Releases – April 24, 2014
North Carolina Watermen United is sponsoring an informational session that brings together members of the Dare County Oregon Inlet Task Force, Dare County Commissioners, and NCDOT to help disseminate factual information on what is being done to keep the Oregon Inlet Waterway open.
The meeting will take place on Tuesday, April 29, 2014, from 6:00-8:00 pm at the Pirate’s Cove Pavilion. There will be a barbecue starting at about 5:45 so people can purchase dinner ($10) at the Pavilion with the actual session starting at about 6:30. A question and answer session will follow.
The panel will consist of: Jim Tobin, Harry Shiffman, Malcom Fearing, Wally Overman, Nancy White, and Warren Judge. The event will be moderated by NCWU Board Member Greg Meyer. NCWU will provide information on membership should anyone attending want to become a member of the organization.
The event is a needed venue for getting specifics on what is being done at the Inlet. Oregon Inlet accounts for nearly $683 million in revenue (according to a study done in 2005) to northeast North Carolina, the federal government, and the state economy each year. The Task Force has been meeting for approximately the last two years and will have just had a meeting with all members on April 22, 2014.
The event is open to the public, and anyone who has a stake or an interest in Oregon Inlet is encouraged to attend.
NCWU, which originally came together in 2005 as a group of recreational boaters (including charter/headboat owners-operators) and commercial fishermen, has worked hard to promote the North Carolina fishing industry and protect both those who work on the water as well as recreational fishermen who enjoy being able to fish.
This organization was originally responsible for developing the idea of Outer Banks Catch as a means of educating the consumer of the benefits of fresh, local NC seafood; and has brought the importance of the NC fishing industry to the attention of local, state, and federally elected officials.
For more information on either the Oregon Inlet meeting or the NCWU, please contact (252) 305-6094.
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.
Preliminary calculations of commercial red drum landings between Sept. 1 and Nov. 23 totaled 260,866 pounds, exceeding the annual harvest limit by 10,866 pounds.
“While this was a very strong year for red drum, the extraordinary level of harvest during this short period was unexpected,” said Louis Daniel, director of the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries. “We are currently analyzing the fisheries data to determine what management changes may be needed to avoid this occurrence in the future.”
Fishery management plans adopted by both the N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission and Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission require the commercial fishery to close once the annual harvest limit is exceeded. Overages in the 250,000-pound harvest limit must be deducted from the subsequent year’s harvest limit.
The state’s Red Drum plan splits the state’s commercial red drum harvest into two seasons. A Sept. 1-April 30 season is allocated 150,000 pounds of the annual harvest limit, and a May 1-Aug. 31 season is allocated 100,000 pounds.
The division closed the 2013 fall/winter season Nov. 23 after calculations just from electronically-submitted trip tickets showed fishermen had caught 144,258 pounds of the 150,000-pound harvest limit. Later calculations included landings reported on paper trip tickets and showed the fall fishery had exceeded the entire annual harvest limit.
The commercial red drum fishery will re-open Sept. 1 with an adjusted harvest limit. The Marine Fisheries Commission will discuss how to deduct the overages from the 2014-2015 seasons at its May meeting.
For more information, contact division biologist Lee Paramore at (252) 473-5734, extension 222 or Lee.Paramore@ncdenr.gov.
The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission will partner with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in a summer boating safety campaign, “Saved by the Zone: The Life Jacket Zone.” Other partners include N.C. State Parks, the Neuse Riverkeeper Foundation, Safe Kids Wake County, and the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary.
The boating safety partnership is coordinating “Life Jacket Zone” stencils painted at boat ramps across the state and in southern Virginia, along with boating safety educational events and an online life jacket photo contest. The campaign will urge boaters to wear a life jacket anytime they are on the water. Learn more at www.facebook.com/LifeJacketZoneNC.
“Most people who drown in a boating accident had a life jacket available, but they were not wearing it when they entered the water,” said Maj. Chris Huebner, the Commission’s boating safety coordinator. “Accidents happen quickly. Too often, there isn’t time or you are unable to locate a life jacket and put it on.”
State law requires children younger than 13 to wear an appropriate life jacket whenever they are on a recreational vessel that is under way. It must be U.S. Coast Guard approved and be a proper fit, with youth sizes corresponding to weight.
State law also requires all personal watercraft riders and anyone being towed to wear proper life jackets. All recreational vessels must have a life jacket of a suitable size for each person aboard and each skier being towed. Learn more at www.ncwildlife.org/Boating/LawsSafety.aspx.
The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission recently completed construction of a universally accessible fishing pier that runs along the Cape Fear River at Lock and Dam 2 in Bladen County.
The wooden pier includes an 8-foot by 90-foot fishing platform that runs parallel to the river and a 7-foot by 93-foot walkway that provides access to the fishing platform. A 7-foot by 7-foot concrete abutment connects the pier to an existing ADA-compliant concrete sidewalk that also provides access to the existing concrete boat ramp.
The Commission’s Division of Engineering and Lands Management designed the pier and oversaw construction of the pier, which was completed by a marine contractor. Unlike many of the piers constructed by the Commission, the pier at Lock and Dam 2, like the pier at Lock and Dam 1, is a fixed pier with driven pilings that enable it to withstand high-water events typical on the Cape Fear River.
An existing portion of undesignated pavement near the pier was converted to parking by creating six parking spaces, one of which is ADA compliant. Ten additional gravel parking spaces were constructed adjacent to the access road about 300 feet from the pier.
Anglers fishing at Lock and Dam 2, which is located at the end of Lock 2 Road off of NC 87 Business about 1.5 miles east of the intersection with US 701 in Elizabethtown, can expect to catch a variety of fish depending on the time of year.
“From about March to May, people can catch American and hickory shad and striped bass,” said District 4 Fisheries Biologist Michael Fisk. “Species that people can catch year-round include largemouth bass, blue, channel and flathead catfish, and several sunfish species, such as bluegill and redear sunfish. Several folks have been catching shad on the new pier this week.”
The Commission built the pier and gave it to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which will provide general maintenance to the pier while the Commission will provide structural repairs if needed in the future.
Pier construction was funded through the Sport Fish Restoration Program, which utilizes state fishing license money and funds generated from taxes on fishing tackle and other fishing-related expenditures.
For more information on fishing in public, inland waters, including an interactive map of more than 500 public fishing access areas throughout the state, visit www.ncwildlife.org/fishing. For a list of all boating access areas open to the public in North Carolina, visit www.ncwildlife.org/boating.
