Preston P. Pate, Jr., Director of the Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF), has announced that fishermen targeting other species will be allowed to keep a by-catch of five striped bass per day. These striped bass must be 18 inches or larger; any undersized fish that are caught should be handled carefully and returned to the water where taken as quickly as possible.

The commercial season on striped bass is scheduled to close at midnight on December 31, 1997, unless the harvest quotas are reached earlier.

All dealers must obtain a valid 1997 Pamlico Sound Management Area Dealer's Striped Bass Permit. Dealers are also required to place a Pamlico Sound Management Area sales tag through the gill cover on any striped bass they pack for transport, sell or offer for sale. Dealers must also maintain a daily log so that the DMF can monitor the number of striped bass landed.

For more information on permits and sales tags, contact Captain Monty Willis, DMF Marine Patrol, at (919)796-1322 or (800)405-7774. For general information on this striped bass season, contact Katy West at (919)946-6481 or (800)338-7804.

October 29 MOREHEAD CITY -- The commercial season for striped bass in the Albemarle Sound Management Area will open on Monday, November 3, 1997.

Preston P. Pate, Jr., Director of the Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF), has announced that fishermen targeting other species will be allowed to keep a by-catch of 50 percent by weight of striped bass, not to exceed five striped bass per day.

These striped bass must be 18 inches or larger; any undersized fish that are caught should be handled carefully and returned to the water where taken as quickly as possible. By practicing careful release techniques and observing fishing regulations, fishermen help preserve fish for the future.

The Albemarle Sound Management Area includes the Albemarle, Currituck, Roanoke and Croatan sounds and all of their joint water tributaries, except the Roanoke, Eastmost, Middle and Cashie rivers.

The commercial season on striped bass in the Albemarle Sound Management Area is scheduled to close at midnight on December 31, 1997, unless the harvest quota is reached earlier.

All dealers must obtain a valid 1997 Albemarle Sound Management Area Dealer's Striped Bass Permit. Dealers are also required to place an Albemarle Sound Management Area sales tag through the gill cover on any striped bass they pack for transport, sell or offer for sale.

For more information or to obtain permits and sales tags, contact Captain Monty Willis, DMF Marine Patrol, at (919)796-1322 or (800)405-7774.

October 28 MOREHEAD CITY -- The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission made a formal determination that the Albemarle Sound/Roanoke River striped bass population has recovered to historic levels. This determination, made at its recent meeting in Hershey, Pennsylvania, represents another milestone in the coast wide recovery of striped bass, which have been important to commercial and sport fishermen in North Carolina since the colonial era.

During the 1970s, striped bass populations in Albemarle Sound, Chesapeake Bay, and the New England states declined significantly. Because striped bass freely migrate in and out of estuaries and across various state boundaries, a coordinated multi-state approach was needed to bring back this valuable fish. At the urging of fishing groups, as well as state and federal fishery management agencies, Congress, in 1984, enacted the Atlantic Striped Bass Conservation Act. The Act required all states from Maine to North Carolina to develop fishery management plans which would ensure the recovery of striped bass. All states implemented severe restrictions on the harvest of striped bass, conducted the research necessary to guide the recovery process, and coordinated closely on estimates of striped bass population trends. By 1995, the Chesapeake Bay and New England stocks of striped bass had been declared recovered and harvest restrictions were eased.

North Carolina’s striped bass recovery plan has been in effect since 1993 but measures to restore the population began in the early 1980s. “The recovery of the Albemarle Sound/Roanoke River striped bass population is the direct result of cooperation between state and federal agencies, utility companies, and especially from our fishermen,” said Fred Harris, Chief of the Wildlife Resources Commission’s Division of Inland Fisheries. “We’ve had great cooperation from North Carolina Power Company and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in regulating flows in the Roanoke River during the striped bass spawning season. Anglers on Roanoke River and other waters have cooperated with strict harvest limits, knowing that their efforts would help the restoration.”

Preston Pate, Jr., Director of the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries, agreed with Harris’ sentiments. “Fishermen and associated economic interests in Albemarle Sound and surrounding waters have shown great cooperation with our efforts,” he said. “Commercial and recreational fishermen that fish in the Albemarle Sound, as well as fisheries managers, have anxiously awaited this decision. This historic recovery shows that management plans work and I look forward to working with fishermen to determine our future management goals for striped bass.”

Both Harris and Pate agree that fishermen can now expect to harvest more striped bass in 1998. “We will be working cooperatively with the Wildlife Resources Commission on appropriate harvest levels for striped bass and will then present our plan to ASMFC early in 1998" said Pate. “Our data clearly show that an increase in harvest is warranted but we will also have to be conservative in order to prevent problems of the past.”

For more information on the Albemarle Sound/Roanoke River striped bass population, contact the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries, Elizabeth City at (919) 264-3911 or the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, Division of Inland Fisheries at (919) 733-3633.

October 2 MOREHEAD CITY -- Officials with the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF) have announced that oyster season will open on October 15, 1997.

The following restrictions apply to commercial oyster harvest:

The following restrictions apply to recreational oyster harvest:

The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF) joined the NCFA in this lawsuit last August because the federal quota monitoring system, administered by the U. S. Department of Commerce, was inefficient and discriminatory to North Carolina. In July, the U. S. Department of Commerce notified North Carolina it had adjusted the 1997 summer flounder quota and there would be no fall flounder season.

Judge Doumar found the following three violations of law occurred in the setting of the 1997 commercial summer flounder quota for North Carolina:

1) The U.S. Department of Commerce failed to consider the impact of the adjusted quota on small businesses, as called for in the Regulatory Flexibility Act.

2) The U. S. Department of Commerce failed to consider the impact of the adjusted quota on small business and fishing communities in North Carolina that rely on summer flounder harvest, as called for in the National Standard No. 8 of the Magnuson-Stevens Act.

3) The U. S. Department of Commerce used a different method for determining the amount of fish harvested in North Carolina than in other states. No other state is subjected to the same level of scrutiny as North Carolina and that results in discrimination, which is a violation of National Standard No. 4 of the Magnuson-Stevens Act. The court is expected to rule in the future that the U.S. Department of Commerce must use the same method of counting fish in all states.

Judge Doumar also found that the U.S. Department of Commerce should act within a reasonable time frame in setting adjusted quotas so states can manage their fisheries to stay within the assigned quotas. He also ruled that adjustments to quotas at the end of the year are unfair and unreasonable.

DMF Director Preston Pate had mixed emotions about the rulings, “We had hoped we could recover part of the quota that we felt was improperly counted, so our commercial fishermen could have a fall flounder season. Unfortunately, Judge Doumar ruled he could not order any changes in the quota.”

“Conversely, the lawsuit was a major victory because the judge ruled the federal quota monitoring system discriminated against North Carolina. In the future, North Carolina cannot be held to different standards than other states, ” said Pate.

Judge Doumar did emphasize that these are preliminary rulings and they are subject to change in his final order.