By Al Ristori

March 09, 2010, 6:31PM

A report from ESPN OUTDOORS is circulating around the country today regarding the Obama Administrations decision to cut off public suggestions to the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force. Phil Morlock,, Director of Environmental Affairs for Shimano American, will be discussing this as a guest tonight (Tuesday) on Fox Business News Channel at 7 p.m.

The report follows:

"The Obama administration will accept no more public input for a federal
strategy that could prohibit U.S. citizens from fishing the nation's oceans,
coastal areas, Great Lakes, and even inland waters.

This announcement comes at the time when the situation supposedly still is
"fluid" and the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force still hasn't issued its
final report on zoning uses of these waters.

That's a disappointment, but not really a surprise for fishing industry
insiders who have negotiated for months with officials at the Council on
Environmental Quality and bureaucrats on the task force. These angling
advocates have come to suspect that public input into the process was a
charade from the beginning.

"When the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and International Fund for Animal Welfare
(IFAW) completed their successful campaign to convince the Ontario government
to end one of the best scientifically managed big game hunts in North America
(spring bear), the results of their agenda had severe economic impacts on
small family businesses and the tourism economy of communities across
northern and central Ontario," said Phil Morlock, director of environmental
affairs for Shimano.

"Now we see NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) and the
administration planning the future of recreational fishing access in America
based on a similar agenda of these same groups and other Big Green anti-use
organizations, through an Executive Order by the President. The current U.S.
direction with fishing is a direct parallel to what happened in Canada with
hunting: The negative economic impacts on hard working American families and
small businesses are being ignored.

"In spite of what we hear daily in the press about the President's concern
for jobs and the economy and contrary to what he stated in the June order
creating this process, we have seen no evidence from NOAA or the task force
that recreational fishing and related jobs are receiving any priority."

Consequently, unless anglers speak up and convince their Congressional
representatives to stop this bureaucratic freight train, it appears that the
task force will issue a final report for "marine spatial planning" by late
March, with President Barack Obama then issuing an Executive Order to
implement its recommendations - whatever they may be.

Led by NOAA's Jane Lubchenco, the task force has shown no overt dislike of
recreational angling, but its indifference to the economic, social and
biological value of the sport has been deafening.

Additionally, Lubchenco and others in the administration have close ties to
environmental groups who would like nothing better than to ban recreational
angling. And evidence suggests that these organizations have been the engine
behind the task force since before Obama issued a memo creating it last June.



One sign at the rally of recreational and commercial fishermen summed up the
feelings. As ESPN previously reported, WWF, Greenpeace, Defenders of
Wildlife, Pew Environment Group and others produced a document entitled
"Transition Green" shortly after Obama was elected in 2008. What has happened
since suggests that the task force has been in lockstep with that position
paper.

Then in late summer, just after he created the task force, these groups
produced "Recommendations for the Adoption and Implementation of an Oceans,
Coasts, and Great Lakes National Policy." This document makes repeated
references to "overfishing," but doesn't once reference recreational angling,
its importance, and its benefits, both to participants and the resource.

Additionally, some of these same organizations have revealed their
anti-fishing bias by playing fast and loose with "facts," in attempts to ban
tackle containing lead in the United States and Canada.

That same tunnel vision, in which recreational angling and commercial fishing
are indiscriminately lumped together as harmful to the resource, has
persisted with the task force, despite protests by the angling industry.

As more evidence of collusion, the green groups began clamoring for an
Executive Order to implement the task force's recommendations even before the
public comment period ended in February. Fishing advocates had no idea that
this was coming.

Perhaps not so coincidentally, the New York Times reported on Feb. 12 that
"President Obama and his team are preparing an array of actions using his
executive power to advance energy, environmental, fiscal and other domestic
policy priorities."

Morlock fears that "what we're seeing coming at us is an attempted
dismantling of the science-based fish and wildlife model that has served us
so well. There's no basis in science for the agendas of these groups who are
trying to push the public out of being able to fish and recreate.

"Conflicts (user) are overstated and problems are manufactured. It's all just
an excuse to put us off the water."

