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Contact: Nancy Fish, Marine Fisheries CULTCH PLANTING MEETINGS TO BE HELD IN MARCH MOREHEAD CITY - The Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF) will hold public meetings in March to receive public input on cultch planting - where shells and rock are placed on formerly productive shellfish beds to restore the habitat. Oysters, clams and other aquatic life are attracted to the cultch and begin to immediately colonize the material. The DMF’s Shellfish Rehabilitation staff constantly looks for ways to improve the program, so annual meetings are held to provide fishermen and interested parties the opportunity to provide advice and input regarding planting sites, methods, materials and quantities. Previously, the program only worked with oysters, but has expanded to include clams. Monday, March 6 at 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 7 at 6 p.m. Wednesday, March 8 at 6 p.m. Monday, March 13 at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 14 at 6 p.m. Wednesday, March 15 at 6 p.m. Manteo Thursday, March 16 at 6 p.m. For more information about these meetings, please contact Clay Caroon, by e-mail at clay.caroon@ncmail.net or by calling 252-726-7021 or 800-682-2632. Contact: Nancy Fish, Marine Fisheries GIBBS NAMED MARINE PATROL OFFICE OF THE YEAR
The mission of the Marine Patrol is to ensure sustainable marine and estuarine fisheries for the benefit of the people of North Carolina. Their jurisdiction includes all coastal waters and extends to 3 miles offshore. Officers monitor 2.5 million acres of water and over 4,000 miles of coastline. Gibbs began his career with Marine Patrol in 1983, as a field officer in Brunswick County. Currently, his patrol area includes his native Hyde County. In addition to Gibbs’ routine duties, he has served as a field training officer for new recruits and as law enforcement representative on the Marine Fisheries Commission’s Crustacean Committee Prior to his employment with Marine Patrol, Gibbs served in the U.S. Army. Marine Patrol Col. Joe Lynch said “Glenn Gibbs is a 23-year veteran of the Marine Patrol, enforcing important natural resource laws, passing on valuable field experience to new officers and presenting a positive image for the Division of Marine Fisheries. He is truly deserving of this prestigious award.” Gibbs, along with his wife Margaret, and their three sons, resides in Fairfield. He is very active in the community, including service with the local Masonic Lodge, the Hyde County Occupancy Board and the Mattamuskett Athletic Boosters.
Contact: Nancy Fish, Marine Fisheries FISHERIES COMMISSION SUPPORTS STRIPED BASS MOREHEAD CITY - The Marine Fisheries Commission is asking the for N.C. General Assembly’s help in trying to bring order to the commercial striped bass fishery in the Atlantic Ocean. The MFC wants commercial fishermen to annually select one of three gears allowed to commercially harvest striped bass from the ocean. Once a fisherman selects a gear type, they can only participate in that segment of the fishery. The state legislature needs to sign off on this type of proposed gear restriction. North Carolina currently has a yearly 480,000-pound commercial quota of ocean-caught striped bass, which is equally divided among three gear types: beach haul seines, gill nets and trawls. The harvest season begins in December with beach haul seines, followed by gill nets and usually ends in February with trawl nets. It is not unusual for the same fishermen to participate in both the haul seine and gill net segments of this fishery, and there are some fishermen that participate in all three gear categories. These allocations can be rapidly harvested because of significant rise in participants in the haul seine and gill net operations. The situation is so extreme that it is not unusual for fishermen to exceed their gear’s harvest allotment in a day or two. Overages in one gear category reduce the poundage available to other gear segments creating an inequitable situation. In addition, the glut of fish on the market greatly reduces the price fishermen are paid for their product. For more information, please contact Jess Hawkins at jess.hawkins@ncmail.net or by calling 252-726-7021 or 800-682-2632. ### Editors Note: Below is the letter from MFC Chairman Mac Currin to the co-chairs of the Legislative Study Commission on Seafood and Aquaculture. February 23, 2006
