Releases – September 25, 2014
The N. C. Coastal Federation is accepting applications from commercial fishermen to help get marine debris out of the water this winter.
The federation and the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries, in January, will continue a pilot project to remove abandoned fishing gear from waters in northeastern North Carolina. Using a grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the federation will employ commercial watermen to help the N.C. Marine Patrol remove old gear from Jan. 15 to Feb. 7. No crab pots are allowed in the water during that time. The cleanup is scheduled to begin on Jan. 19, if the weather cooperates. This project is intended to improve habitat and water quality and support commercial watermen in northeastern North Carolina.
The collection will take place from the Currituck Sound southward to Oregon Inlet, including parts of the Albemarle and Pamlico Sounds. Local fishermen with knowledge of these waters will be given preference. Side-scan sonar will be used on a limited number of boats to detect abandoned gear underwater. A side-scan sonar unit will be provided for these boats, and an additional day of training will be required for these fishermen.
To qualify, fishermen must have filed at least one commercial landing trip ticket with the division within the past year. Fishermen will receive $300 a day and their mates will receive $100. Three days of work are guaranteed. About 12 fishermen will be accepted, and volunteers are also needed.
Applications are due on Oct. 17. Participants will be notified by Oct. 31. Applications are available online on the N.C. Coastal Federation’s web site, www.nccoast.org; Oneal’s Sea Harvest in Wanchese; The Rope Shop in Manteo; and Full Circle Crab Co. in Columbia.
For more information or an application, contact Ladd Bayliss at (252) 473-1607 or laddb@nccoast.org.
Recreational harvest of the porgy complex in the South Atlantic closed at 12:01 a.m. (local time) September 17, 2014. Recreational harvest will reopen at 12:01 a.m. (local time) on January 1, 2015.
The porgy complex is comprised of the following species: jolthead porgy, knobbed porgy, whitebone porgy, scup, and saucereye porgy. The recreational annual catch limit of 106,914 pounds whole weight was exceeded in 2013. If recreational landings are exceeded, NOAA Fisheries will shorten the following recreational fishing season by the amount necessary to ensure landings do not exceed the recreational annual catch limit in the following fishing year. Reports indicate that recreational landings of porgies have met the 2014 catch limit and harvest should close as soon as possible to minimize overages. Therefore, the recreational sector for the porgy complex in the South Atlantic will be closed on September 17, 2014.
During the closure: (1) Recreational harvest or possession of species in the porgy complex is prohibited; and (2) The closure applies in both state and federal waters for vessels which have a valid charter/headboat permit for South Atlantic Snapper-Grouper.
Commercial harvest of the porgy complex for the 2014 fishing season is currently open. Commercial landings are updated on the Southeast Regional Office’s website. Another Federal Register notice and Fishery Bulletin will be published if and when the commercial quota for the porgy complex is projected to be met.
As fishermen gear up for the spot and mullet runs, they should be aware that a 100-yard small-mesh gill net setback is in effect for all ocean beaches.
The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries issued a proclamation in May that prohibits fishermen from using anchored gill nets with a mesh size of 5 inches or less within 100 yards of the beach. The areas between Cape Lookout and Bogue Inlet and between Carolina Beach Inlet and the South Carolina line are no longer exempt from this regulation.
Additionally, new regulations this year reduce the mesh size allowed in the offshore portion of stop nets, used in the beach seine mullet fishery. The stop net mesh size requirement for the first 100 yards from the beach remains large-mesh (greater than 6 inches), but the size of the mesh in the other 300 yards of net must be 4 inches or less.
These measures were implemented upon the recommendation of a National Marine Fisheries Service Bottlenose Dolphin Take Reduction Team to reduce the risk of entanglements of bottlenose dolphin.
The small-mesh gill net setback was first implemented in September 2013 for all beaches, except the areas between Cape Lookout and Bogue Inlet and between Carolina Beach Inlet and the South Carolina line, after observer and stranding data collected for several years indicated small mesh gill nets in North Carolina continue to seriously injure and kill bottlenose dolphin at levels higher than allowed by a federal plan to reduce interactions.
The take reduction team agreed to try the two exempted areas for three years to allow officials to assess potential economic impact and conservation efficacy of the 100-yard setback. But the take reduction team also recommended that the state implement the setback in both these areas if there was one bottlenose dolphin interaction.
That interaction occurred in a stop net in November 2013. At the same time, there were significant increases in small mesh gill net fishing activity in the exempted areas, according to a letter from the National Marine Fisheries Service.
Run-around, strike nets, and drop nets, used to surround a school of fish and then immediately retrieve them, are exempt from the 100-yard setback.
For more information, contact Chris Batsavage, with the Division of Marine Fisheries, at (252) 808-8009 or Chris.Batsavage@ncdenr.gov.
For specifics on these regulations see Proclamation M-20-2014 for the gill nets and Proclamation M-28-2014 for the stop nets at http://portal.ncdenr.org/web/mf/proclamations.
As coastal waters begin to reopen to anchored large-mesh gill nets, fishermen are reminded that an Estuarine Gill Net Permit is now required to set these nets.
On Monday, the Newport River and Bogue Sound will reopen to anchored large-mesh gill nets under regulations stipulated by a Sea Turtle Incidental Take Permit issued to the state by the National Marine Fisheries Service. Other waters closed to anchored large-mesh gill nets since May will remain closed to allow sea turtles to move out of the area.
The Estuarine Gill Net Permit is required for anchored large-mesh and small-mesh gill nets set for commercial or recreational purposes. It applies to those who set nets under a Standard Commercial Fishing License, Retired Standard Commercial Fishing License, or Recreational Commercial Gear License.
The permit is free, but must be obtained through the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries licensing offices. Fishermen may submit an application for a permit at any division license office during normal office hours or through the mail.
An application can be downloaded at http://tinyurl.com/EGNP-2014. Fishermen may also request an application through the mail by calling (252) 726-7021 or (800) 682-2632.
The Estuarine Gill Net Permit is not required for runaround, strike, or drop gill nets that are set and then immediately retrieved. It is also not required for drift gill nets that are used to capture fish while they are moved by water currents and are actively fished and attended from deployment through retrieval.
The permit is not required to set gill nets in the ocean.
The Estuarine Gill Net Permit was developed to meet requirements of incidental take permits for sea turtles and Atlantic sturgeon, issued to the state by the National Marine Fisheries Service. The incidental take permits require the division to identify all participants in North Carolina’s estuarine anchored gill net fishery.
Fishermen convicted of using anchored gill nets in internal coastal waters without holding an Estuarine Gill Net Permit could be subject to a Class A1 misdemeanor. Refusing to allow an observer to observe a gill net trip will result in suspension of the fisherman’s Estuarine Gill Net Permit.
For specifics on the Estuarine Gill Net Permit requirement, see Proclamation M-24-2014 http://portal.ncdenr.org/web/mf/proclamations. For a boundary description of waters reopening to anchored large-mesh gill nets see Proclamation M-29-2014 on this same webpage.
For more information, contact Chris Batsavage, Protected Species Section chief, at (252) 808-8009 or (252) 241-2995 or Chris.Batsavage@ncdenr.gov.