In the wake of the task force's framework document, the Congressional
Sportsmen's Foundation (CSF) and its partners in the U.S. Recreational
Fishing & Boating Coalition against voiced their concerns to the
administration.

"Some of the potential policy implications of this interim framework have the
potential to be a real threat to recreational anglers who not only contribute
billions of dollars to the economy and millions of dollars in tax revenues to
support fisheries conservation, but who are also the backbone of the American
fish and wildlife conservation ethic," said CSF President Jeff Crane.

Morlock, a member of the CSF board, added, "There are over one million jobs
in America supported coast to coast by recreational fishing. The task force
has not included any accountability requirements in their reports for
evaluating or mitigating how the new policies they are drafting will impact
the fishing industry or related economies.

"Given that the scope of this process appears to include a new set of
policies for all coastal and inland waters of the United States, the omission
of economic considerations is inexcusable."

This is not the only access issue threatening the public's right to fish, but
it definitely is the most serious, according to Chris Horton, national
conservation director for BASS.

"With what's being created, the same principles could apply inland as apply
to the oceans," he said. "Under the guise of 'marine spatial planning' entire
watersheds could be shut down, even 2,000 miles up a river drainage from the

ocean.

"Every angler needs to be aware because if it's not happening in your
backyard today or tomorrow, it will be eventually.

"We have one of the largest voting blocks in the country and we need to use
it. We must not sit idly by."

By Al Ristori

March 08, 2010, 8:07PM

New York has proposed fluke regulations that would provide an extended season if the Marine Resources Advisory Council approves them on March 16. The proposed season is from May 15 to Sept. 16, with the same 21-inch minimum and two-fish limit as last year - when there was a two-week closure in July before the season ended in mid-August. That short season at least kept N.Y. from going over quota. That's the first time in six years the Empire State hasn't overfished. As a result, the slightly larger coastal quota along with the underage from 2009 permitted regulations that provide a 23 percent increase up to 449,000 fluke. New York will also continue their law suit against NMFS that claims faulty statistics have been disadvantaging N.Y. anglers for years.

Capt. Bobby Bogan reported a fine catch of cod on his Gambler from Point Pleasant during Sunday's good weather.  Bogan had a pick on Saturday. including a pollock over 30 pounds, but found a boat on the wreck he wanted to fish Sunday. He then continued to run out to a 50-mile wreck that had lots of good-sized cod without too much trouble with spiny dogfish.  Nick Honachefsky of Normandy Beach was aboard to bag three cod and a 10-pound pollock. He said most of the cod were in the 5-to-14-pound class. The Gambler sails open daily at 7 a.m., but blackfish are the target Monday to Wednesday before cod take center stage Thursday through Sunday.

Honachefsky noted that Dave Miglione of Trinidad Yachts fished a 30-mile wreck Sunday with Chip Savage and P.J. Miller as they caught 24 cod to 23 pounds in two hours on Revenge. The cod averaged 5 to 14 pounds.

The Jamaica from Brielle didn't have as big a catch of cod Sunday as was the case Saturday --- as detailed in the last blog. However, the cod averaged a bit larger. Capt. Howard Bogan Jr. is even finding cod on wrecks that haven't had them in recent years. He's added another trip for Thursday as well as the weekend sailings. Call 732 528-5014 for information.  

 

By Al Ristori

March 07, 2010, 9:47AM

Capt. Howard Bogan Jr. was very impressed with Saturday's cod catch on his Jamaica from Brielle. Indeed, he dubbed it the local cod catch "of the century". Except for overnight trips to Block Island, wrecks within range of the Shore on daily trips haven't produced a volume of good-sized cod in decades. That fishery has been improving with very cold waters this winter, and exploded during Saturday's trip when about 300 keeper cod were boated along with a dozen pollock and some ling. Best of all, Bogan reports most of the cod were in the 6-to-15-pound class rather than being barely keeper size. There were also some real cows, such as the 39-pounder taken by Dunbar Atkinson of Parlin. John Petty of Piscataway had a 30-pounder. Bogan sails to those wrecks at 11:30 the night before every Saturday and Sunday. Call 732 528-5014 for reservations.

