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JANUARY 31, 2006 North Carolina has scheduled a hearing on the Draft Summer Flounder North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries *************************
Contact: Nancy Fish, Marine Fisheries MOREHEAD CITY- The Marine Fisheries Commission will meet February 2-3 at the Clarion Oceanfront Hotel. The meeting is open to the public. On February 1, the commission will hold a public meeting at 7 p.m. at the same location to discuss any fishery issues. For more information, contact Jess Hawkins by email at: Jess.Hawkins@ncmail.net or by calling February 2 10:30 a.m. Committee Reports Noon Lunch 2:30 p.m. Undersea Warfare Training Range Proposal by U.S. Navy 4 p.m. Draft Sea Mullet FMP 5:30 p.m. Adjourn February 3 9 a.m. Atlantic Ocean Striped Bass Management Issues 10:30 a.m. NMFS Actions on Petition for Rulemaking on Sharks Noon Adjourn * Times indicated are merely for guidance. The Commission will proceed through the agenda until completed. MFC Meetings for 2006: March 14 New Bern
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, JANUARY 19, 2006 Non-Traditional Stakeholders Sought for Participation in ASMFC Coastal Washington, DC - The Commission's Spiny Dogfish and Coastal Sharks The intent of this action is to broaden the scope of public input to the The Commission's advisory panel process was established in 1994 to address For more information, please contact Tina Berger, Public Affairs ASMFC Vision: Healthy, self-sustaining populations of all Atlantic coast
Release: Immediate Contact: Nancy Fish, Marine Fisheries REMINDER FOR CRAB POT FISHERMEN MOREHEAD CITY – Fishermen are reminded all crab pots must be removed from North Carolina coastal waters from Jan. 15 – Feb. 7.
Contact: Nancy Fish, Marine Fisheries STATE NEEDS MORE AGENTS TO SELL FISHING LICENSE MOREHEAD CITY – The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries and the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission are going on the road to scout out additional agents to sell the state’s Coastal Recreational Fishing License. Staff from the DMF and WRC will hold meetings to review license requirements and to demonstrate the sales procedures. The new recreational fishing license is required for North Carolina’s coastal waters, beginning Jan. 1, 2007. It is anticipated the state will need an additional 200 agents along the coast to handle demand for the license. Bait and tackle shops, boat dealers and coastal businesses are encouraged to attend the informational meetings. License agents can earn 6 percent on the sale of each license while providing a valuable service to their customers. All meetings begin at 1 p.m. at the following locations: Wednesday, Feb. 1 Tuesday, Feb. 7 Thursday, Feb. 9 For more information about these meetings, please call Grace Kemp at 800-682-2632 or 252-726-7021.
Contact: Nancy Fish, Marine Fisheries MOREHEAD CITY – Beginning Jan. 16, recreational and commercial fishermen will be faced with a first-ever maximum size limit for the crabs they harvest – no mature female crabs can be kept over 6 ¾ inches from spike to spike and no female peeler crabs can be kept over 5 ¼ inches from spike to spike. The Blue Crab Fishery Management Plan, updated in 2004, included maximum size limits for mature female crabs that would only become effective if the biomass (weight or volume) of the population dropped to a historically low level. Research conducted by the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries shows for the last two years the population and size of crabs has been declining. This continuing decrease has triggered the new maximum size limits, which are intended to protect large female crabs as they travel across the sounds to ocean inlets to spawn. Allowing these large mature females to successfully spawn should increase the size of the overall crab population. The maximum size limits will be lifted April 30, but will go back into effect Sept. 1 and will stay in effect until April 30, 2007. The maximum size limits will continue to go into effect September through April of each year until the stock status improves. Visit http://www.ncdmf.net/fmps/index.html to learn more about the Blue Crab Fishery Management Plan. For more information on these new restrictions, please contact Sean McKenna at sean.mckenna@ncmail.net or by calling 800-338-7804 or 252-946-6481.
Release: Immediate Contact: Nancy Fish, Marine Fisheries MOREHEAD CITY – In the waning days of 2005, out-of-state angler David N. Hiebert hauled in a monster striped bass, breaking a 34-year North Carolina record. On Dec. 30, Hiebert, of Scotts, MI, landed a 62-pound striped bass that was 53.5 inches long, with a 32-inch girth. Hiebert caught the big fish in the waters off of Avon aboard the vessel Triple Crown. The boat’s captain was David Bronson of Apex, N.C. The state-record fish was weighed-in at the Oregon Inlet Fishing Center in Dare County. Catherine Willis held the previous striped bass state record for a 60-pound fish she caught in the surf off of Hatteras Island back in 1972. In 2005, anglers landed five record-breaking saltwater fish in North Carolina. Derek Williams of Tampa, FL, caught a world record 21-pound, 6-ounce hogfish snapper off of Frying Pan Shoals. Another world record was broken when Frank Ballas of Indiana, PA hauled in a 4-pound, 5-ounce sand tilefish in the waters off of Oak Island. Brandon Bailey of Moneta, VA, caught a 185-pound thresher shark off of Oregon Inlet and Jesse Lockowitz of Carteret County, N.C. broke the tarpon state record, landing a 175-pound fish at the Bogue Inlet pier. For more information about state record fish, visit the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries Web site at http://www.ncdmf.net/recreational/record.htm or call Partha Howell at 1-800-682-2632 or 252-726-7021.
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