At its June 2022 meeting, the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (MAFMC) adopted the so-called “Percent Change Approach” (PCA) for managing the recreational summer flounder, scup, and black sea bass fisheries; the PCA will also be used to manage the recreational bluefish fishery, once the bluefish stock is no longer subject to its current rebuilding plan. […]
Top photo: Bluefish, via NOAA On March 9, 2023, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) issued a final rule approving the so-called “harvest control rule” (Control Rule) adopted by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) at its June 2022 meeting. The Control Rule amends the Council’s Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass and Bluefish […]
Read Part I of this two-part series. Top Photo: Black Sea Bass caught off Fire Island Each year, before the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s (ASMFC’s) Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Management Board (Management Board) meet in December to set the recreational specification for the next […]
Read Part II of this two-part series. Top Photo: Summer Flounder When the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s (ASMFC’s) Interstate Fishery Management Program Policy Board (Policy Board) met in joint session on June 7, 2022, they approved the so-called “Percent Change Approach” to a “Harvest Control Rule” (Control […]
Top photo by John McMurray For more than two years, the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Interstate Fishery Management Program Policy Board (Policy Board) have been working on something they call a “Harvest Control Rule” (Control Rule), which could make very significant changes to the way that the […]
The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens) has governed federal fishery management since 1976, but for its first 20 years, it was largely ineffective, encouraging the growth of a large, overcapitalized domestic fishing fleet while doing little or nothing to prevent the decline of once-abundant fish stocks. Recognizing Magnuson-Stevens’ shortcomings, Congress eventually passed the […]
Of all the fisheries on the East Coast, the mid-Atlantic black sea bass stock may present the most challenging management issues. The fish aren’t in immediate peril; the most recent stock assessment update indicated that spawning stock biomass was more than twice the target level. Overfishing is not taking place, and young fish continue to […]
Capt. Dave Monti with fluke. NOAA gave east coast states a pass in 2020. However, new data shows anglers catching more fish than originally thought, and so 2021 regulations will likely be less liberal. Discussions at state fisheries meetings on 2020 regulations have been quite sobering for anglers on the East Coast. Recreational fishing regulations […]
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