Capt. Joe Bogan has also had good luck on his cod trips with Jamaica II to closer wrecks. He's moving up his Saturday departure to 3 a.m. Frank Wisnowski of Old Bridge had five cod and eight ling on the last trip.

New Jersey Boating Collage has a safe boating class set for March 15 and 16 at Hackensack Yacht Club. Capt. Frank is also considering a one-day class there for Sat., March 27. Call 201 716-2883.

Those missing this weekend's World Fishing Expo at Suffern, N.Y. can see even more saltwater tackle at the Saltwater Fishing Expo coming up from March 19-21 in the Garden State Exhibit Center at Somerset. I'll be doing a seminar on striper fishing with bunkers from both boat and shore that Saturday.  

By Al Ristori

March 06, 2010, 9:24PM

The Marine Fisheries Council held a groundbreaking meeting Thursday at the Toms River Township Office -- the first time in memory they strayed from South Jersey, where meetings are usually held in Galloway Township. Councilman Pat Donnelly of Point Pleasant said the meeting was a great success, with over 100 members of the public showing up to watch the Council in action. Fluke regulations were the main order of business, and that's what brought out so many anglers to the Central Jersey location.

As noted in Friday's column, most were in favor of the option that permitted a fluke season from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day, with the same 18-inch minimum and six-fish bag as last year. The Council also addressed the sea bass situation, though that's still up in the air because NMFS still hasn't put its stamp of approval on either the single season voted on by the ASMFC or the split season approved by the Mid-Atlantic Council. Donnelly said the Council preferred the split season, but temporarily went along with the ASMFC single season (May 22 to Sept. 12 with the same 12 1/2-inch minimum and 25-fish bag as last year) as that will apply to state waters if NMFS doesn't make a decision as to which alternative would be most appropriate to apply to both state and federal waters. The Council can make a change at their next meeting.

The Council also adopted the one weakfish bag limit, though there was no other option since that's required coastwise by the Weakfish Management Plan.

The RFA reports that on the issue of coastal sharks, the Council moved forward with approving measures to bring the state in compliance with the ASMFC Interstate Coastal Sharks Fishery Management Plan.  Recently found to be out of compliance with the plan, New Jersey's anglers face a potential moratorium during the coming season.  One of the major hurdles cleared was a closure of Large Coastal Sharks (bull, hammerheads, nurse, sandbar, tiger, et. al.) during the spring "pupping" season.  New Jersey's recreational anglers primarily target mako, thresher and blue sharks -- pelagic sharks to which the "pupping" closure would not apply. New Jersey submitted a timeline for compliance to the Dept. of Commerce and expects to hear word next week whether a moratorium will be imposed on the state's fishery for 2010. The RFA-NJ Chapter submitted a letter as part of the state's efforts to avoid a moratorium.

By Al Ristori

March 05, 2010, 12:23PM

Following is the balance of Friday's column at didn't make print, including all the weekend fishing news:

Anglers may actually get a break in the weather that will permit comfortable offshore fishing this weekend, though water temperatures remain at mid-winter lows.

At Point Pleasant, Capt. Bobby Bogan found those temperatures were down to 36 degrees when he fished 20-mile wrecks Sunday with his Gambler from Point Pleasant. A few small cod were boated along with large ling. Jim Custer of Edison bagged 10 ling, and Steve Otkel from Garwood added four ling to his 6-pound cod. The Gambler is sailing open to those wrecks from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., except from Monday to Wednesday, when the target is blackfish.

Capt. Jeff Gutman has switched tonight’s sailing of his Voyager from Block Island to a NE wrecks trip at the reduced fare of $200. Gutman noted that the Block Island codfishery hasn’t been consistent. He’ll also be running an open trip for $90 at 6 a.m. Sunday to 20-to-40-mile cod wrecks. Last Sunday’s trip produced over 100 cod, of which about ¾ were keepers. Bruce Harbac of Keansberg topped the catch with a 37-pound cod. Shawn Meyer, Dave Marshall and Joe Grabowski from Clifton combined for 15 cod up to 17 pounds. Vinny Faiella of Little Silver bagged five to 10 pounds, and Archie Stewart from Nutley had five to 8 pounds. 