The Honorable Charles W. Albertson The Honorable William L. Wainwright Dear Senator Albertson and Representative Wainwright: At our February 2006 meeting the North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission (MFC) unanimously voted to endorse a legislative initiative which would require fishermen to declare which gear they desire to use during the Atlantic Ocean commercial striped bass fishery. The desired legislation would give the MFC the authority to allow commercial fishermen to only use that declared gear in the Atlantic Ocean striped bass fishery. The North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF) Director, Preston Pate, supports granting the MFC such authority, and made a presentation concerning the issue to the Joint Legislative Commission on Seafood and Aquaculture in January 2006. Both the MFC and the DMF Director would like to have this authority available for the December 2006 striped bass commercial season. The Atlantic coast stock of striped bass is managed through a plan developed and approved by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission according to authority granted it by Congress in the Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Management Act of 1993. As such, it is an interstate fisheries management plan developed according to federal authority and implemented by participating states. The plan allocates annual quotas to each state for harvest by commercial fishermen from the Atlantic Ocean. North Carolina’s 2006 commercial quota is approximately 480,000 pounds. Our fishing year begins in December and runs until the quota is exhausted, usually in February. North Carolina has decided to divide the annual quota equally among three gear types: beach haul seines, gill nets, and trawls. There has been significant growth in recent years in the number of participants in the haul seine and gill net fisheries. Growth has been to the extent that the DMF is finding it increasingly difficult to maintain each fishery within its harvest allocation. Annual harvest usually does not exceed the state’s quota; however, it is not unusual for one of the three segments to exceed its allocation in just a few days. Doing so penalizes the other segments and can result in a segment not being able to harvest in a particular year and adversely affects the market. Rapid growth in participants, a healthy Atlantic coast striped bass population, increasing effort and little or no increase in the state’s annual quota combine to create a very difficult management situation; one in which our traditional management approach is not working well. The MFC has discussed solutions to this difficult situation frequently in recent years. Our Finfish Advisory Committee composed of commercial and recreational fishermen and scientists discussed this issue several times in 2005. They suggested and endorsed the DMF and the MFC seeking legislative authority to make fishermen declare in only one fishery segment of the Atlantic Ocean commercial striped bass fishery as a first step to address the situation. The MFC hopes you will give serious consideration to this request. It is critical to the effective management of the Atlantic Ocean striped bass fishery. If you have any questions about this, please contact me at 919-881-0049. Sincerely,
Mac Currin, Chairman cc: Marine Fisheries Commission FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, FEBRUARY 23, 2006 Horseshoe Crab Board Approves Draft Addendum for Public Comment Addendum Considers Additional Harvest Reductions The Commission's Horseshoe Crab Management Board approved releasing Draft Addendum IV to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Horseshoe Crab for public comment. The Draft Addendum proposes a number of options to reduce or eliminate harvest of horseshoe crabs of Delaware Bay origin. The Draft Addendum responds to public concern regarding the horseshoe crab populations and their ecological role in the Delaware Bay. While there are a number of scientific reviews on the status of horseshoe crabs, there is no peer-reviewed coastwide estimate of horseshoe crab abundance. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Shorebird Technical Committee has indicated that the red knot, one of many shorebird species that feed upon horseshoe crab eggs, is at low population levels. Red knots have shown no sign of recovery, despite a four-fold reduction in horseshoe crab landings since 1998. The Shorebird Technical Committee concluded a moratorium of horseshoe crab harvest could provide more eggs for the birds to feed upon. The Board initiated the addendum process to evaluate further restrictions on crab harvest in the Delaware Bay region. The area is considered the epicenter of horseshoe crab production along the coast as well as a critical stopover area for many migratory shorebirds including the red knot. States will be conducting public hearings on the Draft Addendum throughout March and early April. Information on those hearings will be released once it is available. The Management Board will meet in May 2006 to review public comment, select the management measures to be contained in the Addendum, and consider its final approval. Copies of the Draft Addendum will be available by mid-March via the Commission’s website at www.asmfc.org or by contacting the Commission at (202) 289-6400. For more information, please contact Braddock Spear, Fisheries Management Plan Coordinator, at (202) 289-6400 or <bspear@asmfc.org>. ************************* Tina Berger Public Affairs Specialist Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission 1444 I Street. NW, Sixth Floor Washington, DC 20005 Phone: (202)289-6400 FAX: (202)289-6051 Email: tberger@asmfc.org www.asmfc.org
