Releases – August 2, 2012
The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries will hold a public meeting in August to receive comments on the location for a new oyster sanctuary site near Engelhard. The meeting is set for 6:00 p.m. on Aug. 15 at the Hyde County Courthouse, 30 Oyster Creek Road, Swanquarter.
The division proposes to construct an oyster reef with about 1,000 concrete structures on five acres of soft bottom in the Long Shoal area. These materials will attract oyster larvae, as well as clams, juvenile fish, crabs, and other marine organisms, providing fish habitat and improving water quality.
The reefs also will serve as a brood stock for oysters. Harvest of oysters and the use of bottom disturbing gear are prohibited on the reef, but the oysters that grow there will produce millions of eggs annually that will be carried by currents and tides to surrounding areas that are open to oyster harvest.
The division’s Oyster Sanctuary Program will receive funding for this project from the U.S. Department of the Navy as mitigation for the reactivation of the Navy’s Dare County Bombing Range at Long Shoal.
Interested parties are invited to provide advice regarding the placement of the reef. For more information, contact Pelle Holmlund, with the division’s Resource Enhancement Section, at (252) 808-8055 or Pelle.Holmlund@ncdenr.gov.
The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council has released a final report summarizing the ideas, concerns, and recommendations from more than 1,500 individuals who provided input for the Visioning and Strategic Planning Project.
The Stakeholder Input Report outlines 55 themes/concerns and 123 recommendations from three of the Council’s primary stakeholder groups—the commercial industry, the recreational sector, and the environmental community. Participants commented on topics ranging from decision-making and communication procedures to management strategies for specific fisheries.
Outreach and data gathering for the report occurred over a five month period beginning in September 2011. Online and mail surveys were available to anyone interested in providing input on fisheries management, and council members and staff met with more than 200 individuals in 20 locations throughout the Northeast region in roundtable sessions. Organizations also had the opportunity to submit position letters describing their concerns and priorities for Mid-Atlantic fisheries.
“The Council has a diverse constituency, and we recognize that effective fisheries management must include meaningful stakeholder participation,” said Council Chairman Rick Robins. “We have a history of successful stock rebuilding, but we continue to struggle with maintaining full stakeholder engagement. This report and the forthcoming strategic plan will enable the Council to make decisions that are more accurately informed by stakeholder perspectives.”
The Stakeholder Input Report, which is available on the Council’s website, is organized in to three sections—Themes and Recommendations, Stakeholder Visions, and Fishery-Specific Themes. Themes and Recommendations are further organized in to six categories, including Information and Data, Management Strategies, Economic Challenges, Communication and Participation, Governance, and Ecosystems.
Although stakeholder perspectives are often characterized as inherently conflicting, a number of common themes were identified by members of the commercial fishing industry, the recreational fishing sector, environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs), and the general public.
These themes included: (1) there is a lack of confidence in the data that drive fishery management decisions; (2) stakeholders are not as involved in the Council process as they can and should be; (3) different jurisdictions and regulations among the many fishery management organizations result in complexity and inconsistency; (4) there is a need for increased transparency and clearer communications in fisheries management; (5) the dynamics of the ecosystem and food web should be considered to a greater extent in fisheries management decisions; (6) stakeholders are not adequately represented on the Council; and (7) pollution is negatively affecting the health of fish stocks.
In addition to voicing concerns and providing recommendations, stakeholders identified elements of a “Vision” for successful fisheries and fisheries management in the Mid-Atlantic. Five common characteristics of a vision were identified across all stakeholder groups, including: (1) fish populations are thriving and are harvested at sustainable levels; (2) management decisions are based on sound data and science; (3) there is equitable consideration of the needs of diverse stakeholder groups and the interest of no one stakeholder group outweighs another; (4) there is little waste in the fisheries, and regulatory discards are minimal; and (5) more stakeholders are involved in the management process.
The report will play a critical role in the Council’s strategic planning process, scheduled to begin next month when the newly-established Visioning and Strategic Planning Working Group meets for the first time. The working group, comprising approximately 25 Council members and stakeholders, will draft a Vision, Goal Statement, and 10-year Strategic Plan to guide the Council’s management decisions and priorities.
“This report is the product of the largest outreach and data gathering initiative the Council has ever undertaken. There is a sincere commitment among Council members to integrate stakeholder input in to the strategic plan as much as possible,” said Chairman Robins. “We are grateful to the 1,500 stakeholders who took the time to share their concerns and ideas with us, and the vision and strategic plan will reflect their input.”
The full report and additional information about the project are available at www.mafmc.org/vision.
The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries officially certified two state record fish catches last week. A Jacksonville man broke the state queen trigger fish record with a 10 pound, 11 ounce fish caught July 3, and a Newport man established the state gag grouper record with a 43 pound, 8 ounce fish caught May 12.
Benjamin Peterson of Jacksonville caught the queen trigger 55 miles out of New River Inlet using squid as bait on a Shimano Trevela rod and Shimano Sarasota 18000 reel with Power Pro 65 pound test braided fishing line. It measured 23.5 inches fork length (tip of the nose to fork in the tail) and had a 22-inch girth. Peterson’s queen trigger replaces the previous state record of 10 pounds, 5 ounces, set in 2011. The world record queen trigger was 14 pounds, 3 ounces, when it was caught in Mexico in 2009.
David Abernathy of Newport established the state record for gag grouper with a 43 pound, 8 ounce fish caught off Morehead City using a Roscoe jig on a Shimano Saragosa reel and Star Spinning rod with a 65-pound test fishing line. It measured 45 inches total length (tip of the nose to tip of the tail) and had a 31.5-inch girth. North Carolina previously did not have a state record gag grouper. The world record gag grouper was 80 pounds, 6 ounces, caught off of Florida in 1993.
To establish a state record fish, the angler must submit an application that is then reviewed by N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries staff and a N.C. Saltwater Fishing Tournament Advisory Board. The fish must be exceptionally large for North Carolina waters and within a reasonable range of the world record.
For more information, contact Carole Willis, division sportfishing specialist, at (252) 808-8081 or carole.y.willis@ncdenr.gov.
