Recreational fishermen are going to see some changes in the way fisheries are managed, and it’s about time.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries has announced it is approving a conservation equivalency for all the states for the 2022 season for flounder, black sea bass and scup (porgy). This is especially important for states to our north because NOAA had closed the scup fishery in federal waters. Now they have simply increased the size limit from 9 to 10 inches. Delaware has seen more porgies in recent years, so it will have some effect on our fishery as well. The season remains open all year and the bag limit remains at 50.
I don’t think Delaware will change the summer flounder or black sea bass regulations this year. There is already enough confusion with the fishing guide having one set of regulations and the actual regulations being entirely different.
Now we come to the real big change. I am a member of the advisory council for summer flounder, black sea bass and scup as well as bluefish. As such, I was given several options to work out the best alternative for managing those fisheries for recreational fishermen. I have been having problems with those virtual meetings, so I submitted my thoughts via email. In the end, I believe they selected the right option.
From now on when deciding on recreational regulations, the managers will first look at the Recreational Harvest Limits for the next two years compared to the most recent estimates of recreational harvest. Next, the managers will look at the most recent estimate of stock size relative to the target stock size. Regulations will only come up for change every two years, because that’s how often NOAA gathers data on stock size.
Without going into too much detail, the new system will rely on the size of the stock and the amount of fish removed by anglers, and adjust the regulations accordingly. Had this been in place, we would not have seen the ridiculous regulations on black sea bass we have today. The black sea bass stock is three-and-a-half times above the target level.
I am happy to see NOAA is finally admitting it has a problem regulating recreational fishing. I hope the organization continues to work on this until they get an even better system and use people who actually have some hands-on knowledge of our fishery.
Summer fishing
This summer, fishing will be unlike any other. The price of fuel is going to have an impact on everyone, including fishermen. Unless you have a pond in your backyard or live in an oceanfront or bayfront home, you are going to have to burn some gas to go fishing.
Will you go fewer times? Will you fish closer to home? Will you get together with some friends so you can split the cost?
As for me, I won’t be going up on the beach as much as usual. My truck gets 10 miles per gallon on the highway. Drop the tires down to 20 PSI, put it in 4WD and run it in soft sand, and you can watch the gas gauge drop.
I have a 16-foot Starcraft that seldom burns more than six gallons of gas on any one trip. Still, that’s $30 to fill one tank. My 24-foot Albemarle held 125 gallons. That’s $625 to fill the tank. Now think about running a charter boat that may burn 200 gallons or more of fuel per trip.
Yep, it’s going to be an expensive summer.
Fishing report
Fishing is pretty good.
We are just beginning to see some flounder come in from the Old Grounds. Only a few limits, but that will improve as the summer moves along.
Black sea bass are numerous, but most of the keepers have been caught. A few nice fish have been taken at the Old Grounds by flounder fishermen.
The offshore fishing is heating up with good numbers of yellowfin tuna caught in the Baltimore and Poorman’s canyons. A few big dolphin are taken along with the tuna. Billfish are scarce, although the first white marlin of the year has been registered in Ocean City, Md.
Surf-fishing has been good. Saying this, I have been skunked on my attempts to catch anything from the beach while others have had success catching kings, croaker and spot on bloodworms and Fishbites. Large bluefish have been caught on mullet.
Indian River Inlet has seen some excellent fish at times. On Monday, there was a run of rockfish around 10 a.m. These were all below the 28-inch minimum size, and they hit white bucktails with a white worm. Blues have also been caught from the inlet on metal lures.
Flounder are available in the Lewes-Rehoboth Canal and the Back Bays on minnows and Gulp!
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Eric Burnley is a Delaware native who has fished and hunted the state from an early age. Since 1978 he has written countless articles about hunting and fishing in Delaware and elsewhere along the Atlantic Coast. He has been the regional editor for several publications and was the founding editor of the Mid-Atlantic Fisherman magazine. Eric is the author of three books: Surf Fishing the Atlantic Coast, The Ultimate Guide to Striped Bass Fishing and Fishing Saltwater Baits. He and his wife Barbara live near Milton, Delaware. Eric can be reached at Eburnle@aol.com.
