Starting tomorrow and for the next 2 1/2 weeks, New York anglers won't be allowed to catch summer flounder, the popular fish also known as fluke that has long been a major engine of Long Island's recreational fishing industry.
But not everyone's cooling their heels at the docks.
A select group of charter and party boats have paid for the right to take customers out fishing without interruption - even during the midseason closure intended to reduce New York's fluke catch.
Faced with the state's tightest-ever recreational harvest restrictions, those boats are turning to an unusual federal program that raises money for fisheries research by selling off a portion of the annual catch, usually to commercial boats.
But to some who don't participate, it looks more like a pay-to-play arrangement that unfairly privatizes a natural resource. And others say the program gives captains incentive and opportunity to cheat.
The mid-Atlantic Research Set-Aside Program also lends participants an economic edge - they can fish out of season, when demand is higher. Most buy the extra fishing rights at an outside auction run by the National Fisheries Institute, a seafood industry trade group based in McLean, Va.
Boats buy quotas Nearly two dozen for-hire boats from Long Island bought research quotas this year. For them, those hauls of fish could be a lifeline for an industry staggered by catch limits and high fuel prices.
"We could either let our customers go somewhere else, to some other state when it's closed . . . or say this is what I need to do to fish for fluke," said Mike Wasserman, a Freeport party boat captain who bid at the auction.
But some who didn't buy in say the program invites abuse.
"Nobody reports it," said Jack Passie, a Montauk charter boat captain. "If the game warden isn't sitting at my dock and counting every single fish, who's going to report it? That's like reporting yourself if you ran a red light."
In the past two years the popularity of the program has soared, largely driven by demand from New York fishermen, who face stricter harvest limits on species such as fluke than boats from neighboring states.
Auction draws 116 boats This year the auction drew 116 boats, mostly commercial. Of those, 104 received exempted fishing permits, more than double the number in 2008, according to the National Marine Fisheries Service. The auction also drew record participation from the recreational industry, including the party boat fleet.
State and federal regulators say the Research Set-Aside program produces valuable science that helps fisheries officials manage fish stocks better.
But the unprecedented burst of participation also has led to growing pains.
With five marine officers to enforce regulations in New York's sprawling marine district Bridge, the state Department of Environmental Conservation is concerned that it relies too much on captains to honestly report how much they have caught and stop fishing when their quota is filled.
The DEC's Steve Heins said some enforcement officers call the exempted fishing permits a "license to steal."
In their defense, commercial fishermen say reporting requirements are the same as for their regular fishing trips - a point federal regulators echo.
Still, the DEC has opened an investigation and seized records from one Montauk dock. "Suffice it to say that we are looking to eliminate cheaters from participation in the program, and some people will not be participating in the future," Heins said via e-mail.
The intense interest in this year's auction led to an unusual arrangement at the DEC. To help process the extra permits, a full-time person was hired by the NFI's scientific monitoring committee - which oversees the auction, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County. Classified by DEC as a volunteer, the person is paid $48,990 by the Extension, which does some work for the agency.
Program set up in 2001 The Research Set-Aside program was set up in 2001 by the mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, which regulates federal fisheries from New York to North Carolina. Scientists are granted a share of quota which they can then sell to pay for their projects. Some make arrangements directly with the fishing boats on which they do their research. Others use the auction devised by NFI's scientific monitoring committee to broker the fish.
Some have criticized the auction because bidders must pay an annual membership fee to the NFI committee that for most ranges from $500 to about $1,000. The auction is a private arrangement between NFI and those researchers who choose to use it, with no government oversight.
Daniel Cohen, a seafood processor in New Jersey who helped develop the auction, took pains to distinguish the 100-member committee - which focuses on fisheries research - from its parent group. The Institute advocates for the fishing and seafood industry's interests through lobbying and public relations campaigns.
Cohen said the entry fees "do not go to NFI," but to support the auction's infrastructure, such as the part-time salary of a Rutgers University scientist who operates it.
