RE: STRIPED BASS
SEASON – OCEAN TRAWL: ATLANTIC OCEAN
Preston
P. Pate, Jr., Director of Marine Fisheries, hereby announces that effective at 12:01 A.M., Tuesday, January 21, 2003,
the season for the harvest of striped bass with ocean trawls in the Atlantic
Ocean waters of North Carolina WILL
OPEN. The following
restrictions will apply:
No person may possess, transport,
buy, sell, or offer for sale striped bass less than 28 inches total length
taken with ocean trawls from the Atlantic Ocean.
A.
No ocean trawl operation, regardless of the number of
persons or vessels involved, may take, possess, or sell more than 100 striped
bass per day or for trips lasting more than one day, per fishing trip regardless
of the number of days that the vessel is underway.
B.
Striped bass may not be transferred from the harvesting
vessel to any other vessel during harvesting operations or be transported by
any vessel other than the vessel in which they are harvested.
No gill nets may be possessed on board a vessel used in the
taking or landing of striped bass.
Striped bass
harvested in this fishery may be sold only to and purchased by a currently
licensed finfish dealer possessing a valid 2002/2003 Atlantic Ocean Dealer’s Striped Bass Permit.
A. No finfish
dealer may possess, buy, sell or offer for sale striped bass taken from the
Atlantic Ocean without first obtaining a 2003 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.
A.
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 or, in the case of striped bass
imported from other states, a similar tag that is issued for striped bass in
the state of origin.
B.
North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries Atlantic Ocean
striped bass sale tags may not be bought, sold, offered for sale or
transferred.
The ocean
trawl season for striped bass WILL CLOSE
by proclamation when the harvest from the fishery reaches approximately
100,000 pounds.
A.
This proclamation is issued under the authority of G.S.
113-170.4; 113-170.5; 113-182; 113-221 (e); 143B-289.52; and N.C. Marine
Fisheries Rules 15A NCAC 3H .0103, 3J .0202 (4), 3M .0201, .0204 and .0503.
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 allow the commercial
harvest of striped bass from the Atlantic Ocean by traditional gears within the
quota established for the 2002/2003 season by the Atlantic States Marine
Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) Fishery Management Plan for Striped Bass.
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.
Atlantic Ocean Commercial Dealer’s Striped Bass Permits and
tags are available at no cost from: N. C. Division of Marine Fisheries, Marine
Patrol, Route 2, Box 43D, Columbia, North Carolina 27925, Telephone: 1-800-405-7774 or 252-796-1322.
January
16, 2003
10:45
A.M.
FF-5-2003
/sab