ALBANY—The new 2011 recreational fishing regulations for summer flounder (fluke) have been announced by the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation.

The new regulations, which are effective immediately, specify a 3-fish possession limit, 20.5-inch minimum size and an open season of May 1 through Sept. 30.

These new limits replace the 2010 regulations which included a 2-fish possession limit, a 21-inch minimum size and an open season from May 15 through Sept. 6.

New York State participates in the cooperative management of migratory marine fisheries as a member of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC). ASMFC adopts Interstate Fisheries Management Plans (FMP’s) for the prudent management and conservation of quota managed species along the Atlantic Coast. Each member state of ASMFC must implement the provisions of the FMPs for the quota managed species within its state waters. As required by 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 for a specific species, 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 complies with the FMP.

The current stock assessment for summer flounder (fluke) shows that the population is nearly rebuilt, not overfished and not subject to overfishing. Recent changes to the fluke FMP allow states to liberalize their harvest of fluke in order to achieve optimum use of the fishery resource. New York State has chosen to adopt new regulations that meet the requirements of the FMP while providing greater fishing opportunities for fluke this year.

The text of the new regulation will be published in the State Register on May 18 and is available online at www.dec.ny.gov  DEC will be accepting public comments on the new fluke regulation through July 5.

Recreational marine fishing regulations can be viewed on the DEC website at:http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/7894.html

I received word that the fluke regulations for 2011 will be 3 fish per day at 20.5 inches which is better but the best news is that the season will run from May 1 to September 30th. Personally I would have liked to see a 19.5 size fish in there somewhere, maybe one per day per angler slot size but this is certainly better by far than last year. The longer season is a real plus for the East end where they have a good run of big fish early and also a plus for Fire Island where the big fish show in the ocean in September. At least there will be something else besides striped bass to fish for in September and take some of the pressure off them.


Capt. Al Lorenzetti

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POINT PLEASANT BEACH — The owner of a commercial vessel based here and the captain were both charged with illegally harvesting thousands of pounds of summer flounder and black sea bass.

Alda Gentile, 53, of Speonk, N.Y., the owner of the trawler Atlantic Queen, and Captain William Jeffery Stanley, 44, of Brick are charged with landing 2,397 pounds of summer flounder and more than 1,208 pounds of black sea bass following a 10-day fishing trip that returned in the overnight of Jan. 24-25. The vessel was permitted to harvest a maximum of 200 pounds of summer flounder and 100 pounds of black sea bass, according to the state Division of Fish and Wildlife which issued the summonses. Read More

Last week I sent out a call for New Year's resolutions from local fishing experts. I managed to get an interesting list of ideas and cannot wait to share them. It is an eclectic group with most serious and a few self-deprecating.

Noted fishing captain and national fishing writer Al Ristori is a true sportsman and conservationist. His New Year's wish is that more anglers would learn to use circle hooks in 2011 to help reduce the mortality rate on the fish we release.
With fishing regulations becoming more and more stringent and anglers releasing more fish, it is truly important the released fish survive and increase our fish stocks.

Darren Dorris is a captain, outdoors writer, producer of fishing videos, captain, and founder of the fishing club at Southern Regional High School. Darren pledges to get back to his roots and the basics of fishing. He notes that "all too often we get sucked into the latest and greatest fishing advances and lose touch with the basics."

Darren also resolves to keep his tackle better organized and in better shape this year. He says that Santa gave him a "ton of tackle boxes" to help him out with this one.
Read the complete story in Asbury Park Press