Tuesday's announcement that New York State officials have
sued the federal government over the current system of state-by-state quotas for summer flounder, a.k.a fluke, brought fourth a collective sigh of relief within the Long Island recreational fishing community. Although few anglers expect the suit to quickly overturn the current regulations, many are thrilled that someone, somewhere, has finally done something to address the perceived unfair allocation of the summer flounder resource.
Currently, New York anglers are allowed to keep four fluke per day with a minimum size of 20 1/2 inches. By comparison, New Jersey anglers can creel eight fish at 18 inches while Connecticut's flatfish fans get five at 19 1/2. Some who make a living in New York's marine recreational fishing industry have complained the inequities drive local party and charter boat anglers to neighboring states where catch limits are more generous. Private boaters lament that sub-legal fluke are in tremendous supply but few summer flatties measure up to keeper status.
If they believed fluke stocks were truly in peril, and the pain of conservation would be shared equally along the coast, its likely local anglers would willingly endure even more restrictive regulations. But anecdotal reports describe an abundance of fluke in New York waters - far more than at any time in recent memory - making it difficult to swallow such a restrictive quota.
The suit correctly notes stock assessments are questionable, the stock is recovering, the population has shifted north over the past decade and current quota allocations discriminate against New York's anglers. With heavy-hitting politicos including New York Governor David Patterson, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, Sen. Chuck Schumer, DEC Commissioner Peter Grannis and Assemblyman Bob Sweeney on board, this suit has strong fins.
In discussions about the lawsuit with anglers at dockside this week, I heard a common theme of "it's about time." That may be true, but those who were waiting for someone else to "do something" owe at least a tip of the hat to those who finally have.
This challenge was conceived over four years ago, when leaders from several fishing organizations came together after concluding that expressing opinions at public meetings wasn't affecting change. Volunteering their own time, and drawing on funds from The United Boatmen's Association (UBA) and New York Fishing Tackle Trade Association (NYFTTA,) among other fishing-related organizations, they began a campaign to first educate key New York legislators, and then draw up a comprehensive plan. Kudos to Dennis Kanyuk, UBA president and captain of the Freeport open boat, Super Hawk, who sold the plan to Albany; recreational fisheries advocate, Tony DiLernia, of Rocket Charters in Manhattan, the plan's architect; Philip Curcio, UBA and NYFTTA attorney; John Mantione, spokesman for the NYFTTA; along with dozens of others providing the yeoman's efforts necessary to move the suit forward.
In the short term, New York anglers are unlikely to fill their coolers with fluke any time soon, but this initiative may help ensure a reasonably long season while improving your chances of icing fillets. At the very least, it should help level the playing field for coastal allocations while assuring the pain of restoring fluke populations to levels mandated by the Magnuson-Stevens Act is equally shared. Deep down, that's all New York fluke fans really want.
E-mail: outdoortom@
optonline.net
Hot spots
East River (bluefish)
Atlantic Beach Bridge (stripers, fluke)
Southwest of Jones Inlet, 50' (fluke)
Fire Island Lighthouse, Great South Bay (fluke)
Bayport/Sayville/Patchogue Docks
(blue claw crabs)
Hempstead Harbor (blues, stripers, fluke)
Oldfield Point (fluke, porgies)
Mount Misery Shoal, Buoys 9 and 11
(bluefish, porgies)
Moriches Bay, Buoy 14 (fluke)
Ponquogue Bridge (fluke, stripers)
