Releases – June 13, 2013
“On the Road, On the Water, Don’t Drink and Drive” campaign is a multi-agency initiative that is designed to combine law enforcement resources to ensure that everyone can safely travel on highway and waterways during the summer months. The campaign periods focus on three major holidays: Memorial Day, July 4th, and Labor Day. The campaign will continue into the upcoming summer months.
Below are the Memorial Day weekend enforcement totals from the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission: Operate Boat While Impaired: 25; Other Boating Arrest Violations: 471; Other Boating Warnings: 811; and Total: 1,307.
There are more than 200 sworn, full-time wildlife officers across the state who patrol 5,000 square miles of inland streams, rivers, lakes, and coastal waterways and instruct certified boating safety education courses. The public can assist them by reporting boating violations to (800) 662-7137.
For more information on boating, boating safety, and where to enjoy boating, visit www.ncwildlife.org/boating or call (919) 707-0031.
North Carolina commercial and recreational seafood harvests dropped in 2012, likely due to a combination of environmental, economic, and regulatory factors, including the shoaling of Oregon Inlet.
Commercial fishermen harvested 56.7 million pounds of finfish and shellfish from North Carolina coastal waters in 2012, a 16 percent drop from the previous year, according to the N.C. Trip Ticket Program. However, the value of commercial landings increased by 2.6 percent in 2012 to $73 million.
Recreational anglers harvested an estimated 12 million pounds of finfish (8.1 million fish) in 2012, a 9 percent decrease from 2011, according to the N.C. Coastal Angling Program. However, anglers released an estimated 18.5 million fish, 16.8 percent more than in 2011.
Blue crabs remained at the top of the state’s commercial harvest, both in pounds and value. Commercial fishermen harvested 26.8 million pounds of crab in 2012, with an ex-vessel value (amount paid to the fishermen) of $22.8 million.
Shrimp took the No. 2 spot with landings of 6.1 million pounds with an ex-vessel value of $13.3 million, followed by Atlantic croaker (3.1 million pounds and $2.1 million), spiny dogfish (2.7 million pounds and $640,820), and striped mullet (1.9 million pounds and $1 million).
2012 blue crab landings were down nearly 11 percent from 2011, continuing a downward trend in landings since the late 1990s. Environmental influences, market conditions, and infrastructure loss due to hurricanes have all significantly impacted the crab fishery.
The decline in crab landings contributed to a reduction in overall commercial shellfish landings, which was 34 million pounds in 2012. Commercial shellfish landings were down 10 percent from 2011.
Oyster landings also decreased to 83,193 bushels in 2012, down 45 percent from 2011 and 34 percent from the latest five-year average. This largely was due to damage to oyster beds from Hurricane Irene in 2011.
Commercial finfish harvests dropped to 22.7 million pounds in 2012, a 24 percent reduction from 2011 and 22 percent less than the latest five-year average. High fuel prices, stricter federal regulations, and the shoaling of Oregon Inlet likely impacted finfish landings.
There was a 90 percent reduction in the number of fishing trips using flounder trawls and flynets, gears predominantly used by boats that use Oregon Inlet. These two gears account for the majority of the Atlantic menhaden, squid, and summer flounder landings in North Carolina. Atlantic menhaden landings were 85 percent lower, squid landings were 99 percent lower, and summer flounder landings 62 percent lower than in 2011. Also, decreased flynet trips likely impacted Atlantic croaker landings, which were down 39 percent from 2011.
On the other hand, spiny dogfish landings have steadily gone up from 158,727 pounds in 2008 to 2.8 million pounds in 2012 due to quota increases. And striped mullet landings increased by 14 percent from 2011, part of a 5-year upward trend.
Dolphinfish remained at the top of the list of recreationally harvested fish. Anglers harvested 2.6 million pounds of dolphinfish (327,042 fish) in 2012, a 27.8 percent decrease from 2011.
Yellowfin tuna took the No. 2 spot with landings of 1.6 million pounds (57,085 fish), followed by bluefish at 1 million pounds (888,852 fish), wahoo at 854,361 million pounds (30,877 fish), and spotted seatrout at 817,445 pounds (500,518 fish).
The number of spotted seatrout landed in 2012 was 131 percent higher than in 2011, likely due to a mild winter that did not cause any cold stun events and provided for a winter fishing season that extended well into the spring.
Additionally, the number of red drum releases hit 1.5 million in 2012, three times higher than the highest ever seen in North Carolina. This further supports data from N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries monitoring programs that have noted record numbers of juvenile red drum over the past several years. Many of the released fish will grow into the slot size limit this year, which allow them to be harvested.
While the number of recreational fishing trips increased by 11.9 percent to 5.3 million in 2012, recreational fishing effort is still well below the nearly 7 million fishing trips made in 2008, prior to the nation’s economic downturn.
For-hire fishing trips have fallen from a high of 300,000 in 1996 to 140,648 in 2012.
For a full landings report, click on the 2012 Annual Fisheries Bulletin link at http://portal.ncdenr.org/web/mf/marine-fisheries-catch-statistics.
For more information, contact division License and Statistics Section Chief Don Hesselman at (252) 808-8099 or Don.Hesselman@ncdenr.gov.
NOAA Fisheries requests public comments on the proposed rule to implement Regulatory Amendment 18 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic Region (Regulatory Amendment 18). The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council approved Regulatory Amendment 18 for review by the Secretary of Commerce in March 2013, and the proposed rule will be published in the Federal Register on May 8, 2013.
Population assessment updates for vermilion snapper and red porgy were recently completed. The vermilion snapper update indicated the population is no longer undergoing overfishing (when fish are taken from the population too quickly) and is not overfished (when there are not enough fish in the population). The stock assessment update for red porgy indicated the species is not undergoing overfishing but is still overfished. Based on the outcome of these population assessment updates, NOAA Fisheries is proposing to modify several management measures for vermilion snapper and red porgy.
The proposed rule would:
(1) Increase the vermilion snapper annual catch limit from 1,066,000 pounds whole weight to 1,372,000 pounds whole weight.
(2) Reduce the commercial trip limit for vermilion snapper to 1,000 pounds gutted weight, and when 75% of the commercial annual catch limit has been met or projected to be met, the commercial trip limit would be reduced to 500 pounds gutted weight.
(3) Remove the November 1 – March 31 recreational closed season for vermilion snapper (bag limit and size limit remain unchanged).
(4) Reduce the annual catch limit for red porgy from 395,304 pounds whole weight to 306,000 pounds whole weight.
Comments on the proposed rule implementing Regulatory Amendment 18 must be received no later than June 7, 2013, to be considered by NOAA Fisheries.
Electronic copies of Regulatory Amendment 18 may be obtained from the NOAA Fisheries’ website or the the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council’s website.
To request a CD of Regulatory Amendment 18, contact NOAA Fisheries, Southeast Regional Office, Sustainable Fisheries Division, 263 13th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, Florida 33701. Or you may call (727) 824-5305.
You may submit comments by the following methods:
(1) Electronic submissions can be made at the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal at www.regulations.gov (select “Submit Comment,” then type in “NOAA-NMFS-2013-0049” in the “Keyword or ID” box). All comments received are part of the public record and will generally be posted to www.regulations.gov without change. Attachments to electronic comments will be accepted in Microsoft Word, Excel, WordPerfect, or Adobe PDF file formats only.
(2) You can mail submissions to NOAA Fisheries, Southeast Regional Office, Sustainable Fisheries Division, c/o Kate Michie, 263 13th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, Florida 33701.
NOAA Fisheries will accept anonymous comments.
Comments received through means not specified in this bulletin may not be considered.