Copyright © 2009, Newsday Inc.
But not everyone's cooling their heels at the docks.
A select group of charter and party boats have paid for the right to take customers out fishing without interruption - even during the midseason closure intended to reduce New York's fluke catch.
Faced with the state's tightest-ever recreational harvest restrictions, those boats are turning to an unusual federal program that raises money for fisheries research by selling off a portion of the annual catch, usually to commercial boats.
But to some who don't participate, it looks more like a pay-to-play arrangement that unfairly privatizes a natural resource. And others say the program gives captains incentive and opportunity to cheat.
The mid-Atlantic Research Set-Aside Program also lends participants an economic edge - they can fish out of season, when demand is higher. Most buy the extra fishing rights at an outside auction run by the National Fisheries Institute, a seafood industry trade group based in McLean, Va.
Boats buy quotas Nearly two dozen for-hire boats from Long Island bought research quotas this year. For them, those hauls of fish could be a lifeline for an industry staggered by catch limits and high fuel prices.
"We could either let our customers go somewhere else, to some other state when it's closed . . . or say this is what I need to do to fish for fluke," said Mike Wasserman, a Freeport party boat captain who bid at the auction.
But some who didn't buy in say the program invites abuse.
"Nobody reports it," said Jack Passie, a Montauk charter boat captain. "If the game warden isn't sitting at my dock and counting every single fish, who's going to report it? That's like reporting yourself if you ran a red light."
In the past two years the popularity of the program has soared, largely driven by demand from New York fishermen, who face stricter harvest limits on species such as fluke than boats from neighboring states.
Auction draws 116 boats This year the auction drew 116 boats, mostly commercial. Of those, 104 received exempted fishing permits, more than double the number in 2008, according to the National Marine Fisheries Service. The auction also drew record participation from the recreational industry, including the party boat fleet.
State and federal regulators say the Research Set-Aside program produces valuable science that helps fisheries officials manage fish stocks better.
But the unprecedented burst of participation also has led to growing pains.
With five marine officers to enforce regulations in New York's sprawling marine district Bridge, the state Department of Environmental Conservation is concerned that it relies too much on captains to honestly report how much they have caught and stop fishing when their quota is filled.
The DEC's Steve Heins said some enforcement officers call the exempted fishing permits a "license to steal."
In their defense, commercial fishermen say reporting requirements are the same as for their regular fishing trips - a point federal regulators echo.
Still, the DEC has opened an investigation and seized records from one Montauk dock. "Suffice it to say that we are looking to eliminate cheaters from participation in the program, and some people will not be participating in the future," Heins said via e-mail.
The intense interest in this year's auction led to an unusual arrangement at the DEC. To help process the extra permits, a full-time person was hired by the NFI's scientific monitoring committee - which oversees the auction, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County. Classified by DEC as a volunteer, the person is paid $48,990 by the Extension, which does some work for the agency.
Program set up in 2001 The Research Set-Aside program was set up in 2001 by the mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, which regulates federal fisheries from New York to North Carolina. Scientists are granted a share of quota which they can then sell to pay for their projects. Some make arrangements directly with the fishing boats on which they do their research. Others use the auction devised by NFI's scientific monitoring committee to broker the fish.
Some have criticized the auction because bidders must pay an annual membership fee to the NFI committee that for most ranges from $500 to about $1,000. The auction is a private arrangement between NFI and those researchers who choose to use it, with no government oversight.
Daniel Cohen, a seafood processor in New Jersey who helped develop the auction, took pains to distinguish the 100-member committee - which focuses on fisheries research - from its parent group. The Institute advocates for the fishing and seafood industry's interests through lobbying and public relations campaigns.
Cohen said the entry fees "do not go to NFI," but to support the auction's infrastructure, such as the part-time salary of a Rutgers University scientist who operates it.
Copyright © 2009, Newsday Inc.
