Biggest of the Year

 not a personal best, but did get a 20” flounder last week. Always nice to finally hook a good one. Lots of meat

Father's Day Meals

There is a lot I'd like to say on this topic, but for now (as most posts lately) it'll be some quick hits:

Last (but not first) was a package of Trader Joe's "Ube Mochi" pancake mix. Absolutely delicious and super healthy:

"Father's Week" started the Wednesday before Father's "Day" when I went out clamming in the bay.

Thursday took a grandson out fishing for Flounder, got him his first saltwater fish

When we got home, daughters #1/#2 and #3 had prepared a feast of Maryland #1 Blueclaws, crab soup, crab cakes and more

But of course, that left the flounder to cook up on Father's day!

On and on, I need to back away from the table!

Alien Invaders

It was definitely a strange season for Flounder, with the ratios of throwbacks to "keepers" being about 50 to 1.

I suppose that might be good for the future Flounder populations (with the notable exception of mortality, which in 70 degree water approaches real bad ratios) but not so good for satisfaction out on the water.

I did bring in what I thought was some strange alien invader but which was actually a species that used to be very very common, in fact abundant, in our Grand State of South Jersey waters:

A weakfish

Cynoscion regalis
Profile by John McClain Principle Fisheries Biologist
The Weakfish is a member of the croaker family. The family name is derived from the ability of the males to make a drumming or croaking noise.

Size:
to 36" and 18 lbs.
Common Names:Weakfish, squeteague, trout, gray trout Scientific Name: Cynoscion regalis
Range:Massachusetts Bay to southern Florida Food: Weakfish feed throughout the water column on a large variety of fishes and invertebrates, including butterfish, menhaden, thread herring, round herring, sandlance, silversides, mackerel, anchovy, shrimp, squid, crab and worms.
Migration:Weakfish migrate northward in the spring, spending the summer inshore. They move southward again in late autumn.
Habitat:Usually found in shallow waters along open sandy shores and in large bays and estuaries, including salt marsh creeks and sometimes into river mouths, but never into freshwater.
Spawning:Most weakfish are mature by the age of two. Spawning occurs in the nearshore and estuarine zones along the coast from May to October. The number of eggs produced is a function of size. Eggs are buoyant and float to the surface where they drift for one and one-half days until hatching.
Recreational and Commercial Importance:Weakfish are one of the most important recreational and commercial fishes in waters from New York through North Carolina. Annual commercial landings of weakfish along the East Coast from the mid 1940s through 1994 ranged between 3.1 (1967) and 36 (1980) million pounds.
Weakfish are harvested commercially using pound nets, haul seines, gill nets and trawls and hook & line during spring, summer and fall. During the winter they are taken in trawls, gill nets and fly nets, primarily off the North Carolina coast.
Historically, the greatest landings were in the mid-Atlantic and Chesapeake Bay. Before 1957, Virginia and New Jersey accounted for most landings of weakfish. Between 1957 and 1975, North Carolina consistently landed the most weakfish of the Atlantic coast, but Virginia and New Jersey also landed a significant portion of the coast-wide total. After 1976, North Carolina has dominated coast-wide landings, landing between one-third and two-thirds of the coast-wide total.
Recreationally, weakfish are viewed as strong fighters and as a desirable fish for consumption that are available inshore. The recreational catch occurs primarily from private and rental boats, and also party and charter boats and shore-based angling. Recreational landings have ranged from an estimated 960,000 fish in 1992 to a high of 9,344,000 fish in 1981.
At times weakfish are very fussy eaters and will taken only certain baits. One of the most effective methods in shallow bay waters is to chum with live grass shrimp. Place two shrimp on a number 10 or 12 hook and let the bait drift back in the slick. This method will work from a boat or the bank. Another reliable method is to cast and retrieve a bucktail tipped with squid or shedder crab across creek mouths and along sod banks. In the surf, still fishing with cut bait or live spot or snappers is an old standby; casting with plugs, spoons and bucktails will also produce results. Weakfish can be taken in near-shore ocean waters between May and November. Two of the most often used methods are jigging with spoons, bucktails or tube lures and drifting top and bottom rigs baited with squid or fish strips.
Acknowledgements and References:Fishery Management Report No. 27 of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission
This article first appeared in New Jersey Fish & Wildlife Digest - 2002 Marine edition

Fishing vs. Working

Another time out on the water, and another windy day!

Managed to get the boat back in and actually fish for a little while. Found some "hiding places" to get out of the wind enough, then it was a matter of finding some fish willing to bite.

Very slow pick, but managed one 21" flounder which provided a good fight.  Flounder are opportunistic hunters, waiting for prey to entice them, camouflaged until they strike without warning... this crab must've fallen victim shortly before I caught her:

 

I mention "her" because statistically, every flounder over 17" is most likely a breeding sized female, but the regulations are what they are, and I know I'm not putting even the slightest dent in the population, given the times I actually get out on the water. But still, regs need to be adjusted to allow anglers to keep some males and leave more breeding females alone.

 Big mouths with a fierce set of teeth to grab, and hold onto, it's prey... if they can't grab it in one bite, that is!

opening day

...not trout (that was early April)

...not stripers (that was Mar 1)

... but "Flounder" (not Fluke... we don't call'em that here in the grand state of South Jersey)

and, of course, given that I had planned on fishing it, winds were 20knots sustained, with 30knot gusts!

