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Very complicated issue, but first off realize that the fluke fishery is NOT in trouble. There are more fluke around right now than at any time since they started to keep records.
As far as that soecific incident goes, those fluke were dumped for one of two reasons, either the boat did not have a fluke permit or the state of MA had a very restrictive trip limit. Either way, it's not the fault of the feds or the ASMFC.
Every state that I know of uses trip limits to try and control the commercial landings against that state's quota. It is a well known fact in fisheries management that trip limits cause regulatory discards, yet the states continue to use them, becuase they have no other effective way of limiting the landings. Anyone have another suggestion?
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