New Yorkers will get a better deal on fluke regulations

For most of the last decade local anglers have seen a cloud of anxiety shadow the opening of fluke season because of ever-tightening regulations. This year things are different.

Although new regulations have yet to be officially adopted in New York State, a fluke season of May 17 to Sept. 21, minimum size limit of 18 inches, and reasonable daily creel limit of five fish should be ratified shortly by the state legislature.

With fluke now managed from a regional perspective that pools the quota between New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, the same size and creel limits will apply to anglers from our neighboring states for the first time in a decade.

"This is a great start," said Sen. Charles E. Schumer in a telephone interview last week, "but we can't stop here. The current legislation brings fairness to fluke quotas and regulations throughout our region, but it is in effect for one year only and must be reapproved to continue in 2015. That's one reason I'm pushing forward with the Fluke Fairness Act I announced last fall."

According to Schumer, the Fluke Fairness Act will be included in a bipartisan proposal to reauthorize the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the federal law that governs the nation's fisheries. The reauthorization proposal is sponsored by Senators March Begich (D-Ark.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and should be introduced to the Senate within weeks. The purpose of the rule is to permanently level the playing field for all fluke anglers along the East Coast by requiring federal regulators to use the best science and most up-to-date data when making fisheries management decisions.

"This is a goal we've worked toward for a long time: to build fluke fairness into the underlying fisheries bill," Schumer said. "Passage of the bill would mean New York's fluke fans would no longer have to battle year after year to maintain their gains."

According to the senator, The Fluke Fairness Act will bring about the merger of common sense and science. "The first part," he said, "has been missing from [fluke] regulation for too long and the second has been faulty. In the long run, it will make the pie [fluke quota] bigger because current information will replace the admittedly flawed data from 1998 that has been used to chart the management course."

Not only will the pie get bigger, reasons the senator, but New York should get a larger slice of a quota that better reflects the growing fluke population and a northward shift of the stock. East End captains would certainly benefit from this, having been severely shortchanged on their big doormat run of early May. A larger share of the pie could allow expansion of the season to include this important phenomenon.

"I am committed to helping our New York fishermen in every way," Schumer said. "Fishing is a great industry -- a great sport -- and it helps make Long Island the wonderful place that it is."

Some fluke can be taken

Although fluke will remain off limits to private anglers through mid-May, some open boats possess Research Set Aside permits (RSAs) allowing them to target summer flatties during the closed season. For an early jump on the toothy flatfish check out Capt. Lou (captloufleet.com), Laura Lee (captree.com), Captree Princess (captreeprincess.com) or Rosie (rosiefishing.com.)

Email: outdoortom@optonline.net

Updated to correct dates of fluke season.