Releases – July 1, 2010
Researchers from the University of North Carolina Wilmington are taking a proactive approach to determining the North Carolina “what ifs” of the massive oil plumes threatening the environment and communities in the Gulf of Mexico region.
The scientists are expanding ongoing North Carolina Sea Grant-funded studies of ecosystems and habitats of the beach and surf zones along Wrightsville Beach, Carolina Beach, and Kure Beach in New Hanover County. These additional samplings and analyses of ocean water, sediment, shellfish, and fish will follow federally designed protocols to detect oil pollution, thus providing baseline scientific data of what an ecologically healthy beach looks like, according to Lawrence B. Cahoon, UNCW professor of marine biology and principal investigator of the multi-disciplinary research team.
Cahoon stresses that there is only a small risk that any Gulf-spill oil would reach North Carolina’s coast. But if so, the researchers will be better prepared to scientifically determine the “before and after” effects of oil residues and other impacts that may make it to nearshore waters and shorelines.
The expanded sampling and analysis builds on the UNCW researchers’ two-year biological studies of how beaches are impacted and how they recover from beach nourishment or other human activities. The new protocols were added to the scheduled post-nourishment analysis of the New Hanover beaches.
Michael Voiland, North Carolina Sea Grant’s executive director, is pleased that his program can make such research investment decisions to help the state deal with potential oil spill arrival and resulting impacts.
“Being co-funded with state and federal resources, understanding university research procedures, and working hard to discern emerging coastal research needs in the state, Sea Grant can be facile, flexible, and timely with regard to the research information it seeks. We can use project extensions and other means to help focus or amplify university faculty research efforts,” Voiland notes.
North Carolina Sea Grant also hopes to be able to support a new dimension of the project, which could allow the team to expand its baseline studies to other sites from Cape Fear to Cape Hatteras.
In addition to the UNCW surf zone study, current and previous research projects funded by Sea Grant likely will provide baseline data that can be reviewed if oil or other effects of the Deepwater Horizon disaster are noted in waters off our coast.
N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries Director Louis Daniel closed Core Sound to large-mesh gill net fishing on Monday, June 28.
The action is being taken due to the number of observed sea turtle interactions that have occurred since June 1.
“We have seen more sea turtles than usual in the areas around Cape Lookout this year,” Daniel said. “It is unfortunate that as the number of sea turtles increase in this area, the number of interactions with fisheries increases, as well.”
Daniel implemented stricter regulations on North Carolina’s inshore large-mesh gill net fishery May 15 under a lawsuit settlement agreement between the state and the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center. As part of the agreement, the division is observing large-mesh gill net fishing in inshore waters to track interactions with sea turtles.
The state is also seeking a statewide Incidental Take Permit under Section 10 of the Endangered Species Act for North Carolina’s gill net fisheries.
Since implementation of the new regulations, observers have documented 20 interactions with sea turtles in 24 fishing nights, and 14 of these observations occurred in Core Sound. Of the total interactions, 16 turtles were alive.
“By closing Core Sound, the state is trying to maintain protection of threatened and endangered sea turtles while continuing the flounder gill net fishery in areas where few or no sea turtle interactions have been observed,” Daniel said.
The closure took effect one hour before sunset on Monday, June 28, and applies to all gill nets between 4 inches and 6½ inches stretched mesh that are fished as set nets in Core Sound. The closure does not apply to run-around, strike or drop nets that are used to surround a school of fish and then are immediately retrieved.
The closure will remain in place until Sept. 1.
For specific regulations and a map of the closure area, see Proclamation M-11-2010 on the division’s website at www.ncfisheries.net/procs/index.html.
The red snapper fishery remains closed to both commercial and recreational fishermen throughout federal waters (3 to 200 miles offshore) in the South Atlantic region. Measures taken by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council during its meeting in Orlando, Florida, this past week may determine how long the closure stays in place as well as other regulations impacting fishermen who target the 73 species that make up the snapper grouper management complex. The additional regulations could be implemented by December of this year.
Members of the Council, in a 9-4 vote, approved Amendment 17A to the Snapper Grouper Fishery Management Plan to end overfishing of red snapper and rebuild the South Atlantic stock during its meeting in Orlando. The amendment is designed to meet the Congressional mandates of the reauthorized Magnuson-Stevens Act and must be approved by the Secretary of Commerce before regulations become effective.
Management measures that may be implemented later this year through Amendment 17A include (1) a continuation of the closure of the red snapper fishery; (2) a new area closure off of northeastern Florida and southern Georgia, where fishing for all snapper grouper species in water depths of 98 – 240 feet would be prohibited (with the exception of spearfishing and use of black sea bass pots); (3) a requirement for the use non-stainless steel circle hooks when fishing for snapper grouper species north of 28 degrees N. latitude; and (4) the development of a fishery-independent monitoring program to help track the rebuilding and recovery of red snapper.
In addition to the red snapper closure, the area closure is necessary to reduce harvest of red snapper by 76%, including the estimated number of fish that die even when released. The area closure has been a highly controversial issue, and the Council has discussed its size and configuration over the past year in an effort to meet the mandates of the Act and minimize negative economic and social impacts. The Council reduced the size of the area, eliminating more than 1200 square miles off the coast of Georgia, after modifying the biological parameters and considering other variables such as enforcement compliance and effort shifts in the fishery.
However, if regulations in Amendment 17A are implemented in December, those regulations could quickly change. A new stock assessment for red snapper is underway and the results will be available to the Council during its December 6-10, 2010 meeting in New Bern, NC. Restrictions may be modified, depending on the results of the new assessment. Fishermen are hoping the new assessment reflects their observations of increases in the number and sizes of red snapper, and less stringent regulations will be adopted by the Council.
More than 200 fishermen crowded into the Council’s public comment session during the meeting in Orlando to express their concerns about the impacts of the continued closure of the red snapper fishery and the regulations proposed in Amendment 17A. A series of public hearings held by the Council in November 2009 was also well attended, with fishermen from the Cape Canaveral and Jacksonville, Florida area particularly concerned about the possibility of an area closure. Many fishermen, primarily those involved in the commercial king mackerel fishery, also spoke out against the use of catch share programs. The Council’s Mackerel Committee met jointly with the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council’s Committee to determine alternatives for addressing annual catch limits, accountability measures, and other mandates of the reauthorized Magnuson-Stevens Act. The Gulf Council is forming an advisory panel of fishermen to consider catch shares in the Gulf, and fishermen from the South Atlantic will also serve on the AP. There are currently no plans in place to implement catch shares for the king mackerel fishery in the South Atlantic.
Spiny lobster fishermen from both the Gulf and South Atlantic Council’s advisory panels also met with committee members to discuss alternatives for annual catch limits and other mandates of the Magnuson-Stevens Act. A stock assessment for spiny lobster is underway this year. Both spiny lobster and king mackerel are managed jointly by the two councils.
The South Atlantic Council is developing a Comprehensive Annual Catch Limit Amendment to address the reauthorized Magnuson-Stevens Act mandates, and public hearings will be held later this year. The Council will meet again September 13-17, 2010, in Charleston, South Carolina. Meeting information, including Summary Motions from the June meeting in Orlando, will be posted on the Council’s website at www.safmc.net as it becomes available.
The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council, one of eight regional councils, conserves and manages fish stocks from three to 200 miles offshore of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and east Florida.
