Releases May 8, 2014
Plans for “Blessing of the Fleet” ceremony on May 17 are being made by Seacoast Anglers Club (North Myrtle Beach/Little River) as part of the 3rd annual Little River Sweep
The Blessing of the Fleet is a tradition that began centuries ago in Mediterranean fishing communities. The practice is predominantly Catholic, and a blessing from the local priest was meant to ensure a safe and bountiful season. The events that are part of the ritual vary by community and range from a simple ceremony to a multi-day festival including a Catholic mass, parades, pageantry, dancing, feasting, and contests. The Blessing of the Fleet is held at coastal fishing communities throughout much of the world.
A ’safe and bountiful season’ for all boaters is hoped for and Seacoast Anglers ask that both recreational and commercial seamen participate. The short ceremony will take place in the Intracoastal Waterway off the Harbourgate Marina dock and the Causey boat ramp.
Boats are asked to gather in this area of the waterway between 8:30 am and 9:00 am on May 17. The blessing will be broadcast over a loud speaker system that will be set up on Harbourgate Marina’s dock.
For more information, you can reach Seacoast Anglers’ D. Grant MacKinnon at (202) 489-8658.
North Carolina internal coastal waters closed Monday, May 5, to large-mesh gill net fishing to avoid discards of red drum.
The closure will continue until at least June 1, after the N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission discusses several issues related to this year’s overages in the commercial red drum fishery.
The division announced in April that the spring/summer commercial fishing season for red drum will not open this year because the annual harvest limit was exceeded in the fall/winter season. Final calculations from 2013 show that commercial fishermen landed 263,072 pounds of red drum between Sept. 1 and Nov. 23, exceeding the annual harvest limit by 13,072 pounds.
In North Carolina, commercial fishermen are not allowed to target red drum, but when the season is open, they are allowed to retain a certain number of red drum caught incidentally when targeting flounder or other species. Fishery management plans adopted by both the N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission and Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission set an annual cap on this harvest at 250,000 pounds for a Sept. 1 to Aug. 31 season.
The commercial fishery must close once the annual harvest limit is met, and overages from one year are deducted from the subsequent year’s harvest limit.
Recently, the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries received a request from the N.C. Fisheries Association asking for a closure of internal waters to anchored gill nets with a mesh length of 4-inches or greater. The request also called for: (1) Limited areas to open to large-mesh gill nets June 1 with a four-fish red drum bycatch allowance; (2) All waters reopening to large mesh gill nets Aug. 1, with seven-fish red drum bycatch allowance; (3) Exemptions for run-around gill nets and drift nets; and (4) Weekly dealer reporting of red drum landings.
“While the May closure partially addresses this request, the division cannot reopen the red drum commercial fishery until Sept. 1,” said division Director Louis Daniel. “Reopening red drum before Sept. 1 would result in non-compliance with the North Carolina and Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission plans.”
The Marine Fisheries Commission will consider how to better monitor the landings of red drum and other aspects of the Fisheries Association’s request at its May 21-23 meeting. The division will present a detailed red drum landings data analysis to the commission, as well.
For more specific information on the large-mesh gill net closure, see Proclamation M-16-2014 at http://portal.ncdenr.org/web/mf/proclamations.
The recreational black sea bass fishing season will open May 19 in both federal and North Carolina waters north of Cape Hatteras.
During the open season, the minimum size limit will be 12.5 inches, and the bag limit will be 15 fish per person, per day.
The season will close Sept. 18, and will reopen again from Oct. 18 through Dec. 31.
The recreational black sea bass regulations north of Cape Hatteras comply with the Mid Atlantic Fishery Management Council and Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Management Plan.
The recreational black sea bass fishery south of Cape Hatteras is managed by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council. South of Cape Hatteras, the minimum size limit is 13 inches and the bag limit is five fish per person per day. The recreational black sea bass season begins June 1 each year and closes when the quota is met. The 2013-2014 season is still open.
For more specific regulations on black sea bass, see Proclamation FF-29-2014 for North of Cape Hatteras or Proclamation FF-28-2014 for South of Cape Hatteras at http://portal.ncdenr.org/web/mf/proclamations.
