Releases – July 21, 2011
The 2nd Annual Cape Fear Flounder Classic will be held at the Southport Marina on Saturday, July 30. This event is being organized as a fundraiser for the Southport-Oak Island Area Chamber of Commerce. Following the prize structure of the Chamber’s very popular U.S. Open King Mackerel Tournament, the all cash guaranteed prizes total $5,300.
The entry fee for the Cape Fear Flounder Classic is $100 per boat with an optional $50 TWT. Tournament participation will be limited to boats, and all fish must be taken on a rod and reel.
Registration for the Cape Fear Flounder Classic will be held at the Chamber Office at 4841 Long Beach Road on Monday thru Friday from 10:00 am-4:00 pm until Friday, July 29. There will be additional registration on Friday, July 29, from 5:00-7:00 pm at the Southport Marina.
A Hot Dog Dinner for the participants will be held at 6:00 pm on Friday, July 29, and Saturday, July 30. Fishing hours will be on Saturday from 7:00 am until 4:00 pm, with the scales open from 3:00-5:00. The awards ceremony will be held on Saturday, July 30, at 6:00 pm.
For more information, contact Southport-Oak Island Area Chamber of Commerce at (910) 457-6964, or email them at events@southport-oakisland.com.
The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries has closed the southern part of Core Sound, Back Sound, The Straits, and North River to large mesh gill net fishing. The action is being taken due to the number of observed sea turtle interactions that have occurred since June 1.
“This is the same general area where we saw concentrated numbers of sea turtle interactions in the summer of 2010, prompting a closure then,” said Louis Daniel, director of the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries. “By doing so, the state is trying to maintain protection of threatened and endangered sea turtles while continuing the flounder gill net fishery in areas where few or no sea turtle interactions have been observed.”
North Carolina’s inshore large-mesh gill net fishery has operated under a lawsuit settlement agreement between the state and the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center since May 15, 2010. As part of the agreement, the division is observing large-mesh gill net fishing in inshore waters to track interactions with sea turtles.
From June 1 to July 13, division observers and Marine Patrol officers reported eight interactions with sea turtles in the southern area of Core Sound. Of those, three were live green turtles, four were live Kemp’s ridley turtles, and one was a dead Kemp’s ridley turtle. The state is also seeking a statewide Incidental Take Permit under Section 10 of the Endangered Species Act for North Carolina’s gill net fisheries.
The closure applies to all gill nets between 4 inches and 6.5 inches stretched mesh that are fished as set nets. The closure does not apply to run-around, strike, or drop nets that are used to surround a school of fish and then are immediately retrieved.
The closure area encompasses the southern part of Core Sound, Back Sound, The Straits, and North River and all tributaries. The northern boundary line runs approximately from the Club House on Core Banks to Davis on the mainland. The southern boundary line runs approximately from a point on Shackleford Banks to Lennoxville Point to the head of Turner Creek. The eastern boundary is at the COLREGS demarcation at Barden Inlet.
For specific regulations, with latitude and longitude coordinates, and a map of the closure area, see Proclamation M-24-11 on the division’s website at http://portal.ncdenr.org/web/mf/proclamations.
The closure will remain in place until Sept. 1. For more information, contact Brian Conrad, the division’s protected species biologist, at (252) 808-8061 or Brian.Conrad@ncdenr.gov.
Earlier this year, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) gave conditional approval to a private company, LightSquared, to begin a nationwide broadband service adjacent to the radio spectrum used for GPS. After concerns from user groups (including BoatU.S.), the FCC required significant testing and a report for potential conflicts with aviation, cellular, navigation, and four other GPS uses before this proposal could move forward. In that June 30 report, the navigation sub-team concluded “that all phases of the LightSquared deployment plan will result in widespread harmful interference to GPS signals and service and that mitigation is not possible.”
In 2010 the US Coast Guard shut down Loran, leaving mariners using electronic navigation to rely solely on GPS. Now, this fast-moving threat to GPS could pull the plug on our ability to safely navigate within the U.S.
Public comments on LightSquared’s proposal will be taken until Saturday, July 30, 2011. Following that, the FCC will make a determination on what this private company can do with this vital public resource.
BoatU.S. asks that you take a minute today, as an angler and a citizen, to request that the FCC reject the proposed LightSquared plan to deploy a private nationwide broadband service that can cripple the nation’s GPS systems. Because it is not easy to find your way through the FCC’s comment web forms, we suggest you follow the link provided. The BoatU.S. system will help you easily construct a letter, which will be electronically delivered to your Members of Congress. BoatU.S. will then print your letter and hand deliver it to the FCC before they close on Friday, July 29th.
The BoatUS link can be found at www.boatus.com/gov.
From exhibitors to buyers to outdoor media, 7,000 representatives from the global sportfishing community converged on the Las Vegas Convention Center, July 13-15, for the world’s largest sportfishing trade show. The 54th International Convention of Allied Sportfishing Trades, better known as ICAST, produced by the American Sportfishing Association (ASA), featured 427 exhibitors filling 1,270 booths, with 2,100 buyers and 530 media representatives in attendance.
The single most important feature for ICAST exhibitors and attendees alike is the New Product Showcase. The New Product Showcase embodies the sportfishing industry’s innovative and entrepreneurial spirit and rewards that ingenuity through the “Best of Show” new product awards competition.
This year the Berkley Nanofil fishing line by Pure Fishing, Inc. was voted by buyers and outdoor journalists as the most innovative product in the ICAST 2011 New Product Showcase in both the Line category and the overall “Best of Show.”
Other “Best of Show” winners are as follows.
Best Apparel: Frabill, Inc. with the Frabill Suit; Best Boat: Hobie Cat with the Hobie Mirage Revolution II; Best Boating Accessory: JL Marine Systems, Inc. with the 10 Foot Power-Pole Blade Edition; Best Combo: Daiwa Corporation with the Daiwa D-Shock DSH-4Bi Combo; Best Electronics: Johnson Outdoor Marine Electronics with the Humminbird 1158c DI Combo; Best Eyewear: Costa with the Costa Women’s Collection; Best Fishing Accessory: G. Pucci & Sons, Inc. with the P-Line Sparrowhawk; Best Fly Fishing Accessory: VestPac with the DriftPac; Best Fly Fishing Reel: Temple Fork Outfitters with the BVK Fly Reel; Best Fly Fishing Rod: G. Loomis, Inc. with the Pro4x; Best Line: Pure Fishing, Inc. with the Berkley Nanofil; Best Hard Lure: Pure Fishing, Inc. with the Sebile D&S Crank; Best Soft Lure: Koppers Fishing & Tackle Corporation with the LIVE TARGET Hollow Body Mouse; Best Saltwater Reel: Daiwa Corporation with the Saltiga SATG5000H; Best Saltwater Rod: Shimano American Corporation with the Terez Rail Rod; Best Tackle Management: Plano Molding Company with the 4674 Hydro-Flo Tackle Bag; and Best Terminal Tackle: VMC with the Spinshot.
For complete ICAST information, visit ICASTfishing.org.