ASMFC Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Board Approves Addendum XVIII The Commission's Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Management Board approved Addendum XVIII to the Summer Flounder Fishery Management Plan. The Addendum provides relief to New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts that are facing large recreational harvest reductions in their 2006 recreational fisheries. Relief comes from "savings" generated by states that have opted to maintain their 2005 recreational fishing regulations in 2006 rather than liberalizing them. The Addendum aims to stabilize fishing rules close to those that existed in 2005, in part, to minimize the drastic reductions facing the three states. Savings will be distributed proportionately to New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts based on the percent reduction those states are required to undergo. Savings are defined as the number of fish not utilized by a state with the opportunity to liberalize its regulations. The Addendum does not alter the states' 2006 recreational harvest targets and only applies to the 2006 summer flounder recreational specification process. Copies of Addendum XVIII will be made available by March 1 via the Commission’s website at www.asmfc.org under Breaking News or by contacting the Commission at (202) 289-6400. For more information, please contact Toni Kerns, Fisheries Management Plan Coordinator, at (202) 289-6400 or tkerns@asmfc.org.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, FEBRUARY 23, 2006 ASMFC American Eel Board Approves Addendum I The Commission's American Eel Management Board approved Addendum I to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for American Eel. The Addendum establishes a mandatory trip-level catch and effort monitoring program for American eel in order to collect much needed data on this species. The Addendum provides states the option to collect the data through either a commercial eel harvester permit and mandatory reporting system or an eel dealer permit and reporting system. The Addendum responds to concerns regarding the lack of accurate catch and effort data and the critical need for these data for stock assessment purposes. This need was identified in the recent Commission benchmark stock assessment for American eel and in the peer review panel report. The external Peer Review Panel recommended the completion of additional analyses prior to adoption of the American Eel Stock Assessment for technical and management purposes. Insufficient data prevented the American Eel Technical Committee from developing reference points or quantifying stock status. Because of this, the status of the stock is uncertain. The Technical Committee has concerns that relative abundance will continue to decline unless mortality decreases and/or recruitment increases. The peer review panel concurs that eel abundance was likely much higher in the late 1970s to mid-1980s. The panel report states that the abundance of yellow eel has declined in the last two decades and the stock is at or near low levels. Copies of the Addendum, Stock Assessment Report and Terms of Reference & Advisory Report will be available by March 1 via the Commission's website at www.asmfc.org under Breaking News or by contacting the Commission at (202) 289-6400. For more information, please contact Lydia Munger, Fisheries Management Plan Coordinator, at (202) 289-6400 or lmunger@asmfc.org.
************************* Contact: Nancy Fish, Marine Fisheries MARINE FISHERIES COMMISSION SEEKS RED DRUM ADVISORS MOREHEAD CITY – The North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission is seeking interested individuals to serve as advisors in revising the North Carolina Red Drum Fishery Management Plan (FMP). The Committee will assist the Division of Marine Fisheries in the preparation of a revised FMP for red drum. The original FMP was completed in 2001. Red drum support important recreational fisheries and are also a valuable bycatch component in several commercial fisheries. Current regulations are intended to prevent overfishing on juvenile fish, and spawning fish are protected through a harvest prohibition. FMPs include information on the nature and concerns of the fishery, and habitat and water quality issues. A new assessment will be conducted to determine status of the stock. The goal of the FMP will be to develop options to address management issues and concerns. Individuals interested in serving as advisors should be willing to attend meetings at least once every two months and actively participate in the committee process. Advisors will be reimbursed for travel and other expenses incurred in relation to their official duties. Advisor applications are available at any Division of Marine Fisheries office or by calling 252-726-7021 or 1-800-682-2632. Applications should be returned by March 31, 2006, to the Division of Marine Fisheries, P.O. Box 769, Morehead City, North Carolina, 28557, to the attention of Jess Hawkins.