For more information, contact Chris Batsavage at (252) 808-8009 or Chris.Batsavage@ncdenr.gov.
The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries has certified a new state record jack crevalle, a fish commonly caught on ocean reefs.
Frank Dalli, of Wake Forest, reeled in the 49-pound, 1.6-ounce fish on April 2 at the Gulf Stream ledge, 65 miles off Wrightsville Beach. It measured 43 inches fork length and had a 30-inch girth.
Dalli’s catch tops the former state record of 47 pounds, caught in 1989 off Cape Hatteras. The world record jack crevalle weighed 66 pounds, 2 ounces, and was caught in 2010 in Angola.
Dalli caught the fish on a 6-foot Shimano Trevala rod with a Penn 7500 Spinfisher reel using a gold butterfly jig and 65 lb. braid test line. He was fishing on a boat captained by Michael Jackson of Live Line Charters, Wilmington.
For more information, contact Carole Willis, with the North Carolina Saltwater Fishing Tournament, at (252) 808-8081 or carole.y.willis@ncdenr.gov.
NOAA Fisheries is seeking public comment on the proposed rule for Regulatory Amendment 14 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic Region (Regulatory Amendment 14). The proposed rule published on April 25, 2014 (79 FR 22936), with a comment period ending on May 27, 2014.
The proposed rule would:
(1) Revise the current fishing year for both commercial and recreational sectors of greater amberjack from May 1 through April 30, to March 1 through the end of February.
(2) Revise the current commercial fishing year for black sea bass from June 1 through May 31, to January 1 through December 31.
(3) Establish a new commercial trip limit for black sea bass. Black sea bass pots are prohibited from November 1 through April 30. From May 1 to October 31, the trip limit would be 1,000 pounds gutted weight for black sea bass pots. From May 1 to December 31, the trip limit would be 1,000 pounds gutted weight for hook-and-line gear. The hook-and-line gear would be restricted to a trip limit of 300 pounds gutted weight from January 1 to April 30.
(4) Revise the current recreational fishing year for black sea bass from June 1 through May 31, to April 1 through March 31.
(5) Revise the black sea bass recreational accountability measure to have NOAA Fisheries announce the length of the recreational season for black sea bass annually in the Federal Register prior to the April 1 recreational fishing year start date. The fishing season would start on April 1 and end on the date NOAA Fisheries projects the recreational sector’s annual catch limit would be met for that year.
(6) Revise the commercial trip limit for gag from the current 1,000 pounds gutted weight, to include a trip limit reduction to 500 pounds gutted weight, when 75 percent of the gag commercial quota is reached.
(7) Modify the recreational accountability measure for vermilion snapper by implementing an in-season closure and an annual catch limit overage adjustment (payback) in the event an overage of the recreational annual catch limit occurs. If recreational landings reach or are projected to reach the recreational annual catch limit, recreational harvest would be prohibited for the remainder of the fishing year. Payback of a recreational annual catch limit overage in the following fishing year would occur if vermilion snapper are determined to be overfished and the total annual catch limit (combined commercial and recreational annual catch limits) is exceeded.
Electronic or hardcopies of the proposed rule may be obtained from the NOAA Fisheries website.
Comments on the proposed rule must be received no later than May 27, 2014, to be considered by NOAA Fisheries.
You may submit comments electronically via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to: www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2013-0052, click the “Comment Now!” icon, complete the required fields, and enter or attach your comments.
Or you can mail hard copies of comments to Nikhil Mehta, NOAA Fisheries, Southeast Regional Office, Sustainable Fisheries Division, 263 13th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701.
All comments received are a part of the public record and will generally be posted for public viewing on www.regulations.gov without change. All personal identifying information (e.g., name, address, etc.), confidential business information, or otherwise sensitive information submitted voluntarily by the sender will be publicly accessible. NOAA Fisheries will accept anonymous comments (enter “N/A” in the required fields if you wish to remain anonymous). Attachments to electronic comments will be accepted in Microsoft Word, Excel, or Adobe PDF file formats only.
