[KILSONG]

The four-fish limit may go into effect April 1, if the proposed regulation is adopted in March by the state Marine Fisheries Council.
The four-fish limit would remain in effect until May 31, and then drop to one fish per day from June 1 through Nov. 14. It would then jump to seven or eight fish through the end of the year.
The advisoiry committee felt that setting for a four-fish limit in the spring would allow a limit of possibly seven or eight fish in the fall, and still enable New Jersey to achieve the 25 percent reduction in annual landings demanded by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.

 

[TJL65]

Close the **** Thing

If the blackfish are that overfished I vote to close the whole **** thing down.

 

[Leprechaun]

Statement and Question

Statement - If the fish are in that much trouble (Which the past two Fall seasons catches do NOT seem to indicate), then I say shut it down completely till Nov 14 and let the fish have a spawning season unmolested. Plenty of Bass and Spring Fluke and ding-a-ling to fish for that time of year. I've already voluntarily not fished for tog during their Spring run for many years just for this reason.

Question - How far offshore does Jersey's jurisdiction extend? Can anybody confirm that its 3 miles?

rgds, Leprechaun

 

[MakoMike]

Lep,
Yep, NJ, like all coastal atlantic states' jurisdiction only extends out three miles. But where they get you is that its a posession limit. So no matter where you caught the fish, you're only allowed to have three or five or whatever, in your possession while yor're in NJ.

 

[620427]

possesion or homeport ?

quote:
But where they get you is that its a posession limit. So no matter where you caught the fish, you're only allowed to have three or five or whatever, in your possession while yor're in NJ.

question,

let say i take a party boat/private boat from staten island to go blackfishing at 17 fathoms, on the way home with fish caught in federal waters, the boat would pass through NJ waters before arriving in the NY home port.
if there are different regulations for NY and NJ
are you breaking the law when you are travelling in NJ waters ?

 

[Hunt n' Fish]

Yes, but only if you get caught

Seriously, yes Megalodon. Whatever states waters you are in you have to comply with their laws. The DEC gets guys all the time out at Fishers Island like this. Connecticut anglers in NYS waters with Connecticut limits.

It doesn't matter where they came from, or where they're going, what's in your possession at the time of inspection is what matters.

One varition on this is: I have friends who go on company striper charters to NJ and they get some kind of "tags" for the extra fish they get to take home, when the are coming back into NY.

 

[LkyLindy]

Laugher

This reminds of a guy last fall out by buoy 11 in Port Jeff.I see him pull in an obviously short striper and proceed to throw it in the cooler.I scream out to him-Hey buddy-thats a short".He yells to me that he's from Conn. and the size is 24. I say "Pal, you ain't in Connecticut".The fish was released

 

[Leprechaun]

So depending on what NY does, I'd be good to go fishing at 17 this Fall, my homeport being on Long Island.

O.K. - whose heard where NY is at with next year's regs? I heard some ridiculous stuff early this year about a cutback to 4 fish per man in '03 - maybe in "Doomsday" Ristori's column in the L.I. Flusherman?

rgds, Leprechaun

 

[sportsman625]

BF Limit

IMHO the spring season should be closed until the stocks are in better shape. I fish with Dave B. On the Peconic Star and he will not fish for blacks in the spring so the fish have a chance to spawn. I give him credit for taking (short term) money out of his pocket for the long term gain of all. The amount of other fish available in the spring are plentiful leaving one alone isn't going to hurt anyone. I think the lobster kill in the sound had a benifical effect on the blackfish for the last 2 years because the lobster boats are not out. Stories I've heard of the amount of fish they caught in their traps was considerable. Anyone have any thoughts on this? Lou

 

[MakoMike]

Lou,
back a long time ago, when I had lobster pots in the sound off of Norwalk, we used to regularly catch some big blackfish in the pots during the spring.

 

[LkyLindy]

Black Lobsters

Mako-
What do you mean used to?I see guys pulling in Blacks in pots all the time

 

[MakoMike]

Lindy,
I mean used to as in I used to have pots and fish in LI sound. Now I don't have any pots and fish out of RI. Kapeesh?

 

[MakoMatt]

sportsman625, I do not think the lobster die-off in L.I. Sound was a good thing for the Blackfish, in fact I'd do a complete 180 on that, and say it was very bad for the Blackfish. Not only are lobster food for Blackfish, I think by eliminating anything from the marine ecosystem will have far reaching implications.

MakoMatt

 

[sportsman625]

Matt what do you atribute the quality and quantity of black fish caught this year. As far as I can tell the catch this year was alot higher, I'm talking North Shore alone. Lou

 

[MIKE TUNA]

Blackfishing was always great in the North Shore until the Fish traps started . Which almost wiped them out . The better Fishing is most likely the caused by the comeback since the traps stopped . Although I heard a few rumors there still are a few out there .

I have a question on the Lobster guys are They allowed to keep the Blackfish cought in there trap our do they let them go ? I'm talking the ones that follow the rules of the game .

 

[paulh]

Blackfish probably have more pressure on them than ever. The reasons are as follows: 1) Lack of any other bottom fish during the late fall (flounder) / winter (cod, whiting, ling). 2) Easy to limit quickly on bass, why go in ? Fish blacks for the rest of the day. 3) With the equipment present on the average fishing boat finding these things really isn't that hard. 4) The live fish market.

Despite substantial pressure, the population seem to increasing, especially in NJ waters.

Why are they messing with bag limits ??

 

[bhm25]

better shape

yes i believe the recreational seaons should be shut down so the commercial guys can pick up the left over quota its a great idea ! these fish are far from overfished but im no scientist. i fish with a lot of old school garbage can full of tog fisherman and they say the past few seasons has been like the old days and even better as far as quality goes !

 

[LkyLindy]

Status

Paul

Why do you think the Blackfish stock is in better shape than in the past? A good season or 2 doesn't necssarily mean that their numbers are truly increasing.Do you have info or just anecdotal?

Mako- I thought the lobster die off in the sound was beneficial to Blacks, since the pots catch many Blacks beside lobster and they are NOT released(The reduction of pots may be a reason for the good season).I think there is a reg. concerning the keeping of Blacks by lobstermen but not sure of it.
Mike-Kapeesch

 

[bhm25]

well lets see ....slammer season north shore. slammer season in jersey slammer season in montauk west end and so on. this is not based on just 2 seasons i would say past 6 or 8 i mean if it aint on the upswing i dont know what is. they are showing up in spots in stupid numbers where they havent in the past. i would guess that they are not on the decline as much as people think. now i ask you the same question why do you think they are on the decline ?

 

[paulh]

I agree with bhm25 - the numbers of tog have been good since people started fishing for them in earnest, due to the reasons I mentioned above. More people fish for them now, and the last couple of years have been particularly good. I'm talking western south shore / NJ. What is the problem ? I dont see any.

Long Island sound has its own set of problems, yet they too seemed to have a good / great year. Possibly due to the reduction in lobster effort.