NOAA Fisheries announces final 2021 specifications for the Atlantic bluefish fishery. These specifications are similar to 2020. The only change is a reduction of 1.14 million pounds in the recreational total allowable landings and harvest limit to account for higher recreational discards in 2019 than initially projected.
The final 2021 coastwide commercial quota is 2,767,793 pounds, and the recreational harvest limit is reduced to 8,344,914 pounds.There is no sector transfer this year because the recreational fishery is expected to fully attain its harvest limit. This action does not change the current recreational management measures, including the daily federal bag limit of 3 fish per person for private anglers and 5 fish per person for for-hire (charter/party) vessels. The final commercial state allocations for 2021 are provided in the following table. No state exceeded its allocated quota in 2019, nor is projected to do so in 2020; therefore, no accountability measures for the commercial fishery are required for the 2021 fishing year.
2021 Bluefish State Commercial Quota Allocations, in pounds.
|
State |
Percent Share |
Quota Allocation |
|---|---|---|
|
Maine |
0.67 |
18,503 |
|
New Hampshire |
0.41 |
11,473 |
|
Massachusetts |
6.72 |
185,904 |
|
Rhode Island |
6.81 |
188,434 |
|
Connecticut |
1.27 |
35,049 |
|
New York |
10.39 |
287,438 |
|
New Jersey |
14.82 |
410,082 |
|
Delaware |
1.88 |
51,985 |
|
Maryland |
3.00 |
83,084 |
|
Virginia |
11.88 |
328,800 |
|
North Carolina |
32.06 |
887,377 |
|
South Carolina |
0.04 |
974 |
|
Georgia |
0.01 |
263 |
|
Florida |
10.06 |
278,432 |
|
Total |
100.00 |
2,767,793 |