At Brielle, Capt. Howard Bogan Jr. will be sailing his Jamaica by reservation (732 528-5014) to 60-to-80-mile wrecks to the northeast for cod over the weekend, leaving at 11:30 the night before. The Jamaica didn’t get out last weekend, but sailed Tuesday to catch cod up to 15 pounds. The high hook had 10 cod, a 35-pound pollock, and some ling.  

Capt. Ken Gallop of Big Kid is continuing to charter from Brielle Yacht Club during the winter. He put the Roman Pera party into some cod and ling on Sunday.

 

The U.S. will be supporting Monaco’s call for an end to international trade in bluefin tuna at the upcoming CITES meeting in Doha, Qatar. Domestic sales could continue in the U.S., where ICCAT conservation regulations have been observed, and recreational tuna fishing shouldn’t be affected.  Various sharks are also being proposed for the ban in international trade, but the Dept. of the Interior has indicated they will not support including spiny dogfish in that group. 

The Fishermen’s Conservation Association (FCA) is working hard for a bill (S4948) in the N.Y. Senate that would continue the prohibition on commercial fishing for striped bass in the Hudson River. Shad gillnetters are trying to get into that fishery since their target species is now protected due to a crash of the stocks.

Jeff Merrill reports Miss Annie, owned by Barry Weshnak of Point Pleasant, has had productive winter in Florida. Miss Annie participated in the Palm Beach Double Shot that’s actually two tournaments in one, including the Buccaneer Cup Sailfish Release Tournament and the Florida Fish for Life Billfish Tournament.  The events are run concurrently in late January each year out of Sailfish Marina on Singer Island in Palm Beach Shores, Florida and always attract the best boats and crews.  Miss Annie was the top boat in this event in 2009, winning both tournaments with a combined catch of 46 sailfish.  The sailfish bite had been on fire along Florida’s Gold Coast leading up to the tournaments, and they continued to respond.  Captain Matt Rabenstine was at the wheel, and mate Luke Hickey of Cape May handled cockpit duty as Weshnak was joined by tournament regulars Frank Napurano of Point Pleasant, Mark Donohue of West Palm Beach and Greg Bogdan of Singer Island, Florida. 

 

Day One found Miss Annie heading north off Fort Pierce where the event got off to a fast start. By day’s end, the crew had released 17 sailfish including six by Donohue.  On Day Two, Miss Annie returned to the same area, where the crew released 13 sailfish. Once again, Donohue was high hook with five sailfish releases.  The final day saw the crew release 14 sailfish, as Bogdan had the hot hand with five sailfish releases -- including the last of the tournament.  Miss Annie finished just off the leader board, as sails trolled with balao received double points, but the crew’s 44 sailfish caught on live bait was the most released by any boat in the tournament!

 

The Miss Annie is a custom rigged 52’ Viking, that’s available for charter at Sailfish Marina through May.  Night swordfishing and extended trips to the Bahamas can also be arranged.  For further information or to request a brochure, contact Captain Matt Rabenstine at 561-927-7967, or by email at miss-annie@bytheshore.com -- or visit on the web at www.missanniecharters.com.      

END

By Al Ristori

March 04, 2010, 7:28PM

The Marine Fisheries Council, meeting in Toms River Thursday, approved summer flounder regulations for the upcoming season that are only slightly different than last year’s — providing the same six fluke at the identical 18-inch minimum, but during a somewhat longer season from May 29 to Sept. 6.

Other options, approved earlier by the Summer Flounder Technical Committee, would have provided more of a September season.

Surfcasting pro Paul Haertel initiated approval of those options that would have allowed fishing during the period when large fluke are most common and when beach fishermen have a legitimate shot at a keeper.

They still wouldn’t have done me any good last year, when the only large fluke I caught in the surf was a 19-incher that hit a Vision Rainfish teaser Dec. 16 at Brick Beach.

The attraction of a season including both Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends without having to increase the minimum size drew support from both southern and northern areas. It was the alternate favored by the Council’s Advisory Panel.

A slightly smaller allocation last year had made it necessary to choose between the two weekends.

