Releases April 15, 2010
Ron McManus, of North Myrtle Beach, has been awarded an Environmental Awareness Certificate of Excellence by the State of South Carolina.
The South Carolina Environmental Awareness Award, established by the South Carolina General Assembly during the 1992 Legislative Session, recognizes outstanding contributions made toward the protection, conservation, and improvement of South Carolina’s natural resources.
Nominations are accepted annually and reviewed by an awards committee, which includes representatives from the state’s environmental and natural resource agencies. In judging nominees, the committee considers excellence in innovation, leadership, and accomplishments that influence positive changes affecting the natural environment.
Nominated for the award by Bob Martore, SCDNR’s manager of artificial reef programs, McManus was applauded for his work in enhancing and conserving the marine environment in the North Myrtle Beach area.
McManus is the Executive Director of the Dixie Chicken Funament, now in its 11th year, and Co-Chair of the Jim Caudle Reef Foundation, which raises money for the development of the Jim Caudle Artificial Reef (PA01), a section formerly known as the Little River Reef. McManus credits the fundraising success to community support and the North Myrtle Beach Chamber’s involvement with the Flounder Frenzie tournament.
“Prior to Ron’s involvement, this reef site was only minimally developed and one of the most underutilized reefs on our coast,” cited Martore in his nomination. “Since the Foundation ‘adopted’ the site, it has grown to be one of the largest and the single most heavily utilized artificial reefs in the state. Ron has promoted the tournament and the reef throughout the community to such an extent that much of the North Strand area is now not only aware of the reef, but also exhibits a sense of pride and ownership in their reef.”
“From an ecological standpoint, the Jim Caudle Reef is truly flourishing. The materials placed here have provided a long lasting and stable foundation for the development of a diverse and thriving marine reef community,” continued Martore.
It is with a sense of accomplishment that McManus describes the reef: “When we first took over Little River Inshore Reef, PA-01, in 2000, it was the least visited reef in the South Carolina artificial reef system. Working with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resource, we renamed PA-01 the “Jim Caudle Reef” and started adding structure on the site soon after the first Dixie Chicken Funament. The reef has grown from 40,000 cubic feet of structure before the first Funament to over 260,000 cubic feet today.”
McManus is proud, and rightfully so. Today, an internet search for the Jim Caudle Reef lands many informative articles about the reef’s activity including fishing and diving, videos of fish being caught, references in fishing and diving charter advertisements, mentions in government reports, and most importantly, recognition of the Jim Caudle Reef by name and location on marine charts.
Always working on behalf of his community, McManus is not one to rest on his laurels. He is too busy getting ready for the 11th Annual Dixie Chicken Funament and Flounder Frenzie scheduled for May 28-31 (Memorial Day Weekend) at Harbourgate Marina in North Myrtle Beach.
For more information on this fundraising fishing tournament, visit www.dixiechickenfunament.com or call (843) 249-1637. For more information about the Flounder Frenzie, call (843) 281-2662 or (877) 332-2662.
The Coastal Conservation Association of North Carolina declares that recreational fishermen should be up in arms over the latest North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission (MFC) decision. In another of its surprising moves, the MFC voted to increase the commercial trip limit of red drum by over 40% and remove virtually all restrictions required to keep this an “incidental” fishery.
With this vote, the MFC ignored the advice and direction of the Red Drum Advisory Committee by raising the trip limit for commercial fishermen to 10 fish per day. The advisory committee had recommended keeping the limit at 7 fish per day, in part, based on information provided by the commercial fishing industry, which shows only 5% of the trip tickets reported caught the previous maximum of 7 fish allowed.
As such, this only reinforces that any increase in the daily trip limit is unnecessary, unless red drum are to be targeted directly.
In addition, the Red drum Committee identified only three species that might result in an incidental or “bycatch” of red drum: flounder, speckled trout, and striped mullet. Currently, in order to sell red drum, commercial fishermen are required to have an equal weight of these fish; however, with the new regulations, everything from spot and croakers to pinfish, with the exception being only menhaden, will count toward the weight needed.
As red drum school in shallow water, it makes them especially susceptible to targeting by netters. This has substantial potential to lead to overfishing, harm the stock, and set back years of work to recover our state fish.
The major “bycatch” or incidental catch of red drum has typically occurred in the past as a result of the gill net fishery for flounder. However, as the red drum stock continues to recover from previous overfishing, commercial fishermen now see fit to once again target them. With the increase in the trip limit, the temptation to target red drum by commercial fishermen will become overwhelming, as was evident two years ago by commercial fishermen in northeastern North Carolina.
While there are new safeguards in place, the Coastal Conservation Association of North Carolina is very concerned by the biased action of the MFC and fears a recurrence of a directed commercial fishery on red drum as a result.
Reelin’ For Research is proud to announce to the 2nd annual Reelin’ For Research Fishing Tournament benefiting the North Carolina Children’s Promise. The tournament will once again be based out of Morehead City, NC.
The North Carolina Children’s Promise supports the N.C. Children’s Hospital, which protects the health and well-being of North Carolina’s Pediatric Hematology-Oncology patients by “aligning premier health care practitioners, world class medical education, and innovative research to provide the highest quality, family-centered care available, regardless of cost”.
The tournament funds that are donated to the North Carolina Children’s Promise will be allocated directly toward pediatric oncology research through providing a fellowship.
Reelin’ For Research was founded in 2008 by Richard Montana and his friends of Greensboro, NC, after his father, Tony, lost his courageous battle with cancer in 2005. Their ambition is to help fund research to promote awareness and state-of-the art care for younger generations afflicted with terminal disease.
“My dad was very thankful for his life, experiences, and blessings. He felt like nobody should have to suffer from cancer, especially the young children who might not have the opportunties he had,” says Richard Montana.
The inaugural tournament held in 2009 boasted proceeds just shy of $30,000. The focus this year is to double that amount, thanks in part to the generous donations of both private and corporate sponsors.
The Reelin’ For Research planning committee would like to invite those parties who are interested in joining the cause, or to simply make a donation, to please visit the website www.reelinforresearch.org for detailed information.
Hook, Line, and Paddle Kayak Shop would like to invite all of their valued customers and friends to join them on April 24 at 11:00 am at Greenfield Lake Park in Wilmington for their annual free spring kayak demo. They will have kayaks located next to the boat house on the lake, so parking will be easy for anyone that wants to come out and demo kayaks.
They will also be joined by the guys from Legacy Paddle Sports. Legacy is planning on bringing down a trailer full of kayaks to demo also.
Featured kayaks to demo on the water include the new Mariner 12.5 propel drive kayak, Manta Ray sit on tops, Ultimate 12 and 14.5, Marvel 12, and the Magic kayak line. Also on site will be a full compilation of Heritage kayaks.
Don’t miss your chance to try out a ton of kayaks for free to help you find the perfect one for you this season. The styles will range from recreational to touring, as well as plenty of fishing kayaks.
Come on out to Greenfield Lake to enjoy a warm spring day on the water and try out some of the newest kayaks on the market. For more information, please call (910) 792-6945 or (877) 91-KAYAK.
