Extends the authority of the department of environmental conservation to manage blackfish.
This bill extends the Department of Environmental Conservation’s authority to regulate blackfish (tautog) through December 31, 2028. Under existing environmental conservation law, DEC may set rules by regulation governing blackfish management, including size limits, catch and possession limits, open and closed seasons, closed areas, gear and landing restrictions, permit requirements, recordkeeping, and rules for transport, possession, and sale. The bill does not create a new management program; it simply renews the agency’s temporary authority to continue using these tools.
The bill also preserves the existing requirement that any DEC regulations be at least as restrictive as state law and consistent with applicable interstate and federal fishery management plans, including those adopted by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission and under the federal Fishery Conservation and Management Act. The measure takes effect immediately, allowing the department to avoid a lapse in regulatory authority and continue managing the fishery without interruption.
The bill amends Environmental Conservation Law section 13-0340-d by replacing the current sunset date of December 31, 2025 with December 31, 2028. Its practical effect is to extend DEC’s ability to regulate blackfish harvest and related fishing activity, affecting commercial and recreational fishers, dealers, and others involved in the taking, landing, transport, possession, and sale of blackfish. It maintains the existing framework tying state rules to broader fishery management requirements.
The available voting history shows strong, bipartisan support for the bill. It passed the Assembly Environmental Conservation Committee unanimously, then cleared the Assembly floor by a wide margin and later passed the Senate unanimously. The lack of recorded opposition in committee and the near-unanimous floor votes suggest the measure was viewed as a routine, noncontroversial extension of existing fisheries management authority.
No committee transcript is available, and the voting record shows little to no substantive opposition. The only notable point of potential policy interest is the continued delegation of regulatory authority to DEC, including control over harvest limits, seasons, and gear restrictions, but the bill’s extension appears to have been broadly accepted as necessary to keep blackfish management aligned with state, interstate, and federal fishery plans.