Gillibrand calls for new flounder survey

There may be a lot more summer flounder off Long Island, but commercial and recreational fishermen won't know one way or another unless the federal government conducts another survey of the local waters, something it has not done since 2008.

That's why Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), has jumped into the waters on the issue of summer flounder, also known as fluke, calling earlier this week on U.S. Commerce Secretary John Bryson "to immediately update the years-old national study assessing the population." Gillibrand said that the study "could impact quotas for Long Island fishermen."

Gillibrand's request is hardly the first time the issue of a new study has come up. There have been other requests, including one from Sen. CharlesSchumer (D-N.Y.), and even a lawsuit filed in 2009 by then state Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo, which charged that the federal government's summer flounder regulations were based on "obsolete science" and unfairly penalize the state's fishing industry.

In her letter to Bryson, Gillibrand said, "Science that regulates our fisheries should be both accurate and timely, and further delay is simply unacceptable."

A Commerce spokesman said in a statement, "We have received the letter from Sen. Gillibrand . . . and will respond in a timely manner."

Bonnie Brady, executive director of the Long Island Commercial Fishing Association, which represents about 75 fishing boats, said a "stock assessment" was supposed to have been conducted in 2011 but got "bumped" for another task. Brady and Eric Powell, a fisheries researcher at Rutgers University in New Jersey, say improved methodology has been developed for such studies.

There's a reasonable chance a new study will result in higher fishing limits, Powell said.

Jim Hutchinson, president of the New York Sport Fishing Association, said the fact a new study has not been conducted has frustrated local anglers. "We're looking at a very healthy stock," Hutchinson said. "It's not overfished. The size of the stock is said to be higher than in the last 30 years."