Releases – March 3, 2016
The NC Department of Environmental Quality sent a brief statement late afternoon on February 29 to all Department staff informing them of the resignation of Dr. Louis Daniel as Director of the Division of Marine Fisheries: “Louis Daniel has stepped down as Director of the Division of Marine Fisheries, effective immediately. Col. Jim Kelley will serve as acting director of the division. Kelley has been with the NC Marine Patrol for nearly 25 years and has served as its leader since January 2014.”
The Marine Fisheries Commission voted at its meeting mid-February to lower the cobia daily recreational bag limit to one fish per person. The current recreational bag limit for cobia is two fish per person.
The commission’s vote is intended to extend the recreational cobia season by a few days this summer and to keep the recreational harvest below the federal annual catch limit this year, in an effort to avoid a closure next summer.
Recreational fishermen exceeded the annual catch limit of 630,000 pounds for cobia in 2015. The preliminary estimate of harvest for 2015 is 1.54 million pounds. Under the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council’s accountability measures, when the annual catch limit is exceeded in one year, the length of the following year’s season must be reduced to ensure that the recreational harvest does not exceed that year’s annual catch limit.
N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries staff has informed the National Marine Fisheries Service staff about the action the commission took. The National Marine Fisheries Service is responsible for determining the length of the cobia season and has agreed to consider the reduced bag limit in calculating the length of the season closure.
For more information on the new cobia size limit, see Proclamation FF-09-2016 at http://portal.ncdenr.org/web/mf/proclamations.
The commission also proposed lowering the daily harvest limit of oysters for those fishing under a commercial Shellfish License. The proposal would lower the daily harvest limit statewide to two bushels per person, with a maximum of four bushels per vessel. The proposed changes would not apply to oyster leases or to those who hold Standard Commercial Fishing Licenses.
The commission made the proposal as part of a draft amendment to the Oyster Fishery Management Plan and postponed preliminary approval of the plan to allow public comment, which be accepted at regional advisory committee meetings in April.
In other business, the commission voted to:
(1) Nominate Joseph Andrew High and Randy McKinley for the obligatory seat on the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council.
(2) Adopt the 2015 Coastal Habitat Protection Plan and source document to send to the secretary of the Department of Environmental Quality and to the N.C. General Assembly for approval.
(3) Proceed with a declaratory ruling to allow American Eel Farm to harvest, possess, and sell undersized eel in North Carolina for grow out under the North Carolina Aquaculture Plan for American Eel.
(4) Convene a sub-committee consisting of at least four commissioners to discuss the issues associated with defining commercial fishermen and report its findings to the full commission in August.
(5) Delegate authority to the commission’s Commercial Fishing Resource Fund Committee to develop and implement a memorandum of understanding with the North Carolina Commercial Fishing Resource Fund Committee that sets procedures for agreeing to and authorizing disbursements from the fund.
With the Sportsmen’s Act having now passed the House of Representatives, the recreational fishing community turns its full attention to the Senate, where companion bills have cleared all committees of jurisdiction and now await action on the Senate floor.
The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission will open the entire Roanoke River Management Area to striped bass harvest from March 1 through April 30, unless closed or extended through proclamation. The Roanoke River Management Area includes the Roanoke River and tributaries from Roanoke Rapids Lake Dam downstream to Albemarle Sound, including the Cashie, Middle, and Eastmost rivers.
The daily creel limit within the Roanoke River Management Area is two striped bass per angler. The minimum length limit is 18 inches, and no striped bass between 22 and 27 inches can be possessed at any time. Only one striped bass larger than 27 inches can be included in the daily creel limit.
Anglers are required to use a single barbless hook or a lure with a single barbless hook when fishing in the upper Roanoke River from April 1 through June 30. The upper Roanoke River is defined as the main river channel and all tributaries, upstream from the U.S. Highway 258 Bridge near Scotland Neck to Roanoke Rapids Lake Dam.
From early March until the end of May, the Commission will post online weekly fisheries reports from the Roanoke River, along with the Tar, Neuse and Cape Fear rivers. The reports will be supplemented with information on striped bass fishing and boating access areas on the Commission’s fishing page at www.ncwildlife.org/fishing.
For more information on fishing in public, inland waters, visit www.ncwildlife.org/fishing or call the agency’s Division of Inland Fisheries at (919) 707-0220.
The daily trip limit for the commercial harvest of vermilion snapper in the South Atlantic is reduced from 1,000 pounds gutted weight to 500 pounds gutted weight, effective 12:01 a.m. (local time) March 2, 2016. NOAA Fisheries has determined 75 percent of the January-June quota of 388,703 pounds gutted weight will be landed by March 2, 2016.
Reduction of the commercial vermilion snapper trip limit in the South Atlantic complies with regulations implemented under the Fishery Management Plan for the Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic Region. The 500-pound gutted weight trip limit applies to vessels with a South Atlantic Unlimited Snapper-Grouper Permit fishing for vermilion snapper in or from the federal waters in the South Atlantic region. The 500-pound gutted weight trip limit will remain in effect through June 30, 2016 (the end of the January – June fishing season).
The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries is holding a photo contest to find the best snapshot of a North Carolina artificial reef.
The grand prize winner will receive a $125 cash prize, and the photo will be featured on the front cover of the 2016 Marine Fisheries Reef Guide. The second place winner will receive a $50 cash prize, and the third place winner will receive a $25 cash prize. All winners will be recognized with a photo on the Division of Marine Fisheries’ Artificial Reef Program webpage.
Entry photos should be taken while fishing or diving on a North Carolina artificial reef.
“We’re looking for photos that show the abundant fisheries resources available on North Carolina’s artificial reefs,” said Amy Comer, photo contest coordinator with the Artificial Reef Program. “We’d also love to see the different ways people use the artificial reefs, like diving, fishing, or photography.”
The photo contest is open to amateur and professional photographers 18 years of age or older. The deadline for entries is noon on March 30.
Entry photos should be of high resolution and vertical (portrait) orientation. All entries must be submitted electronically with an entry form to ArtificialReefs@ncdenr.gov.
Official contest rules and entry form can be found at http://portal.ncdenr.org/web/mf/artificial-reefs-program.
Photos will be judged by April 15. Winners will be notified by April 22.
The 2016 Marine Fisheries Reef Guide will be a 5 ½ x 8 ½ waterproof book that compiles information all the state’s artificial reefs and oyster sanctuaries. It will include comprehensive description of reef locations, types of materials deployed on the reefs, the dates of deployments, and directions from the nearest buoy or inlet. The book will also feature tables with reef coordinates that correspond to a color-coded map.
The division’s Artificial Reef Program received $176,000 from Coastal Recreational Fishing License grants to produce the hard-copy reef guide, as well as enhancements to the Artificial Reef Program’s webpage, including an interactive electronic reef guide. Completion of the hard-copy and electronic reef guides are scheduled for this summer.
For more information, contact Comer at (252) 808-8054 or Amy.Comer@ncdenr.gov.
The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries has certified a new state record for white marlin.
Neil Manning, of Ashburn, VA, reeled in the 138 lb. fish on Nov. 16 while fishing off Hatteras.
The fish measured 85” from the tip of the lower jaw to the fork in the tail. The girth of the fish measured 37”.
The former state record for white marlin was 118 lbs. 8 oz. The fish was caught off the coast of Oregon Inlet in 1976. The world record for white marlin is 181 lbs. 14 oz. That fish was caught off the coast of Brazil.
Manning caught his fish using live menhaden on a 30-pound test line with a Cape Fear Rod and Shimano TLD-25 reel.
