NOAA Fisheries announces revised 2019 specifications for the summer flounder fishery (Table 1), based on new information provided by the 2018 benchmark stock assessment.
Table 1. Summary of Previous and Revised 2019 Summer Flounder Fishery Specifications, in millions of pounds.
| Previous | Revised | Difference (%) | |
| Overfishing Limit | 20.60 | 30.00 | 46 |
| Acceptable Biological Catch | 15.41 | 25.03 | 62 |
| Commercial Annual Catch Limit (ACL) | 9.18 | 13.53 | 47 |
| Commercial Annual Catch Target (ACT)* | 8.14 | 12.98 | 59 |
| Expected Commercial Discards | 1.47 | 2.00 | 36 |
| Commercial Quota* | 6.67 | 10.98 | 65 |
| Recreational ACL | 6.22 | 11.51 | 85 |
| Recreational ACT | 6.22 | 11.51 | 85 |
| Expected Recreational Discards | 1.08 | 3.82 | 254 |
| Recreational Harvest Limit | 5.15 | 7.69 | 49 |
*Commercial ACTs and quotas shown after a 547,000 lb accountability measure from 2017 has been applied.
This action makes no changes to the current commercial management measures, including the minimum fish size (14-inch total length), gear requirements, and possession limits. The 2019 recreational management measures for summer flounder are being developed in a separate concurrent action.
Table 2 shows the revised commercial summer flounder fishery state allocations for using the allocated percentages defined in the fishery management plan. This table incorporates state-incurred overages from 2018, and a state-to-state quota transfer in the 2019 fishing year from North Carolina to New Jersey. Delaware has an accumulated overharvest from previous years that is greater than its allocated amount of commercial quota for 2019. As a result, there is no quota available for 2019 in Delaware, and federally permitted vessels are prohibited from landing summer flounder in that state, unless additional quota becomes available through a transfer.
Table 2. Revised 2019 Summer Flounder State Commercial Quotas, in pounds.
| State | % Share | Revised 2019 Quotas* | Adjustment for Overages through October 31, 2018 | State Quota Transfer | Final Revised 2019 Quotas |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ME | 0.0476 | 5,224 | 0 | 5,224 | |
| NH | 0.0005 | 51 | 0 | 51 | |
| MA | 6.8205 | 749,091 | -7,559 | 741,532 | |
| RI | 15.6830 | 1,722,462 | 0 | 1,722,462 | |
| CT | 2.2571 | 247,895 | 0 | 247,895 | |
| NY | 7.6470 | 839,869 | 0 | 839,869 | |
| NJ | 16.7250 | 1,836,906 | 0 | 3,270 | 1,840,176 |
| DE | 0.0178 | 1,954 | -55,047 | -53,093 | |
| MD | 2.0391 | 223,954 | 0 | 223,954 | |
| VA | 21.3168 | 2,341,220 | 0 | 2,341,220 | |
| NC | 27.4458 | 3,014,377 | 0 | -3,270 | 3,011,107 |
| Total | 100.00 | 10,983,000 | 0 | 10,973,488 |
*The 2017 AM payback of 547,000 lb has already been applied to the total coastwide allocated quota.
**Total quota is the sum for all states with an allocation. A state with a negative number has a 2019 allocation of zero (0). Total final 2019 quota, less overages, does not include negative allocations (i.e., Delaware's overage).
