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Washington, D.C. --- U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., sent the following letter today to George Lapointe, Chairman of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission and Richard Robins, Chairman of the Mid Atlantic Fishery Management Council (MAFMC).
Pallone expressed his support for the MAFMC’s and the Science and Statistical Committee’s recommendations of a 22.13 million pound total allowable catch level for the 2010 fishing year for summer flounder. This recommendation is nearly a 17 percent increase from last year and reflects the rebuilding success of the summer flounder stock. The New Jersey congressman believes that because of this success, it is important that the fishing community be given the chance to access the higher limits of the SSC recommendation in the 2010 fishing season.
September 9, 2009
Richard B. Robins, Jr., Chairman
Mid Atlantic Fishery Management Council
300 S. New Street, Room 2115
Dover, DE 19904-6790
George D. Lapointe, Chairman
Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission
1444 Eye Street, NW 6th Floor
Washington, DC 20005
Dear Chairmen Robins and Lapointe:
I am writing to express my support for the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council's (MAFMC) and the Science and Statistical Committee's (SSC) recent recommendations of a 22.13 million pound total allowable landing level for the 2010 fishing year for summer flounder.
The 22.13 million pound recommendation represents a 16.7-percent increase from last year. The recommended total allowable landings reflects the continued rebuilding success of the summer flounder stock and based on the most recent modeling improvements made during the 2008 benchmark assessment, will allow the stock to meet the rebuilding schedule. With the fluke stock rebuilding with such success, it is important that the fishing community be given full opportunity to access up to the upper bounds of the SSC recommendation.
I am encouraged that the SSC has determined that good progress continues to be made in this important fishery. However, recreational anglers continue to have more restrictive management measures imposed as the stock rebuilds. The unfortunate result is excessive regulatory discarding and decreased angler satisfaction, which ultimately has negative socio-economic impacts on the coastal communities along the Mid-Atlantic.
The best way to address this continuing problem is to pass the Flexibility in Rebuilding American Fisheries Act of 2009 (HR 1584), which I introduced earlier this year in the U.S. House of Representatives. This legislation will provide a measure of flexibility in the rebuilding periods in order to help keep fishing communities economically viable, without compromising the ultimate rebuilding goal.
Thank you for your attention to this matter. I look forward to discussing this with you further.
Sincerely,
FRANK PALLONE, JR.
Member of Congress
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