Arlington, VA - March 3, 2017 - The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass Management Board announces the availability of Draft Addendum XXIX to the Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass Fishery Management Plan for public comment. The document, approved by the Board in early February, presents alternatives for shortening the length of the commercial scup summer period and extending length of the winter period(s) to better allocate the commercial quota. New York has scheduled a public hearings to gather public comment.  The details of that scheduled hearing follows:

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
March 28, 2017 at 6:30 PM
Division of Marine Resources
205 North Belle Mead Road, Suite 1
East Setauket, New York
Contact: Steve Heins at 631.444.0430

Draft Addendum XXIX was initiated jointly with the Mid‐Atlantic Fishery Management Council to address concerns raised by Advisory Panel members that commercial landings have been lower than the annual limits in recent years and the quota periods could be better utilized.  Specifically, the draft document proposes alternatives to shorten the Summer quota period by 31 or 46 days and increasing the Winter I and Winter II quota periods.  These changes are intended to allow higher possession limits for a longer period of time each year, thus increasing the likelihood the commercial fishery will fully harvest the annual quota.

The Draft Addendum also proposes options to continue allowing state permitted fishermen to begin fishing prior to the start of the summer period in state waters when the Winter I quota closes early. These options include extending the number of days the earlier fishing can occur as well as the start date when earlier fishing can occur. Allowing access prior to the start of the Summer period to state permitted fishermen provides access to the resource when scup are highly available to nearshore (state) fisheries.

Fishermen and interested stakeholders are encouraged to provide input on Draft Addendum XXIX either by attending state public hearings or providing written comment. The Draft Addendum can be obtained here or via the Commission’s website, www.asmfc.org, under Public Input. Public comment will be accepted until 5 PM (EST) on March 31, 2017 and should be forwarded to Kirby Rootes-Murdy, Senior Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, 1050 N. Highland St, Suite A-N, Arlington, VA 22201; 703.842.0741 (FAX) or email (Subject line: Draft Addendum XXIX).

The Board will review submitted public comment and consider final action on the Draft Addendum at the Commission’s Spring Meeting in May 2017.  For more information, please contact Kirby Rootes-Murdy on email or 703.842.0740.