The summer flounder stock is keeping on its strong growth trajectory, and managers last week voted for a 7 percent boost in potential 2012 landings – to a new high of 31.6 million pounds.
It could herald a return to the boom fishery of the 1980s, and the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council and Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission are playing this hand very cautiously.
At a joint meeting Wednesday in Wilmington, De., members from both boards challenged recommendations to hold down the catch limits to account for estimated bycatch and discard of smaller fish – 600,000 pounds on the commercial side, and an estimated 2 million to 3 million pounds among recreational anglers.
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