Flounder flap tangles fishos

A ROW with an appointee of President Donald Trump’s administration over the regulation of flounder fishing off New Jersey jeopardises conservation of marine species along the East Coast, interstate fishing managers said this week

A row over flounder fishing threatens the conservation of marine species along the East Coast. Picture: AL McGLASHAN

A ROW with an appointee of President Donald Trump’s administration over the regulation of flounder fishing off New Jersey jeopardises conservation of marine species along the East Coast, interstate fishing managers said this week.

The flatfish in question is the summer flounder, which is popular with sport fishermen and commercial fishermen from Maine to Florida.

The regulatory Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission announced in June that it had found New Jersey out of compliance with management of the summer flounder fishery.

But Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross needed to sign off on the ruling, and he instead reversed it. The commission said in a statement that Ross’ ruling represents the first time since passage of the Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Management Act in 1993 that a commerce secretary has failed to uphold such a noncompliance recommendation.

Ross’ ruling has the potential to soften the regulatory authority of the commission, which is tasked with managing fisheries along the coast, said Toni Kerns, director of the interstate fisheries management program for the Atlantic States.

The Atlantic States found that New Jersey was not implementing conservation measures, and Ross could have called for a federal moratorium on fishing for summer flounder in New Jersey’s state waters, Kerns said.

Instead, his reversal sends a message that Atlantic States’ rulings lack teeth, she said.