Feb. 25, 2010
Vol. 40, No. 52

For more information contact Craig Shirey, 302-739-9914, or Rick Cole, 302-739-4782, Fisheries Section, or Joanna Wilson, Public Affairs, 302-739-9902.

Summer flounder regulations to be topic of March 23 public hearing
Written public comments to be accepted March 3 through 31 

The DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife will hold a public hearing at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 23 regarding proposed amendments to the Tidal Finfish Regulations concerning summer flounder. The hearing will be held in the DNREC auditorium, Richardson and Robbins Building, 89 Kings Highway, Dover.

Delaware is obligated to cap the summer flounder recreational harvest at 80,000 fish for 2010. The harvest cap has been adjusted up from the previous year’s level of 65,000 fish because the latest scientific stock assessment data indicates that overfishing is not occurring and stock biomass continues to increase and rebuild.

Four management options that include potential minimum size limits ranging from 18.5 to 19 inches with creel limits that range from two to four fish will be presented. In addition, two of the four options will include open seasons as part of the management plan. These four options are designed to restrict the recreational summer flounder harvest in Delaware during 2010 to ensure that the 80,000-fish harvest cap is not exceeded. These options have been reviewed, analyzed and approved by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Summer Flounder Technical Committee and determined to meet the analytical specifications as required under the Commission’s conservation equivalency program for summer flounder.