Contact: Maureen Wren (518) 402-8000

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) today announced changes in 2004 recreational fishing regulations for summer flounder (fluke), scup (porgy) and black sea bass. The new regulations, which are effective immediately, are as follows:

These changes supercede 2003 regulations which included: for fluke: minimum length - 17 inches, possession limit - 7, open season - all year; porgy: minimum length - 10 inches, possession limit - 50, open season - all year; black sea bass: minimum length - 12 inches, possession limit - 25, open seasons - January 1 to September 1 and September 16 to November 30.

New York State participates in the cooperative management of migratory marine fisheries under the Interstate Fishery Management Program of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC). Under that program, ASMFC adopts Interstate Fisheries Management Plans (FMP's) for individual species or groups of fish. Under the provisions of the Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Management Act (ACFCMA), ASMFC determines if states have implemented provisions of FMP's in a timely manner. If ASMFC determines a state to be in non-compliance with an FMP, the Commission notifies the U.S. Secretary of Commerce. If the Secretary concurs in the non-compliance determination, the Secretary promulgates and enforces a complete prohibition on all fishing for the species in the waters of the non-compliant state until the state comes into compliance with the FMP.

Under the FMP for fluke and porgies, ASMFC assigns each state an annual harvest target or quota. The state's harvest for the upcoming year is projected, assuming regulations remain the same and that harvest patterns and rates remain the same as the previous year. If the projected harvest exceeds a state's assigned quota, the state must, as an FMP compliance requirement, make its harvest regulations sufficiently more restrictive to prevent exceedance of its quota. ASMFC reviews, and must approve, each state's regulations as compliant with the FMP.

New York's projected porgies and fluke harvest for 2004 exceed the State's assigned quotas by 58 percent and 48.5 percent, respectively. The regulatory changes in the emergency rule announced today achieve a 58 percent reduction for porgies, and a 20 percent reduction for fluke. DEC is proposing to ASMFC that the New York 2004 recreational harvest projection for fluke be based on an average of the estimated harvest for 2001-2003, rather than on 2003 alone. New York's fluke regulations were essentially unchanged over this three year period, and the recreational harvest estimate, which is derived from a federal survey that is not statistically reliable at the individual state level, has fluctuated significantly over the period. In particular, the 2003 harvest estimate is more than double the estimate for the two preceding years, which conflicts with information provided by New York's marine recreational fishing industry regarding the levels of fishing business and angler success in 2003. For this reason, DEC has chosen to comply with the FMP by basing its harvest projection on a more reliable and stable three year average of harvest estimates, resulting in a 20 percent reduction requirement for 2004.

The FMP for black sea bass calls for annual adjustments to common coastwide regulations that are calculated to hold coastwide harvest within the allowed annual quota. For 2004, a two-week closure between September 1 and October 31 is required, with a recommended closure of September 6 - 21. The emergency rule announced today changes the current closure period from September 1 - 16 to September 23 - October 7. This change is implemented to minimize the economic impact on New York's recreational fishing operations from potentially closing both the fluke and black sea bass immediately following Labor Day.

Marine fishing regulations can be viewed on the DEC website at: http://www.dec.state.ny.us/website/dfwmr/
marine/finfish/swflaws.html . For additional information about the regulations, contact DEC Marine Resources Division at 631-444-0436.

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