DNREC To Hold March 21 Public Hearing On Proposed Summer Flounder Regulation Changes

DOVER – The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control will hold a public hearing at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, March 21 to consider proposed amendments to the state’s tidal finfish regulations on summer flounder. The hearing will be held in the DNREC Auditorium at 89 Kings Highway in Dover.
Summer flounder are managed cooperatively by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (MAFMC), and the National Marine Fisheries Service through the Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass Fishery Management Plan. ASMFC and MAFMC approved a coastwide recreational summer flounder harvest limit for 2013 resulting in an allowable catch of 78,512 fish to Delaware. Although this is a reduction from the 2012 allowable catch, the 2013 allowable catch is nearly double Delaware’s 2012 actual recreational harvest of 38,470 fish.
As a result, Delaware is considering liberalizing its management measures for the 2013 summer flounder fishery, pending approval by the ASMFC’s Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass Management Board. Four options were developed and approved by the Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass Technical Committee as the basis for the proposed regulatory changes. The options are:
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