Long Island's summer flounder season is well underway at this point and anglers are enjoying fast action at most ports - even if keepers have been tough to find. To be sure, there are more legal fluke being creeled than most would have thought. Still, anglers have a lot to say about the new regulations - and about the proposed saltwater fishing license. Consider some of the following messages I've received in recent weeks:
“Dear Mr. Schlichter,
"I have been both an experienced recreational fisherman as well as a professional fillet man/production manager employed at the Fulton Fish Market for more than twenty years. This particular combination has presented me with a dual viewpoint of the commercial catch, as well as my personal experiences with rod and reel.
“My livelihood is no doubt dependant on the commercial catch. It is fact that fluke landed from New Bedford, RI, NJ, NY and, especially from Virginia and the Carolinas, are the primary source of flatfish during the winter months. I have personally filleted hundreds of thousands of pounds of these fluke over the past twenty years. Restrictions on the commercial catch of fluke as well as most other species of flat fish, while intending to preserve the stocks, have also lead to tons of dead by-catch shoveled over the side while pushing the businesses of fresh fish and fillet to the verge of extinction. All that being said, the concept of recreational anglers decimating the fluke population one fish at a time while we may purchase 3000 pounds of medium-sized fluke usually no bigger than 14-18 inches - three times a week - is, in my opinion, beyond absurd.
"I in no way mean to point a finger at the commercial catch or wish to see it restricted any further. Instead, I point at the various agencies charged with the management of this most valuable resource, and what appears to me to be a fragmented approach lacking unification and common sense. I thought this view from the other side might offer you a different perspective on the 20.5” size and two fish fluke limits.”
"- Vincent DiPalma"
"Dear Tom,
“With our Nation’s current sad economy and the ever increasing crude oil mockery – the timing for the Saltwater License issue couldn’t be worse. Sadly, we are living in a world of uncertainty and we just have to take the hits as they come. I’ve been fishing for many years and have witnessed the evolving cycles and the entire biomass mishaps. With the current laws and regulations, I feel the fishing industry will be in a complete halt in less than ten years!
"I believe that the sport fishing world needs desperate help in many areas. For starters, we need enforcement, better research, reporting assessments, and a balanced distribution (for all commercial and recreational parties) with intentions to preserve and protect our fishery.
"However, I just hope that the funds derived from the proposed license do not end up in our state’s desperate stimulate budget package where recreational anglers get nothing for it (in other words, “general funds” or the 'black hole.')
"All in all, I do believe we need help and if the saltwater license funds are dedicated and will help our fishing economy, thus preserving the sport, I will endorse it wholeheartedly. But if the funds are to be mishandled, I will have no other choice but to swallow another created hard found fee.
“- 'Crazy' Alberto Knie
"Sportfishing Contributor / Consultant, Lindenhurst, NY"
“Dear Outdoor Tom,
“Most fishermen know we were out-maneuvered by an extremely well-funded charitable trust, preventing the Magnuson Act from being an important conservation law. Instead the act will cause great harm to both commercial and recreational fishermen. The spirit and intent of the law, which is to protect fisheries, is at first glance, noble. But the arbitrary rebuilding goals and inflexible language will bring an end to a tradition that is older than the very government that passed the law.
“If fluke stocks were truly in trouble I would not be writing to you. There is only a perception of fluke stocks being in trouble. I believe this perception came about by unethical scientists bought and paid for by a large charitable trust fund. The demanding language of the law was a manifestation of this science. It is a severe ethical breach of scientific protocol for a scientist to tailor and skew the results of a study to meet the needs of the organization paying for the research. I remember reading the interpretations of a study published in all the daily newspapers while the Magnason Act was being debated. It stated the total collapse of all fisheries was eminent in the very near future. This interpretation was published in newspapers and not in scientific journals. There was no peer review prior to its publication. The interpretation was used to support passing of the Magnason Act. The research was later rebuked by many reliable scientists because of a flaw in collecting the data.
"I have been fishing both commercially and recreationally for over forty years never have I seen as many fluke or heard as many stories about abundant numbers of fluke up and down the coast, as I do these days. When I started out as a deckhand in the early 1960’s, I heard stories of fluke being caught in the 1950’s but didn’t see any until the 1970’s.
"Prior to operating my own party boat, The Osprey IV, I bought and sold the catch of four draggers working out of Port Jefferson. There would only be an occasional fluke mixed with the other fish in their catch. It wasn’t until the early '80’s that there was sufficient fluke to make it a directed fishery. Draggers are not the enemy, currently they are only allowed to keep 90 pounds of fluke. There are many steel hulled draggers rusting at the dock because the regulations do not allow them to keep enough fish to run the boats profitably.
"The current fluke travesty is so complex, I am sure someone will write a thesis for a PHD on it. We have a serious problem to address. It is hard to amend or overturn a law once it is passed. Making this particularly difficult is the belief that this law is based on valid science. The science is flawed but the law calls for the use of the “best available science.” It makes no exceptions for science that is flawed. Flawed or not, many Senators and Congressman received money and endorsement from these trust and conservation organizations. Therefore they are reluctant to risking being against conservation. We need to work out our differences with commercial fishermen. Fighting the commercial fishermen takes time and resources away from the real culprit - ignorance of the magnitude of the fluke biomass and the unethical tactics of the conservation groups.
"Just to put the 20.5 inch fluke limit in another perspective: I worked on a cattle ranch during college. If the rancher sold his best and biggest breeders and kept only the small cows and bulls, what kind of herd would he have in a few years?
"Tom this will have to be categorized as my opinion because I did not have time to document all of my sources. If one had the time, they could, and would, find that what I am saying is true.
"Regards,
"- Captain Stew Cash (Osprey IV, Port Jefferson)"
"Dear Tom,
"A saltwater license is not a bad idea, even though everyone knows our good friends in Albany will surely find a way to divert as many $$ as possible from the originally-intended recipients.
"No, the biggest problem with a SW license is that it will be a regulatory nightmare unless NY, NJ, CT, RI and perhaps, MA, can all agree on the following points:
"A) Uniform possession/size limits, at least in areas of contiguous boundary waters, and
"B) Reciprocal recognition of each State's licensure.
"As long as the contiguous States reserve the right to set their own regulations in their territorial waters, they will just as surely enact legislation adding fines for fishing without a license in 'their' waters, and predatory and retaliatory 'enforcement' actions will ensue - not to mention adding yet another layer of onerous licensing fees for non-resident anglers.
"A regional license is the only sane approach, and a regional task force needs to be created to hammer-out the details. And that means possession/size limits guided by real science, real statistical data, and an eco-systemic management plan. Moreover, input from BOTH recreational and commercial interests needs to be advisory only. Vested interests should have NO say in the final management determination.
"Sincerely yours,
"- Richard E Steinberger, MD, Oakdale NY"