Still, managed to get 1 keeper, and put 2 others in the boat, with 2 near misses due to equipment or mental failures.

Not bad for near gale conditions :D

2 Flounder @ 19"

geesh, they are trying to kill every public fishery, and kill the broodstock as well!

 

Docket ID: NOAA-NMFS-2016-0138

Agency: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

Parent Agency: Department of Commerce (DOC)

Summary:

NMFS proposes revised summer flounder specifications for the 2017 and 2018 fishing years. Updated scientific information regarding the status of the summer flounder stock indicates that these proposed catch limits are necessary to constrain summer flounder harvest within scientifically sound recommendations to prevent overfishing.

Agency: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
Document Type: Rulemaking
Title: Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Summer Flounder Fishery; 2017 and 2018 Summer Flounder Specifications
Document ID: NOAA-NMFS-2016-0138-0001

Comment:
I am completely opposed to any reduction in quotas for summer flounder that is based on flawed data, and flawed assumptions.

This proposal is such that we risk continuing to kill the largest female breeders, in fact if an increase
in minimum size is proposed, we would essentially be killing ALL female breeders.

In spite of the attempt to justify larger minimum sizes by allowing "multiple" years of brood, the fact is
that male flounder grow slower and are smaller, the fact is that larger female flounder have greater fecundity,
the fact is the ratio of females to males INCREASES with increase in size, the fact is that we've been
cutting into recruitment by increasing the minimum size.

By enacting these regs you are guaranteeing two things: 1. the destruction of a healthy flounder fishery and
2. the further collapse of the coastal flounder stock.

Uploaded File(s):

NJ Flounder 2017 - Part 2

A basic flaw in the reasoning presented is that the ratio of male to female flounder are the same regardless of size.

That is, that the growth curve for males and females are the same.

Are they?

We know for many species this is not the case, and specifically for summer flounder, it's not.

Females grow faster, mature at a larger size, and thus in any given sampling at a given size,
going for the maximum is culling more females than males, and the larger you increase
the minimum size, the heavier ratio of females you are pulling from the very population you want to encourage.

Lastly, not all females mature at the same rate, with samplings showing that
The smallest mature male was 19.1 cm and the largest immature male was 39.9cm.
Females began maturing at 24.9 cm and the largest immature female was 43.9 cm. The range of L50
for males and females indicates sexual maturity is attained by age 2
Adult females are 60 mm total length (TL) longer on average than males at
first attainment of sexual maturity.
http://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/nefsc/publications/tm/tm151/tm151.pdf

http://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/fbp/age-man/smfl/smfl.htm

There is a lot of data out there, and more actual study of the ratios of male to females needs to occur to prove what I'm asserting, but reports from long time anglers indicate this is true, and the papers I quickly pulled up definitely lend credence to the hypothesis that we are, by mismanagement, actually impacting the recruitment for the summer flounder population.

2017 Flounder

If you thought it was bad this year, with the best South Jersey catches being found well before opening day, just wait til next year.
 http://blogs.courierpostonline.com/fishhead/2009/12/16/tough-quotas-set-for-2010/

We will be hammered because of flawed data.

We will be hammered because of the continued, enforced harvest, of our best female breeders.

We will be hammered because of bad science. What do I mean by that? The regulations are ignoring the shift in male/female ratios as the size increases. What does that mean? As we raise the minimum size limit, we are guaranteeing a reduction in the overall female population will which impact future recruitment numbers. This will lead to an effective shutdown of the recreational fishery. Several organizations have scientists engaged to get the statistical data needed to get the fisheries management to see what's going on. But it's probably too late to help in the short run:
2016 Assessment Update: Key Findings

The key findings of the stock assessment update include:

• Fishing mortality rates for summer flounder continue to exceed the fishing mortality threshold, meaning that the stock is experiencing overfishing. The fishing mortality rate in 2014 was estimated to be 16% above the fishing mortality threshold reference point. In 2015, fishing mortality was estimated to be 26% above the threshold. With the exception of 2007, the update assessment reveals a consistent pattern of overfishing since 1981, albeit at a greatly reduced level in last 15 years.
• Estimated biomass has been trending down since 2010. The 2015 estimate of spawning stock biomass is at 58% of the biomass target and only 16% above the minimum stock size threshold. If the stock were to fall below the minimum stock size threshold, the stock would be considered “overfished,” which, under the Magnuson-Stevens Act, would require the development of a rebuilding plan to reduce fishing mortality rates and rebuild stock biomass. If overfishing continues, “overfished” status could potentially be triggered as early as next year.
• In terms of recruitment, the stock has experienced below-average year classes each year for the past six years (2010-2015). Recruitment has also been overestimated in several of the most recent years. For example, in the 2015 update, 2014 recruitment appeared average, but has since been adjusted downward with the most recent update. Recruitment in 2015 is also estimated to be below average.
• For the past several years the assessment has shown a “retrospective pattern,” in this case meaning a consistent pattern of underestimating fishing mortality rates, overestimating spawning stock biomass, and overestimating recruitment. In other words, when the assessment is updated, it reveals that past projections of fishing mortality rates have been exceeded, while projections of spawning stock biomass and recruitment have not been reached. This result is in part due to below-average recruitment to the stock for year classes from 2010-2015, and could also be due to mortality that is not being properly accounted for the assessment.
• Nearly all fishery-independent federal and state survey indices (including recruitment indices) have been decreasing from their most recent peaks over the last 5-7 years, some substantially.