The Marine Fisheries Council meets in South Jersey and public comments there were heavily in favor of a Memorial Day weekend opening as fluking starts earlier to the south. The central meeting location in Toms River Thursday balanced the scale in terms of input from northern areas.

An increase to 18 1/2 inches could have resulted in a season stretching to Sept. 26, but there was little support for increasing a minimum that’s proven so difficult to attain.

Dropping the bag limit to four would have added only six days to the beginning of the season selected.

The 33rd annual World Fishing & Outdoor Expo opened Thursday at Rockland Community College Field House in Suffern, N.Y. It continues through Sunday. The largest sportsmen’s show in our area features displays from most of the world’s top fishing tackle manufacturers. Shimano is introducing its PowerPro Ace-Hollow braided line that permits splicing, as well as the Talica conventional reels that rep Dick Kondak found to be quite capable of handling large school bluefins last summer. Shimano also has many incentives for buying their products from retailers exhibiting at the Expo. Seminars and other attractions fill the field house.

Paul Fuller, who now produces this show for the American Sportfishing Association, faced a massive snowstorm during his first year at Suffern. Hardly anyone was able to get there until the closing day, and I doubted he’d be back. Yet, Fuller stuck it out to develop a huge Expo while also having pretty good luck with the weather ever since. There’s free parking for this event that has a $12 admission price for adults, $3 for children 5-11 and no charge for those under 5. Hours are 1-9 p.m. today, 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. tomorrow, and 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Visit sportshows.com for directions and other information.

Greg Vongas capped off a fine year at the Hi-Mar Striper Club annual Awards Dinner Sunday at The Channel Club in Monmouth Beach. His 10.2-pound doormat took the fluke category while also contributing to weigh-ins of a variety of species that earned him the Angler of the Year award.

Vongas additionally won in winter flounder with a 2.3-pound entry, and had the largest tagged striper of 39 1/2 inches on Capt. Alan Beneroff’s Net Keeper. Beneroff took boat honors for the most tagged and released stripers.

Capt. Brian Rice caught the largest striper at 40 pounds. Gene Graman led in bluefish at 12 pounds on That’s It, and Billy Rowan was tops in blackfish with a 9.89-pounder. Bob Kamienski was named Sportsperson of the Year for his many services to the club.

The U.S. will be supporting Monaco’s call for an end to international trade in bluefin tuna at the upcoming CITES meeting in Doha, Qatar. Domestic sales could continue in the U.S., where ICCAT conservation regulations have been observed, and recreational tuna fishing shouldn’t be affected.

Various sharks are also being proposed for the ban in international trade, but the Dept. of the Interior has indicated they will not support including spiny dogfish in that group.

The Fishermen’s Conservation Association (FCA) is working hard for a bill (S4948) in the N.Y. Senate that would continue the prohibition on commercial fishing for striped bass in the Hudson River. Shad gillnetters are trying to get into that fishery since their target species is now protected due to a crash of the stocks.

Top catches

Anglers may actually get a break in the weather that will permit comfortable offshore fishing this weekend, though water temperatures remain at mid-winter lows.

At Point Pleasant, Capt. Bobby Bogan found those temperatures were down to 36 degrees when he fished 20-mile wrecks Sunday with his Gambler from Point Pleasant. A few small cod were boated along with large ling. Jim Custer of Edison bagged 10 ling, and Steve Otkel from Garwood added four ling to his 6-pound cod. The Gambler is sailing open to those wrecks from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., except from Monday to Wednesday, when the target is blackfish.

Capt. Jeff Gutman has switched Friday night’s sailing of his Voyager from Block Island to a NE wrecks trip at the reduced fare of $200. Gutman noted that the Block Island codfishery hasn’t been consistent. He’ll also be running an open trip for $90 at 6 a.m. Sunday to 20-to-40-mile cod wrecks.

Last Sunday’s trip produced over 100 cod, of which about three-quarters were keepers. Bruce Harbac of Keansberg topped the catch with a 37-pound cod. Shawn Meyer, Dave Marshall and Joe Grabowski from Clifton combined for 15 cod up to 17 pounds. Vinny Faiella of Little Silver bagged five to 10 pounds, and Archie Stewart from Nutley had five to 8 pounds.
 
