Releases – June 23, 2016
The House version of the 2016-17 biennial budget contains funds for marine fisheries law enforcement and oyster restoration.
Funds for oyster restoration specifically include the following items: $1.5 million in nonrecurring funds to develop the Jean Preston Oyster Sanctuaries; $149,000 to create two new positions within the Division of Marine Fisheries to facilitate shellfish aquaculture; and authorization to carryover cultch planting money for one year to hire contractors.
The oyster fishery in North Carolina has diminished substantially over the years due to destruction of oyster reefs, water quality degradation, over harvest, and disease. This funding will provide a start toward recovery of this important fishery. Oyster reefs provide excellent fishing grounds for prized recreational fish such as red drum, speckled trout, and flounder. Oysters through their feeding activity provide a natural filtering process which helps maintain good water quality in our sounds and estuaries. A healthy oyster fishery is basic to a productive estuarine and marine ecosystem.
The House budget includes a one-time, non-recurring supplement of $300,000 to the Marine Patrol budget to allow replacement or repair of old and dysfunctional patrol vessels, some of which are way past their usefulness. Funds will also enable more fully operational use of these vessels by providing fuel and maintenance. This is critical given the cuts to the department in recent years.
A strong law enforcement arm is the cornerstone of all effective fisheries management programs. Laws and rules to manage and protect marine fisheries are only as effective as their enforcement. Over the recent years, the Marine Patrol has been diminished substantially in its ability to enforce the rules and laws designed to manage and protect our marine fisheries through personnel attrition and budgetary cuts. The financial needs to bring the Marine Patrol near the level required to effectively enforce the law and rules for recreational and commercial fishing activities far exceed this modest supplement, but it is a start in the right direction.
The NC Camo Coalition asks you to contact your Senator and Representative to support the supplements for oyster restoration as contained in the House budget and to increase the supplement for the Marine Patrol from $300,000 to $600,000 in the final budget.
The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission has completed renovations and reopened the Masons Landing boating access area located at 625 Clarks Neck Road in Washington in Beaufort County.
Mason’s Landing provides access to Tranters Creek, which connects to the Pamlico-Tar River. The access area features two 15-foot-wide concrete boat ramps, three 60-foot floating docks, and an asphalt parking lot. The parking lot includes 36 spaces for vehicles and trailers and six spaces for single cars, including three ADA-compliant spaces.
The Wildlife Commission funded construction of the project with motorboat registration receipts and Sport Fish Restoration Program funds.
“Mason’s Landing gives anglers some great fishing opportunities,” said Kyle Rachels, the Commission’s district assistant fisheries biologist. “Boaters can expect to catch a wide variety of species such as sunfish, striped bass, bluegill, catfish, and largemouth bass.”
For more information on boating in North Carolina, including the locations of more than 200 free, publicly accessible boating access areas, visit the Commission’s online locater map. For more information on fishing in North Carolina, including where to fish, visit the fishing page on www.ncwildlife.org.
Staff with the state’s Oyster Sanctuary Program are discussing a plan to construct Gull Shoal Oyster Sanctuary, a 10-acre sanctuary located about 4 miles (3.5 nautical miles) southeast of Wysocking Bay.
Oyster sanctuaries are areas where oyster reefs are created with the aim of providing a brood stock to help restore oyster populations. The reefs attract native oyster larvae, which settle and grow to produce millions of eggs annually that are carried by currents and tides to surrounding areas. The reefs also serve as habitat for finfish populations and provide hook-and-line fishing opportunities. To protect the brood stock, no shellfish harvest or bottom-disturbing gear is allowed within oyster sanctuaries.
Once constructed, the Gull Shoal Oyster Sanctuary will be part of the Sen. Jean Preston Oyster Sanctuary Network, a system of small, interconnected oyster sanctuaries within the Pamlico Sound and its tributaries.
For more information, contact Curt Weychert with the Oyster Sanctuary Program at (252) 808-8055 or Curt.Weychert@ncdenr.gov.
The North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission adopted stricter blue crab regulations. The measures are meant to improve the condition of the state’s blue crab stock.
Commercial and recreational crabbers should expect most of the regulations to take effect in early June.
The commission voted to: (1) Require one additional escape ring (two are currently required) in crab pots, and one of the three rings must be located within one full mesh of the corner of the pot and within one full mesh of the bottom of the apron/stairs (divider) of the upper chamber of the pot; (2) Eliminate the harvest of v-apron immature female hard crabs (excluding peeler crabs); and include v-apron immature female hard crabs in the culling tolerance (the tolerance currently includes only sublegal male and immature female hard crabs); (3) Prohibit harvest of dark sponge crabs (brown and black) from April 1-April 30 each year; and include dark sponge crabs in the culling tolerance; (4) Lower the culling tolerance from 10 percent to 5 percent for all crabs, except mature females; and (5) Prohibit crab harvest with dredges, except incidental to lawful oyster dredging as outlined in North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission Rule 15A NCAC 03L .0203(a)(2).
The Division of Marine Fisheries will issue proclamations to implement the regulatory changes. All of the regulatory changes except the escape ring requirement will take effect June 6; the escape ring requirement will not take effect until Jan. 15, 2017 to allow fishermen to make this gear modification during an annual crab pot closure.
The management action was required under Amendment 2 to the N.C. Blue Crab Fishery Management Plan, adopted by the commission in November 2013. The plan uses an adaptive management framework that requires annual evaluation of a Blue Crab Traffic Light, which consists of three biological indicators. If the indicators meet pre-determined thresholds, management changes are required. The annual evaluation this year found that a management threshold was exceeded.
In other business, the commission: (1) Approved draft amendments to the Oyster and Hard Clam Fishery Management Plans for departmental and legislative review; (2) Directed division staff to meet with Wildlife Resources Commission staff, and bring joint recommendations to the August meeting to address problems with striped bass reproduction in the Neuse and Tar rivers; to expedite analysis of fin clip data on samples the division currently has; and to provide a method of determining if the native strain of striped bass still exists in the Neuse and Tar rivers; (3) Requested that the Conservation Fund Committee meet within 30 days to consider funding DNA testing of striped bass fin clips; (4) Requested that the division include crab pots in its blue crab sampling gear; (5) Requested that the division include various gears used by commercial fishermen in various areas in stock assessment sampling, and, when possible, work with commercial and recreational fishermen in the sampling process; and (6) Requested that the commission chair send letters and emails to the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council chair and members expressing the commission’s support for including little tunny (false albacore) and Atlantic bonito in the list of Eco-system Component Species; and express the commission’s support for Alternative 2B of the Unmanaged Forage Omnibus Amendment to designate unmanaged forage species as Eco-system Component Species, and implement an incidental possession limit with a 1,700 pounds total cap and a 1,500 cap on individual spe
