of fishermen or not. Remember, the only thing these folks know are votes and money. The fishing community doesn't have much money, but they certainly have a lot of votes.

If you would like to contact your representative, their office numbers are:
MD Congressman Kratovil 202-225-5311
MD Senator Mikulski 202-224-4654
MD Senator Cardin 202-224-4524
DE Senator Kaufman 202-224-5042
DE Senator Carper 202-228-2441
DE Congressman Castle 202-225-4165.


MAFMC RECOMMENDS LONGER SEA BASS SEASON

In an early February meeting, the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council passed a motion recommending the minimum size for sea bass of 12.5-inches, a daily possession limit of 25 fish and suggested examining a split season of May 22nd through August 8th and September 4th through October 4th. If this scenario does not meet the allocated Total Allowable Catch, then the Council recommended accepting the same measures that the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission approved: a single season from May 22nd through September 12th, a daily possession limit of 25 fish and a minimum size of 12.5 inches. Stay tuned!

DELAWARE TO HOLD SUMMER FLOUNDER MEETING

The DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife will hold a public hearing at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 23 regarding proposed amendments to the Tidal Finfish Regulations concerning summer flounder. The hearing will be held in the DNREC auditorium, Richardson and Robbins Building, 89 Kings Highway, Dover.

Four management options that include potential minimum size limits ranging from 18.5 to 19 inches with creel limits that range from two to four fish will be presented. In addition, two of the four options will include open seasons as part of the management plan.

Beginning March 4, 2010, individuals may submit written comments or request additional information by contacting the Fisheries Section, Division of Fish and Wildlife, 89 Kings Highway, Dover, DE 19901, 302-739-9914. The record will remain open for written or email comments until 4:30 p.m., March 31, 2010.

OCEAN CITY'S SOUTH JETTY CLOSED TO FISHERMEN

Effective immediately, the South Jetty is permanently closed to jetty fisherman from the "hump" to the tip. Between the angler who died after getting swept off the Indian River Jetty and around a half dozen getting knocked off the South Jetty, the Maryland DNR felt that it is unsafe for fishermen to fish off the South Jetty.

BLACK SEA BASS QUOTA DOUBLED

The National Marine Fisheries Service has decided to increase the total allowable catch (TAC) for black sea bass in 2010 from 2.71 million pounds to 4.5 million pounds. Currently, anglers will only be allowed to fish for black sea bass during the months of June and September. No word on how many more months will be open based upon the increase in the total allowable catch. Stay tuned to this website for any updates.

MARYLAND FLOUNDER MEETING RESCHEDULED

The meeting to discuss 2010 flounder regulations has been rescheduled to March 2nd. The meeting will be held at Wor-Wic Community College at 7:00 pm in Guerrieri Hall Room 101. This meeting is open to the public and is being held to get a feel on which of the 5 flounder options the public favors. These meetings really do make a difference. The publics input plays a big part in determining which option will go into effect. Here are the options:

Option 1 - 3 fish @ 18.5" 4/17 to 9/21 season

Option 2 - 3 fish @ 18.5" 4/24 to 9/24 season

Option 3 - 3 fish @ 18.5" 6/8 to 10/30 season

Option 4 - 3 fish @ 18.5" 5/22 to 10/16 season

Option 5 - 3 fish @ 19.0" 4/17 to 11/22 season

In the writers humble opinion, Option 5 seems to be the best for maximizing our fishing season and allowing anglers to take advantage of the superb flounder fishing in September, October and even into early November. It would also open the season for those anglers who like to drift the Thorofare in April and May before all the tourists arrive.

HIGHLIGHTS OF COASTAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING

I attended the Coastal Fisheries Advisory Committee Meeting last night. Here are the highlights:
*** Maryland is working on a Recreational Fishing License that will take effect in January 2011. Until then, anglers need to register with the Federal Angler Registry.
*** Weakfish stocks and catches are at an all-time low. Looks like the 2010 regulation will go to 1 fish per person/per trip. Size will probably stay at 13-inches.
*** Black sea bass is currently closed in state and federal waters. In 2010, the season will be open in June and September. There is a possibility that the Total Allowable Catch for 2010 will be doubled, meaning that the season could be open for at least 4 months. The meeting to discuss the change in TAC will be held on Feb 2nd.
*** 2010's flounder regulations will shoot for a reduction in catch of 14% to 25%. Several options were laid out, with most in the room favoring an early-April to mid-October season. Size will likely be 18.5-inches, although a 19-inch minimum is being considered if it will add fishing days in the fall. It looks like the creel limit will be 3 fish per person.
*** It looks like Delaware and Virginia will be at an 18.5-inch minimum size for flounder in 2010.