The following appeared in the Atlantic City Press on 26 February 02.
Concerned that the illegal trade of live blackfish is contributing to the fish's decline, coastol regulators have directed a internal committee to assess the magnitude of the problem.
Also last week, the Atlantic States marine Fisheries commission voted to reduced a proposed 63 percent cut in the blackfish catch to 48 percent, effective next year.
Blackfish, alson called tautog or tog, is overfished, and the live market trade may be aggravating the problem, said Heather Stirratt, the commission's tautog management-plan coordinator.
During its meeting in Washington, D.C., the commission's Tautog Management Board grappled with the issue of live market trade of blackfish, prompted by articles in The Press of Atlantic City, she said.
"It brought the issue to a head," Stirratt said.
Those articles detailed the seizure of hundreds of live blackfish last month from fishermen aboard the North Star, a party boat docked in Ocean City, NJ. Officials believe the fish were bound for the Asian restaurants, where customers pay premium prices to pick their meal from a tank and see it prepared before them.
The illegal blackfish trade more than accounts for 10 percent of all blackfish caught, Stirratt said.
The tautog board voted last week to ask the commission's Law Enforcement Committee to come up with a better estimate of the live trade and to study how the practice can be deterred, she said.
"It may be something as simple as raising the penalty fines." she said.
A report on the live market trade is expected by November.
Meanwhile, the commission voted to ease up on a proposed cut in the blackfish catch after the commission revised its estimates of how many blackfish are in the sea.
"The science had some real problems." said Michael Doebley, legislative director of the Recreational Fishing Alliance.
For instance, the commission used a trawl survey to estimate blackfish abundance, but blackfish live near rocks and piers and other hard structures that a trawl cannnot pass over, he said.
"All the counts from the water say the population is recovering quite nicely" Doebley said.
Because of sucn questions, the commission backed off a proposed 63 percent cut that was to take effect this yeard and approved a 48 percent cut to take effect in 2003.
" A 63 percent cut would have incurred significant burdens on the fishing industry," Stirratt said. "This is a little bit less restrictive to give the states more flexibility in meeting the fishery mamangement goals."
Blackfish is primarily a recreational fishery, with only 10 percent of the catch going to commerical fishers. New Jersey's recreational fishermen accounted for more than half the tautog landings on the Atlantic Coast the past two years, according to commission data.
The commission cooperatively sets fishing regulations within the three miles of the coast for 15 Atlantic coast states.
JackFish56 <*)))><
Concerned that the illegal trade of live blackfish is contributing to the fish's decline, coastol regulators have directed a internal committee to assess the magnitude of the problem.
Also last week, the Atlantic States marine Fisheries commission voted to reduced a proposed 63 percent cut in the blackfish catch to 48 percent, effective next year.
Blackfish, alson called tautog or tog, is overfished, and the live market trade may be aggravating the problem, said Heather Stirratt, the commission's tautog management-plan coordinator.
During its meeting in Washington, D.C., the commission's Tautog Management Board grappled with the issue of live market trade of blackfish, prompted by articles in The Press of Atlantic City, she said.
"It brought the issue to a head," Stirratt said.
Those articles detailed the seizure of hundreds of live blackfish last month from fishermen aboard the North Star, a party boat docked in Ocean City, NJ. Officials believe the fish were bound for the Asian restaurants, where customers pay premium prices to pick their meal from a tank and see it prepared before them.
The illegal blackfish trade more than accounts for 10 percent of all blackfish caught, Stirratt said.
The tautog board voted last week to ask the commission's Law Enforcement Committee to come up with a better estimate of the live trade and to study how the practice can be deterred, she said.
"It may be something as simple as raising the penalty fines." she said.
A report on the live market trade is expected by November.
Meanwhile, the commission voted to ease up on a proposed cut in the blackfish catch after the commission revised its estimates of how many blackfish are in the sea.
"The science had some real problems." said Michael Doebley, legislative director of the Recreational Fishing Alliance.
For instance, the commission used a trawl survey to estimate blackfish abundance, but blackfish live near rocks and piers and other hard structures that a trawl cannnot pass over, he said.
"All the counts from the water say the population is recovering quite nicely" Doebley said.
Because of sucn questions, the commission backed off a proposed 63 percent cut that was to take effect this yeard and approved a 48 percent cut to take effect in 2003.
" A 63 percent cut would have incurred significant burdens on the fishing industry," Stirratt said. "This is a little bit less restrictive to give the states more flexibility in meeting the fishery mamangement goals."
Blackfish is primarily a recreational fishery, with only 10 percent of the catch going to commerical fishers. New Jersey's recreational fishermen accounted for more than half the tautog landings on the Atlantic Coast the past two years, according to commission data.
The commission cooperatively sets fishing regulations within the three miles of the coast for 15 Atlantic coast states.
JackFish56 <*)))><
