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Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 35 Number 4
December 2007
NMFS proposes reduced fluke, scup, black sea bass TAL limits for ’08
SILVER SPRING, MD – On Nov. 9, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) announced that it had published a proposed rule setting the following total allowable landing (TAL) limits:
• Summer flounder – 15.77 million pounds, which is 8% less than the 2007 limit of 17.11 million pounds;
• Scup – 7.34 million pounds, which is a 39% reduction from the 2007 limit of 12 million pounds; and
• Black sea bass – 4.22 million pounds, which is a 16% reduction from the 2007 limit of 5 million pounds.
All three TALs are in line with those recommended by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council and adopted by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission in August.
NMFS noted that while the summer flounder stock has increased since 2000 when the rebuilding effort began, it is still subject to overfishing and short of its stock rebuilding target.
“We are committed to ending overfishing, and the council and commission’s recommendations lead us there while striking an appropriate balance with economic activity,” said NMFS Director Bill Hogarth in a press release announcing the proposed rule. “Summer flounder is a particularly important stock and we will continue to monitor all aspects of the fishery closely and take action as appropriate.”
Hogarth added that NMFS was prepared to close the recreational fishery in federal waters if recreational landings “appear likely to exceed the annual limit before the end of the 2008 fishing year.”
NMFS is accepting public comment on the proposed rule through Dec. 3. The rule, including recreational and commercial fishery and state allocations, is available online at <www.nero.noaa.gov/nero/regs/com.htm>.
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