At Brielle, Capt. Howard Bogan Jr. will be sailing his Jamaica by reservation (732 528-5014) to 60-to-80-mile wrecks to the northeast for cod over the weekend, leaving at 11:30 the night before. The Jamaica didn’t get out last weekend, but sailed Tuesday to catch cod up to 15 pounds. The high hook had 10 cod, a 35-pound pollock, and some ling.
 
Capt. Ken Gallop of Big Kid is continuing to charter from Brielle Yacht Club during the winter. He put the Roman Pera party into some cod and ling on Sunday.

Jeff Merrill reports Miss Annie, owned by Barry Weshnak of Point Pleasant, has had a productive winter in Florida. Miss Annie participated in the Palm Beach Double Shot that’s actually two tournaments in one, including the Buccaneer Cup Sailfish Release Tournament and the Florida Fish for Life Billfish Tournament. The events are run concurrently in late January each year out of Sailfish Marina on Singer Island in Palm Beach Shores, Florida and always attract the best boats and crews.

Miss Annie was the top boat in this event in 2009, winning both tournaments with a combined catch of 46 sailfish. The sailfish bite had been on fire along Florida’s Gold Coast leading up to the tournaments, and they continued to respond. Captain Matt Rabenstine was at the wheel, and mate Luke Hickey of Cape May handled cockpit duty as Weshnak was joined by tournament regulars Frank Napurano of Point Pleasant, Mark Donohue of West Palm Beach and Greg Bogdan of Singer Island, Florida.
 
Day One found Miss Annie heading north off Fort Pierce where the event got off to a fast start. By day’s end, the crew had released 17 sailfish including six by Donohue. On Day Two, Miss Annie returned to the same area, where the crew released 13 sailfish. Once again, Donohue was high hook with five sailfish releases. The final day saw the crew release 14 sailfish, as Bogdan had the hot hand with five sailfish releases — including the last of the tournament. Miss Annie finished just off the leader board, as sails trolled with balao received double points, but the crew’s 44 sailfish caught on live bait was the most released by any boat in the tournament!

The Miss Annie is a custom rigged 52’ Viking, that’s available for charter at Sailfish Marina through May. Night swordfishing and extended trips to the Bahamas can also be arranged. For further information or to request a brochure, contact Captain Matt Rabenstine at 561-927-7967, or by email at miss-annie@bytheshore.com — or visit on the web at www.missanniecharters.com.

By Al Ristori

March 04, 2010, 11:20AM

The N.J. Marine Fisheries Council holds a meeting today at 4 p.m. in the Toms River Township Office at 33 Washington Street. The most important item on the agenda involves setting summer flounder regulations for 2010. The appoved options have been listed in previous blogs. The Advisory Panel was generally inclined toward retaining the 18-inch minimum and six-fish bag limit while expanding the season somewhat by opening on Memorial Day weekend and continuing through Labor Day. The public will be heard at the meeting, but time is limited and complaining about the Management Plan in general will be unproductive as the Council has no control over that. Theoretically, the councilmen should vote for what's best for the entire state, but there's no representative from north of Manasquan Inlet -- and during Council meetings in South Jersey there's been a tendency for dates favoring the early season there to prevail. An increase in minimum length to 18 1/2 inches would considerably extend the season, but reducing the bag limit to four would only gain a couple of days. Surfcasters are pushing for a later spring opening that would permit fishing later in September. That still might not do me any good since the only large fluke I caught in the surf last year was a 19-incher on December 17 at Brick Beach. Those making comments should restrict themselves to only the approved options. The Council can only select among those approved by the Technical Committee as meeting the Management Plan's requirements. I suspect that the Memorial Day to Labor Day weekends season will find the greatest support. Sea bass regulations will also be discussed.

I'll be covering the opening of the World Fishing & Outdoor Expo at Rockland Community College Field House in Suffern, N.Y. today. The biggest Sportsmen's Show in our area opens its doors at 2 p.m. and runs to 9 before continuing through Sunday. Visit sportshows.com for info.