Are they finally getting the idea?

Last week, I received two press releases, one from NOAA Fisheries and one from the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council.

Let’s look at the one from NOAA Fisheries first. It was sent by NOAA Fisheries Office of Science and Technology Director Evan Howell. He provided a progress update on the ongoing study of the Fishing Effort Survey and the collaborative initiative to re-envision the recreational fishing data partnership. I noticed throughout his presentation, he mentions this partnership quite often without ever revealing exactly who these partners are. 

The revised Fishing Effort Survey is showing improved data, with a reduction in reporting errors and illogical responses. Also, respondents are less likely to indicate more trips for the two-month fishing reference period than for the 12-month reference period. There is still a large amount of data to be collected and analyzed before a final conclusion can be made.

One of the objectives of this study is to build trust and credibility with state partners and the angling community. For this objective, I would say they have a long way to go.

By the way, this study was undertaken not because recreational fishermen have been screaming about how bad their data was. Oh no, it was undertaken because the Bureau of Measurements and Standards found their data so far out of whack it was unusable.  

Believe it or not, but the Mid-Atlantic Fisheries Management Council is asking for your ideas on how the next five-year strategic plan should be developed. This is the plan of objectives the council will operate under for the next five years.

Now, you might be tempted to ask for all the flounder to be allocated to recreational fishermen, but try to resist that temptation and think of things like more transparent rule-making and having the council listen to its advisory council members.

You can address the entire council in person via a public webinar that is set for 2 p.m., Tuesday, Aug. 20. Written comments may be emailed to msabo@mafmc.org by Wednesday, Sept. 4.

Get involved

Recreational fishermen have a very poor track record when it comes to attending fisheries management meetings. When these meetings used to be held in person at the DNREC hall in Dover, there would seldom be 10 recreational fishermen in attendance. Charter and head boat captains would often outnumber us. This is one reason why you can keep five bluefish on a charter or head boat and only three from your own boat or from shore.

The fact that recreational fishermen far outnumber any other user group in the outdoors and put more money in the DNREC coffers than any other user group is not lost on those who plan capital projects. But we do not use our clout well. We need to become more involved. We need to have our voices heard. Granted, one or two voices are not enough. We need a chorus to let the people who make the decisions know what the people who supply the money would like to see.  

Fishing report

Indian River Inlet has been the place to be over the summer. First, we had the bluefish ranging from small to large coming through during incoming water almost every day. The hot lure has been a white bucktail with a white worm. The best location has been under the bridge and, of course, with the construction, the only safe access is from the south side.

According to Old Inlet Bait & Tackle, there are lots of tog being caught on sand fleas and green crabs, but almost all are too small to keep. A few sheepshead are in the mix, and since they don’t have a minimum size, they are kept.

Then we have the flounder. The vast majority of the flounder caught from the inlet, or anywhere else for that matter, are short of the 17.5-inch minimum size. However, there are exceptions.

First, we had Kyle Neibich with a 9.6-pound flounder caught from the inlet and recorded by Hook ‘em and Cook ‘em. Then, 8-year-old Owen Sellers caught a 5.5-pound flounder out of the inlet near the Coast Guard Station. Shawn Collins has been fishing from the rocks at the inlet for a few years, and this year, he caught his first keeper flounder, a 20-incher. Finally, Michael Harahan caught a 13.2-pound flounder from the south side of the inlet on a spot rig baited with a small piece of squid. These fish give all of us inlet fishers hope!

The surf has also been productive. While most of the fish are small, at least there are fish to be caught. Spot, croaker and kings are available on bloodworms or Fishbites from Broadkill Beach down to Fenwick Island.