Contact: Nancy Fish, Marine Fisheries MOREHEAD CITY – Fishermen interested in learning about a new monkfish permit are encouraged to attend an informational meeting at Festival Park in Manteo on Feb. 28 at 7 p.m. Staff from the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries will explain the new 2006 Monkfish Large Mesh Gill Net Permit conditions, which include: The purpose of the permit is to reduce the threat of interactions between the gill nets and marine mammals and sea turtles, while allowing the traditional monkfish fishery to occur in state waters. The new permits are available free of charge at any DMF license office. For more information on this permit, visit http://www.ncdmf.net/procs/procs2k6/FF-14-2006.html or contact Red Munden at 252-726-7021 or 800-682-2632. Release: Immediate Contact: Nancy Fish, Marine Fisheries MOREHEAD CITY – Recreational fishermen are reminded new 2006 harvest limits are in effect for river herring. Anglers, including Recreational Commercial Gear license holders, are limited to12 river herring (alewife and blueback herring) per person, per day, taken from North Carolina coastal or joint waters. The recreational river herring season in coastal and joint waters will close on April 14. The harvest limit for inland waters is 25 fish per day. In November 2005, the Marine Fisheries Commission requested the Division of Marine Fisheries implement stricter harvest measures for the 2006 season because the river herring stock is in serious trouble. The recreational harvest was cut from 25 to 12 fish per day. The commercial harvest was reduced from 300,000 pounds to 100,000 pounds to be divided between various user groups in the Albemarle Sound area. The stricter limits are interim measures put in place until the DMF completes an update of the state’s River Herring Fishery Management Plan. The revised plan should be completed in June 2006 and will include proposals to address the poor condition of the river herring stock.
Contact: Nancy Fish, Marine Fisheries NEW FEDERAL PERMIT FOR SHRIMP FISHERMEN REQUIRED MOREHEAD CITY – Beginning April 11, shrimpers working in federal waters off the southeastern United States will be required to obtain a permit from NOAA Fisheries. Any shrimp trawler harvesting or possessing brown, pink or white shrimp (penaeid shrimp) in or from federal waters from North Carolina through Florida needs to have a commercial vessel permit for South Atlantic penaeid shrimp. Federal waters extend from 3 to 200 miles offshore. For more information about the permit, please contact: NOAA Fisheries Service
Contact: Nancy Fish, Marine Fisheries MARINE FISHERIES ADVISORS SELECTED MOREHEAD CITY – Marine Fisheries Commission Chairman Mac Currin has made the following selections to fill vacancies of the panel’s advisory committees: Habitat and Water Quality – Dr. Mark Brinson (Greenville), Terry Pratt (Merry Hill), Tom Ellis (Raleigh) Shellfish - Troy Alphin (Wilmington), Raymond Graham (Newport), Nelson Lee (Hobucken) Finfish - Jeff McBane (Beaufort), Dr. Chuck Manooch (Morehead) Crustacean – Dr. Terry West (Greenville), Earl Sadler, Sr. (Lowland), Floyd Holadia (Engelhard) Inland – Buzz Bryson (Cary), Joe Hall (Raleigh), Dr. Jim Rice (Raleigh) Northeast – Brian Horsley (Nags Head), Damon Tatem (Kill Devil Hills) Central – Ron McPherson (Atlantic Beach), Dean Lamont (Emerald Isle) Southeast – Brian Shepard (Jacksonville), Jeff Wolfe (Wilmington), Jack Cozort (Topsail Beach) River Herring Fishery Management Plan – Michelle Hollowell (Manns Harbor) MFC Chairman Mac Currin said, “Over 200 applications were reviewed for these selections. I am thrilled that so many people are willing to volunteer their time to help with the conservation of our fisheries resources.” Advisors serve three-year terms and advise the Marine Fisheries Commission and Division of Marine Fisheries concerning fisheries issues.
Morehead City - The North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission (MFC) is continuing look for interested individuals to fill vacancies on several of its advisory committees. A prior solicitation for interested parties was issued December 2005. Vacancies continue to exist for persons with commercial fisheries knowledge or experience on the Central Regional Advisory Committee, the Northeast Regional Advisory Committee and the Inland Advisory Committee.
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