FF-19-2001
RE: STRIPED BASS SEASON - BEACH SEINES:
ATLANTIC OCEAN
Preston
P. Pate, Jr., Director, Division of Marine Fisheries, hereby announces that
effective at 6:00 A.M., Thursday,
February 8, 2001, the following restrictions will apply to the season for
the harvest of striped bass with beach seines in the Atlantic Ocean waters of
North Carolina:
I. SIZE LIMIT
No person may possess, transport, buy, sell or offer for sale striped bass less than 28 inches total length taken with beach seines from the Atlantic Ocean.
II. HARVEST
RESTRICTIONS
A. No ocean beach seine operation, regardless of
the number of persons or vessels involved, may take, possess, or sell more than
50 striped bass per day.
B. Beach seine operations are limited to seines
of no more than 500 yards in length
(excluding warp lines) when constructed of monofilament webbing (one net or
in any combination of nets).
C. Beach seines are required to be deployed only
from vessels which are launched from the
ocean beach where the fishing operation is to take place. One end of the
beach seine must be attached to shore at all times during the operation.
D. Harvest will be allowed on the Thursday,
February 8, 2001 only.
E. For the purpose of this proclamation, a beach
seine is defined as a net set vertically in the water and pulled by hand or
power to the shore to capture fish. A
net unattended or remaining in the water for more than two hours duration will
be considered a gill net, not a beach seine.
Striped
bass harvested in this fishery may be sold only to and purchased by a dealer
possessing a 2000/2001
STRIPED BASS DEALER PERMIT
validated for the Atlantic Ocean.
IV. DEALER PERMITS
A. No
finfish dealer may possess, buy, sell or offer for sale striped bass taken from
the Atlantic Ocean without first obtaining a 2000/01 STRIPED BASS DEALER PERMIT
validated for the Atlantic Ocean from
the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries.
Dealers must abide by all conditions of the STRIPED BASS DEALER PERMIT and the general permit
conditions found in 15A NCAC 3O .0500.
B. Only
a STRIPED BASS DEALER PERMIT validated for the Atlantic Ocean may be used for
transactions involving striped bass
taken from the area opened by this proclamation.
C. Striped bass lawfully sold to a permitted
dealer may be resold to a non-permitted wholesale or retail market provided the initial permitted dealer
records their dealer identification number on each bill of lading or
receipts involved in the shipment
of striped bass. Any individual or
corporation who holds a current finfish dealer license must obtain a STRIPED BASS DEALER PERMIT
validated for the Atlantic Ocean in order to sell any striped bass personally harvested.
V. SALE TAGS
No finfish dealer may possess, buy, sell
or offer for sale striped bass taken from the Atlantic Ocean without having
affixed either a North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries-issued Atlantic
Ocean striped bass sale tag affixed through the mouth and gill cover. In the case of striped bass imported from
other states, a similar tag that is issued for striped bass in the state of
origin must be affixed.
VI. SEASON CLOSURE
The
Atlantic Ocean beach seine season for striped bass WILL CLOSE at 6:00 P.M. on
February 8, 2001.
A. This proclamation is issued under the
authority of G.S. 113-182; 113-221(e); 143B-289.52; and N.C. Marine Fisheries
Rules 15A NCAC 3H .0103, 3M .0201 and 3M.0204.
B. It is unlawful to violate the provisions of
any proclamation issued by the Director under his delegated authority per 15A
NCAC 3H .0103.
C. The
intent of this proclamation is to restrict the beach seine fishery to
traditional methods of fishing to allow the commercial harvest of striped bass
from the Atlantic Ocean within the 336,000 pound quota established for the
2000/2001 season by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC)
Fishery Management Plan for Striped Bass.
There are approximately 30,000 lbs. remaining in the beach seine fishery
quota.
D. The
waters of the Atlantic Ocean, as applicable to this proclamation are defined as
waters seaward of the COLREGS Demarcation Lines as indicated on National Ocean
Service navigation charts for the areas to which this proclamation applies.
E. Striped
Bass Dealer Permits may be obtained from all North Carolina Marine Fisheries
License Offices.
F. All
striped bass taken during season closures and all undersized striped bass shall
be immediately returned to the waters where taken, regardless of the condition
of the fish.
G. Hook-and-line
fishing equipment is not commercial fishing equipment in the striped bass
fishery and it is illegal to sell or purchase striped bass taken by
hook-and-line in accordance with N.C. Marine Fisheries Rule 15A NCAC 3M .0201
(b).
H.
Holders of Recreational Commercial License or hook-and-line fishermen
must follow the bag and size restrictions of the recreational
fishery for striped bass.
I.
Dealers with businesses located in
Beaufort, Carteret, Craven and Pamlico counties may obtain tags by contacting
the Morehead City Marine Patrol Office at 1-800-682-2632 or (252) 726-7021. Dealers with businesses located in Hyde, Dare, Tyrrell, Washington, Bertie
Chowan, Pasquotank, Camden, Hertford
and other northern counties may obtain tags by contacting the Columbia
Marine Patrol at 1-800-405-7774 or
(252) 796-1322. Allow 48 hours for delivery.
J. This
proclamation supersedes Proclamation FF-17-2001, dated February 1, 2001.
February 5, 2001
1:45 P.M.
FF-19-2001
/sab