Bill Text: NJ AR205 | 2016-2017 | Regular Session | Introduced


Bill Title: Urges President-Elect Trump to reject federal rule reducing summer flounder catch limits.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-01-19 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee [AR205 Detail]

Download: New_Jersey-2016-AR205-Introduced.html

ASSEMBLY RESOLUTION No. 205

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

217th LEGISLATURE

 

INTRODUCED JANUARY 19, 2017

 


 

Sponsored by:

Assemblyman  DAVID P. RIBLE

District 30 (Monmouth and Ocean)

 

 

 

 

SYNOPSIS

     Urges President-Elect Trump to reject federal rule reducing summer flounder catch limits.

 

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

     As introduced.

  


An Assembly Resolution urging President-Elect Trump to reject the National Marine Fisheries Service's rule reducing summer flounder catch limits for the upcoming season.

 

Whereas, Summer flounder are among the most sought after recreational and commercial fish along the Atlantic Coast and, in particular, New Jersey; and

Whereas, Summer flounder fisheries are managed cooperatively by the states through the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) and the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (MAFMC); and

Whereas, Together, these managing entities are responsible for developing summer flounder fishery regulations as part of the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fishery Management Plan; and

Whereas, The management plan is implemented through regulations adopted by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), a division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) within the Department of Commerce; and

Whereas, The management plan is designed to ensure the protection and maintenance of the summer flounder stock, primarily through the establishment of recreational and commercial harvest limits, which are based on the most current stock assessment report published by NOAA; and

Whereas, Based on the 2016 Stock Assessment Update, ASMFC and MAFMC have recommended a 40 percent cut in catch limits for the 2017 summer flounder fishing season; and

Whereas, Highlighting NOAA's heavy reliance on random sampling to gather data for the 2016 stock assessment report, members of the New Jersey delegation to the United States Congress have expressed concern about the accuracy of the estimates contained in the report and have questioned the need to implement such a drastic reduction in catch limits for the upcoming season; and

Whereas, The Department of Environmental Protection has expressed similar concerns, warning that the drastic reduction in catch limits will devastate recreational and commercial fishing in New Jersey and have a detrimental effect on the economy of the New Jersey shore; and

Whereas, Despite significant opposition to the recommended reduction in summer flounder catch limits for the upcoming season, at the end of December 2016, NMFS adopted a rule implementing the recommended reduction in summer flounder catch limits; now, therefore,

 

     Be It Resolved by the General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

     1.  This House respectfully urges President-Elect Donald Trump to reject the joint recommendation of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission and the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council to reduce summer flounder catch limits for the 2017 season, by repealing, rescinding, or otherwise prohibiting the implementation of the rule adopted on December 22, 2016.

 

     2.  Copies of this resolution, as filed with the Secretary of State, shall be transmitted by the Clerk of the General Assembly to the President-Elect of the United States, the Chair of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, the Chairman of the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, the Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, the Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, and every member of Congress elected from the State of New Jersey.

 

 

STATEMENT

 

     This resolution urges President-Elect Donald Trump to reject the 40 percent reduction in summer flounder catch limits recommended jointly by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission and the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, by repealing, rescinding, or otherwise prohibiting the implementation of the rule adopted by the National Marine Fisheries Service on December 22, 2016.

     Concerned parties, including members of the New Jersey delegation to the United States Congress and the Department of Environmental Protection, warn that this significant reduction in catch limits could destroy the recreational and commercial summer flounder industries in the State, and cause tremendous harm to the economy of the New Jersey shore.

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