Environment DEC
From the September 2004 issue
Minimum Size Limit Raised for Recreational Fluke
Effective immediately and until the end of the fishing season on September 6, 2004, New York State has adopted a revised emergency regulation for recreational fishing of summer flounder (fluke). This regulation, which raises the minimum size limit of fluke by 1 inch to 18 inches, brings New York State into compliance with federal regulations. The action is necessary to avoid a federally imposed closure of the state's recreational and commercial fluke fisheries. The possession limit of three fluke remains the same.
Fluke Harvest and Management
New York State anglers will need
to follow new rules for catching summer
flounder, commonly called fluke
Fluke are managed through an interstate fishery management plan (IFMP) for summer flounder, developed by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), of which New York State is a member. Under provisions of the IFMP, ASMFC determined that New York had to adopt regulations that would reduce the projected 2004 fluke harvest by 48.5 percent from the estimated 2003 harvest level.
The state's fishery managers and fluke anglers objected to this level of reduction because the fluke harvest estimate relied on by ASMFC for 2003 was more than double the harvest estimates for the two preceding years. This estimated harvest was also inconsistent with the experience reported by New York State's anglers and fishing businesses.
Fluke harvest estimates are produced by the Marine Recreational Fisheries Statistics Survey (MRFSS), an annual survey conducted nationwide since 1981 by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). The MRFSS survey is designed to produce estimates of catch and effort that are statistically reliable on a regional or coastal basis, and to establish long-term trends.
Fluke is an important commercial
and recreational fish
New York's fishery managers took the position that the 48.5 percent reduction requirement was an artifact of the inappropriate use of MRFSS estimates to establish and manage state-specific quotas on an annual basis. DEC proposed and implemented a more statistically valid alternative that averaged the MRFSS harvest estimates for the last three years and used that average to project the 2004 harvest rather than using only the 2003 harvest estimate, which DEC disputes.
Using DEC's alternative, a 20 percent reduction would have been required. To implement that reduction, DEC adopted the most restrictive package of fluke regulations on the Atlantic coast: a daily three-fish limit, an open season from May 15 until September 6, 2004, and a 17-inch size limit.
Compliance Versus Closure
In June of this year, the ASMFC notified New York State and the U.S. Secretary of Commerce that the state's regulations were non-compliant with the requirements of the IFMP, and required DEC to adopt more stringent regulations that met the 48.5 percent reduction target. The state appealed to the Secretary of Commerce through NMFS to reverse the ASMFC ruling and support DEC's position that the MRFSS estimates are not appropriate for managing an annual state-specific quota system, and argued that DEC's 20 percent reduction strategy was more appropriate.
In July the director of NMFS notified New York State that the U.S. Department of Commerce had ruled that the state's regulation did not comply with the plan, and that a 48.5 percent reduction is required for conservation of summer flounder. NMFS has ordered a moratorium, effective September 3, 2004, on all fishing for fluke in New York State-both commercial and recreational-unless DEC adopts regulations that comply with the IFMP requirements.
To prevent the negative economic impact to New York State's fisheries that a closure would trigger, DEC has adopted the new 18-inch size limit that will ensure meeting the 48.5 percent reduction and place the state in compliance with the IFMP. DEC continues to oppose the use of the annual state-specific MRFSS harvest estimates to manage fluke quotas and will pursue all available options to reform the fluke quota management process.
