The Council and Board adopted coastwide management measures for the 2011 recreational black sea bass fishery. These measures in federal waters would include a 10 fish possession limit, a 10.5-inch total length (TL) minimum fish size, and an open season July 6 to September 26. Based on the associated recreational harvest of 5.74 million pounds, the Council and Board adopted status quo (same as 2010) measures for federal and state waters in 2011 for scup. Although the Council and Board had agreed to a lower TAL in August, they agreed the revised TAL recommendation would more effectively accommodate the region’s vibrant recreational scup fishery while staying within the maximum sustainable yield for this stock. Conservation equivalency would require states to develop and implement state-specific management measures (i.e., possession limits, size limits, and seasons) to achieve the harvest limit for their state.Īfter considerable discussion of the proposed recreational harvest limit and the status of the scup stock, the Council and Board voted to increase the 2011 Total Allowable Landing Level (TAL) for scup to about 26 million pounds, an increase of 92% relative to the 2010 level. This harvest limit (11.44 million pounds), approved in August by the Council and Board, represents a 33% increase relative to the limit implemented in 2010. The Council and Board adopted the use of conservation equivalency to achieve the recreational harvest limit for summer flounder in 2011. The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) met with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s (ASMFC) Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass Board (Board) on December 15 in in Virginia Beach, VA to recommend and adopt recreational management measures for summer flounder, scup, and black sea bass. May 22 to October 11 and November 1 to December 31 2011. If I am correct, it seems the Black Sea Bass regulations will be the same in 2011 as they were in 2010. Please pay attention to the second to last paragraph. Received: 8:47 PM Subject: A note from NOAA Fisheries on Black Sea Bass for 2011īelow is some information that a gentleman from NOAA Fisheries sent me today.