Releases – June 4, 2015
Last Thursday was a monumental day for the Recreational Fishermen in NC as the Marine Fisheries Commissioners voted 6 to 0 to go to public input and to hear motions to close NC internal waters to large mesh gill nets. And there were no cuts or burdens placed on the recreational fishermen for the first time in many years.
The RFA-NC was well represented with guides, captains, recreational fishermen, fishing club members and leaders, tackle shop owners, and boat dealers to name just a few of the marine industries who would have been hurt by further recreational cuts.
The RFA-NC is working diligently for all recreational and professional fishermen and the marine industry as a whole. We need your voice and support. Please follow us at RFA-NC on Facebook for more information. There will be information listed on our Facebook site as to the dates and options for the public comment.
Finally the state of NC can and will hear from all its citizens on the use of our state’s greatest resource.
The RFA-NC looks forward to hearing from our fellow fishermen and helping you voice your opinions and being heard on this very important matter.
Register today for the July 31, 2015 public forum Shaping Our Economic Future: Offshore Drilling in N.C. being hosted and organized by the N.C. Coastal Federation to explore the realities of offshore oil and gas development in North Carolina.
What does the North Carolina coast look like today—economically, environmentally, and socially? How could this change with the introduction of the oil and gas industry?
This forum is intended to delve into the economic truths, environmental implications, and actual effects on coastal communities. Speakers include researchers, regulators, elected officials, and coastal residents from the Gulf of Mexico to Currituck Sound.
This event is scheduled for Friday, July 31, 2015, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the New Bern Riverfront Convention Center. Registration, including lunch and break refreshments, is $20.00.
Forum participants are also invited to join us for the Pelican Awards Celebration and Silent Auction immediately following the forum at the North Carolina History Center. This Celebration will feature live music, a shrimp boil and heavy hors d’oeuvres, and a silent auction with a variety of coastal-themed items. Price for the Celebration is $50.00 for Federation members and $60.00 for non-members.
For more information, contact Ladd Bayliss at laddb@nccoast.org or by calling (252) 473-1607.
The N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission moved forward with southern flounder and sheepshead management at its recent meeting.
The commission chose six potential management proposals to include in a draft supplement to the Southern Flounder Fishery Management Plan that the commission will put out for public review.
The six options range in impacts to different fisheries and gears. They can be found on the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries website.
The commission decided to hold a public comment period from June 10 to July 10 and include a public meeting as well. Details of the comment period, with the location, date, and times of the meeting, will be announced later.
The commission also chose the following management measures for sheepshead: (1) 10-inch fork length minimum size limit (all commercial and recreational fisheries); (2) 10-fish bag limit (recreational); (3) 10-fish per person per day limit or per trip limit if multi-day trip (commercial spears and gigs); and (4) 300-pound trip limit (all other commercial gears, except pound nets).
Sheepshead is a highly sought recreational fish and is caught in a variety of commercial fisheries. Until 2012, sheepshead was managed under the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council Snapper-Grouper Fishery Management Plan, and was included in a 20-fish snapper-grouper recreational bag limit aggregate. When sheepshead was removed from the South Atlantic plan, management of the fishery was left up to the state.
The new sheepshead regulations will be effective June 1.
In other business, the commission voted to:
(1) Review the N.C. Spotted Seatrout Fishery Management Plan in 2017 instead of this year, aligning the review with a statutorily required five-year review schedule. The decision followed a presentation on the latest stock assessment that showed that the stock is not overfished and overfishing is not occurring.
(2) Fund up to $10,000 from the Marine Fisheries Commission Conservation Fund for the James Francesconi Memorial Artificial Reef project.
(3) Begin the rulemaking process this summer to adopt an amendment to the N.C. Striped Mullet Fishery Management Plan later this year.
(4) Proceed with a review of the N.C. Kingfish Fishery Management Plan as an information update, which means no management changes are proposed.
Audio of the meeting can be found online at http://portal.ncdenr.org/web/mf/may-2015-briefing-book. For more information, contact Nancy Fish in the Marine Fisheries Commission Office at (252) 808-8021 or Nancy.Fish@ncdenr.gov.
During the week of June 1, a bill to reauthorize the nation’s primary marine fisheries law, the Magnuson-Stevens Act, is expected to go to the House floor. This bill, H.R. 1335 by Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), includes several provisions of high importance to the recreational fishing community.
Saltwater recreational fishing has a $70 billion impact on our nation’s economy, supporting 454,000 jobs. However, despite the tremendous economic, social, and conservation benefits that recreational fishing provides to the nation, the Magnuson-Stevens Act has never fully addressed the needs of the nation’s 11 million saltwater anglers. H.R. 1335 would help to turn the tide and would be further improved by the inclusion of amendments to be considered on the House floor.
H.R. 1335 advances saltwater recreational fisheries management. The current bill would benefit recreational fishing by: (1) Prompting a transparent and science-based review of fishery allocations in the southeast; (2) Providing limited exceptions for establishing annual catch limits to help ensure important fisheries aren’t unnecessarily closed; and (3) Improving recreational data collection through greater involvement of the states.
Federal marine fisheries management has never sufficiently acknowledged the importance of recreational fishing to the nation. H.R. 1335 would enact many of the necessary changes to elevate saltwater recreational fishing to the level it deserves.
