A good sign for us moving foward:
NOAA Administrator Dr. Jane Lubchenco has committed to take a fresh look at NOAA’s relationship with the angling community. “Saltwater recreational fishing is among the most popular outdoor sports in America with anglers representing one of NOAA’s largest organized constituencies. Not only are anglers stewards of our ocean, they contribute greatly to the economic vitality of our coastal communities,” said Lubchenco. “For these reasons, I believe it is in NOAA’s best interests to adopt polices and practices that will protect ocean ecosystems and ensure one of America’s most treasured pastimes endures for future generations.”

As a first step, Dr. Lubchenco will create a new position of senior policy advisor for recreational fishing that will report directly to the assistant administrator for NOAA Fisheries and be charged with addressing the interests of the recreational community. A recreational fishing summit will provide a forum to identify issues of concern and possible solutions. This national meeting will be followed by a series of joint problem-solving roundtables to identify roadblocks to an improved relationship and to design reasonable solutions. NOAA’s Marine Fisheries Advisory Committee will be asked to organize and provide authoritative and comprehensive national policy advice from marine recreational stakeholders.

For more information, contact NOAA Communications and Legislative Affairs at 202-482-4640.

Great new site to find out who is polluting in your state or town put together by the New York Times. I checked our town where we live and where Lateral Line HQ is located, Easton MD and found a lot of surprises. Check you area and contact the people who are polluting your water! Check out the site here

Striped Bass, Bluefish, Ablies and Bonita (aka Bones) fishing is busting loose in the Northeast! The last few days there has been some bad weather which has kept anglers off the water, but before that it’s been pretty wide open for light tackle and fly anglers. Full details below….let’s roll!

Northeast Saltwater Fisheries News
There are striped bass hearings coming to your state regarding the topic of allowing North Carolina to roll over their commercial quota on a yearly basis, ASMFC refers to it as Addendum II. You need to read this and make your position known. Click here for full details and dates of meetings.

Northeast Saltwater Fishing Reports
*note the northeast fishing reports work their way up the coast from south to north starting with New Jersey.

New Jersey Saltwater Fishing Reports

Capt. Byan DiLio from Iowa Fortune Guide Service fishing in and around Ocean City and Atlantic City reported in:
Extreme weather had me blown out all week. will be back on the water starting this weekend.Have a great week end. Bryan

The Beach Haven Charter Boat Association reported in from Beach Haven:
The captains of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association are making the preparations for the upcoming shift from summer to fall fishing. Captain Adam Nowalski of the “Karen Ann” reports he will be targeting sea bass and croakers in September.Captain Adam says the drop in air temperatures will soon bring a drop in water temperatures provoking a hotter bite from the sea bass. He also is looking for some good croaker action in the ocean. Meanwhile Captain George Finck of “Sparetime Charters” had Richard and Allison Trosko and their two sons out for a half day fishing trip in the bay. The boys had a nice catch of bluefish, really enjoyed the steady action. Captain Fran Verdi of the “Dropoff” is already planning to start fishing for Continue Reading »

Virginia Marine Resources (VMRC) 2009 Saltwater  Fishing Tournament Leading Entries for the week ending September 11, 2009 .Click on the image for a larger view of the fishing tournament leaders.

Better watch this issue. If you can attend in your state you should

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States Schedule Public Hearings on Striped Bass Draft Addendum II

Draft Addendum II proposes to allow unused coastal commercial quota of striped bass to be rolled over from one year to the next. Options include state eligibility and the amount of unused quota that may be carried over. The Draft Addendum also outlines procedures for implementing and monitoring quota roll over.

The existing management program addresses coastal commercial quota overages, requiring payback of an overage in the subsequent year, yet it is silent on coastal commercial quota underages. While avoiding a quota overage signifies managerial success, a quota underage represents lost opportunity to commercial harvesters. Quota underages may result from changes in fish abundance or distribution, environmental factors, fishing effort, and regulatory measures.

The Draft Addendum presents a hypothetical situation to analyze the potential effect of allowing roll over. Had all unused coastal commercial quota in 2003 through 2007 been rolled over and then harvested in 2004 through 2008, the average increase in the total coastal commercial quota would have been less than 15 percent and the average increase in the total coastwide harvest less than two percent. An analysis by the Technical Committee indicated that a 15 percent increase in the coastal commercial quotas would have a limited effect on the fishing mortality rate, and that large fluctuations in recreational harvest, which is not regulated by quota, present a greater level of risk of exceeding the fishing mortality target or threshold. However, the Technical Committee also noted that the potential effect of roll over on the stock increases if quota underages occur due to population decline. Other concerns included the two to three year lag in reporting the fishing mortality rate estimate for any given year and that allowing roll over could provide an incentive to under report harvest.

Fishermen and other interested groups are encouraged to provide input on Draft Addendum II, either by Continue Reading »

The States of Maine and Maryland, and the Commonwealth of Virginia have scheduled their hearings to gather public comment on Draft Addendum IV to Amendment 1 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Menhaden. The dates, times, and locations of the scheduled meetings follow. Please note that some states will also be conducting hearings on other ASMFC proposed species management actions.

Maine Department of Marine Resources
October 5, 2009; 6 PM
Freeport Community Library
10 Library Drive
Freeport, Maine
Contact: Terry Stockwell at (207) 624-6553
* Public comment will also be gathered on Shad Draft Amendment 3 and Striped Bass Draft Addendum II

Maryland Dept. of Natural Resources
October 6, 2009; 5:30 – 9:00 PM
Tawes State Office Building, C1 Conference Room
580 Taylor Avenue
Annapolis, Maryland
Contact: Alexei Sharov 410-260-8288
* Public comment will also be gathered on Shad Draft Amendment 3 and Striped Bass Draft Addendum II

Virginia Marine Resources Commission
September 29, 2009; 6 PM
2600 Washington Avenue, 4th Floor
Newport News, Virginia.
Contact: Jack Travelstead at (757) 247-2247

Draft Addendum IV proposes extending the Chesapeake Bay reduction fishery harvest cap, established through Addendum III, for an additional three years (2011 – 2013). Under the proposed Addendum, the Board Continue Reading »

With all the traveling I have been doing and still being boatless I have not fished the Chesapeake all too much the last two months. Don called me the other day and asked if I wanted to hit the middle bay with him and do a little saltwater fly fishing, I took him up on the his offer. We launched out of Claiborne boat ramp around 3:00pm just at the top end of the incoming tide and headed to Poplar Island area in hope of finding some fly rod action. There were birds everywhere, first few cast we picked up some punk striped bass on the east side of the island. . Ran into old friend from the CBBT, Brian, who said he had been out since morning and had a great bite fly fishing the whole time. We visited for a while and then he headed to the barn and we headed over to the west side. Messed around with ton of birds and more punk striped bass. Ran into a few more friends who were having some luck on light tackle and the fly rod. We fished this area for a while and then the tide quit, when it quit so did the fish, well at least we lost track of them. Hung out and chilled for a while and then as the tide started so did the fish. By this time there were a few more boats around and between all the running around they were doing in the shallower water it was hard to stay on top of the stripers. So we took a chance and ran south of Poplar, the gamble paid off and we found acres of birds and breaking stripers and spanish and Continue Reading »

Virginia Marine Resources (VMRC) 2009 Saltwater  Fishing Tournament Leading Entries for the week of September 3 ,2009 .Click on the image for a larger view of the leaders.