Gov. Phil Murphy today closed New Jersey state parks and forests plus county parks due to instances of groups gathering in some areas over the weekend in violation of the state’s social distancing requirement during the pandemic.
Murphy never mentioned the Wildlife Management Areas, and I haven’t seen any mention of them in his executive order or his press release — though they were noted in the blurb preceding the release. Since Wildlife Management Areas are lands administered by the DEP. I assume they are also closed.
Chuck Many got his Ty Man back from the winter fishery in Virginia and got into even better volume fishing today in Raritan Bay. Fishing alone, he went through 60 live bunkers in four hours while releasing 27 bass up to 24 pounds!
Jerry Lasko and Maren Toleno got into small stripers in the Island Beach State Park surf this morning before finding out that was their last shot there for some time. Maren released 17 of the 11-14-inchers, but Jerry had the “big” bass of 20 inches among his three. Small paddletails did the job.
The morning marine forecast is for southwest winds at 5-10 knots with possible showers and thunderstorms. The wind shifts to northwest in the afternoon.
The following releases from NOAA Fisheries details what they are doing to encourage the “dirty” practice of longlining that kills gamefish and birds as well as targeted species by opening up closed areas which have greatly improved billfish and bluefin tuna stocks. Longliners have been trying to get into the closed areas under the pretense of research for years, and NOAA Fisheries seems to be giving in while trying to make it look like a conservation project. Read the release carefully and see what you think.
New Requirements Protect Bluefin Tuna, Expand Opportunities in Other Fisheries
March 30, 2020
The measures remove one closed area, adjust management measures for two other areas, and change a gear requirement in the Gulf of Mexico. They are in part a response to the success of our Atlantic bluefin tuna catch share program in reducing bycatch.

Atlantic bluefin tuna. Photo by Rob Atherton/Getty Images.
Today, NOAA Fisheries announced measures that provide more fishing opportunities for vessels targeting Atlantic swordfish and some tuna species. We will continue under these measures to protect bluefin tuna from overfishing.
The changes give fishermen using pelagic longlines access to new fishing areas originally closed to reduce the number of bluefin caught unintentionally. Under the new rules, longline fishermen in the Gulf of Mexico are also required to use weak hooks only when bluefin tuna are spawning. This means they are only required to use them January through June rather than year-round.
Regardless of where or when they fish, longline fishermen are still not allowed to target bluefin tuna. They can keep some caught unintentionally, but they have to stay within their individual allocation of the U.S. bluefin quota. This allows them to fish for economically valuable species like swordfish and other tunas while protecting bluefin.
The measures are in part a response to the success of the Individual Bluefin Quota (IBQ) Program in reducing bluefin bycatch. We also designed the measures to help reverse a trend of underharvesting the U.S. swordfish quota.
“The success of the IBQ Program has allowed us to simplify and streamline Atlantic HMS management,” said Randy Blankinship, who leads the group responsible for managing Atlantic bluefin in the United States. “With this rule, we are optimizing fishing opportunities for pelagic longline fishermen while continuing to manage and conserve bluefin tuna through the IBQ program and other management measures.”
The Number of U.S.-Caught Swordfish is Falling
Every country that fishes for North Atlantic swordfish is given an annual quota by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT). The collective total is set at a level to ensure nations don’t harvest swordfish faster than the population can be replenished.
The baseline quota for the United States is 2,937 metric tons a year. U.S. fishermen harvest just a fraction of that. In fact, domestic swordfish landings have fallen almost every year since 2012. In 2018, for example, we only harvested 34 percent of our quota.
Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Atlantic Yellowfin Tuna
Wow can’t believe that they pay someone to make this shit up! We know for sure longlines kill non targeted species and by their very nature are bad for our fishery. Sorry they chose this.
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