Pallone Calls for Less Restrictive Policies for Summer Flounder and Sea Bass

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 21, 2016


Files Formal Comment Regarding Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission Draft Proposal

LONG BRANCH, NJ – Today, Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06) sent a letter to Kirby Rootes-Murdy, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator for the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, regarding the Commission’s Draft Addendum XXVII to the Summer Flounder, Scup and Sea Bass Fishery Management Plan. In the letter, Pallone called for fair and less restrictive policies relating to two important fisheries in New Jersey: summer flounder and sea bass.

“My district has thousands of private anglers and attracts individual anglers from all over the nation. These anglers support local small businesses and drive the coastal economy of my home state,” Pallone wrote in the letter. “It is critical for New Jersey to receive fair treatment in the development of restrictions placed on key recreational species.”

Regarding summer flounder, Pallone requested that the Commission enable New Jersey to become its own region and allow anglers to have a more equitable size limit within the Delaware Bay area. With respect to sea bass, he expressed his support for a less restrictive quota than the proposed 23% reduction included in the draft addendum for recreational harvest. He also once again called for more reliable data collection to ensure that recreational anglers in New Jersey and along the Atlantic Coast have fair quotas based on sound science.

The full text of the letter is available here.