Change In 2003 Rules for Recreational Harvest of Summer Flounder, Scup, Black Sea Bass, Weakfish and Tautog

New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife

Change In 2003 Rules for Recreational Harvest of Summer Flounder, Scup, Black Sea Bass, Weakfish and Tautog

There are several regulation changes for the 2003 recreational harvest of summer flounder, scup, black sea bass, weakfish and tautog to keep New Jersey in compliance with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission's management plans for these species. The new conservation measures are geared toward providing adequate protection to these fish stocks while still allowing New Jersey's saltwater recreational anglers maximum fishing opportunities.

Anglers should note the following changes:

The summer flounder (fluke) recreational season has changed to May 3 through October 13. The recreational minimum size limit will remain at 16½ inches and the possession limit will remain at eight fish.

The scup (porgy) recreational season has changed to July 1 through December 31. The recreational minimum size limit will remain at 10 inches and the possession limit will remain at 50 fish.
UPDATE 2/04: The rules for the recreational harvest of scup have changed. The recreational season is now open for the period January 1 through February 28 in addition to the previous open season of July 1 through December 31. The minimum size limit remains at 10" and the possession limit remains at 50 fish.

The black sea bass recreational season has changed to January 1 through September 1 and September 16 through November 30. The recreational minimum size limit has increased from 11½ to 12 inches and the possession limit will remain at 25 fish.

The weakfish recreational minimum size limit has decreased from 14 to 13 inches and the possession limit has decreased from 14 to eight fish. The recreational season will remain January 1 through December 31.

The tautog recreational season will remain open all year, however, the possession limits have been modified to four fish from January 1 through May 31, one fish from June 1 through November 14 and eight fish from November 15 through December 31. The minimum size limit will remain at 14 inches.

For an update on all 2003 recreational saltwater size and possession limits and seasons, visit the Division's website at www.njfishandwildlife.com/njregs.htm.

Marine Regulations Summary Sheet (PDF, 465kb), viewable with the Adobe Acrobat Reader, available free from Adobe's Web site.