February 4, 2015 — North Carolina’s Coastal Recreational Fishing License money funds study of declining population of rockfish.
I recently had the opportunity to go on a couple of the 10 fishing trips that are part of a program funded by sales of North Carolina’s Coastal Recreational Fishing License to catch and tag coastal striped bass. On the two trips I took part in, more than 400 fish were caught and tagged, and slightly more than 1,000 fish were caught and tagged during the 10 trips. Most, unfortunately, had not migrated into North Carolina waters, so trips had to be run out of Virginia’s Rudee Inlet.
All of the fish were caught beyond the 3-mile boundary that separates state from federal waters, and while this venture is being performed by members of the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries, permits had to be obtained to take fish in federal waters, and background checks were required to make sure each captain had never had a fishing violation.
The fish ranged in sizes from 20 to nearly 70 pounds. All were measured and tagged, while random fish had scales pulled for aging, and larger fish had scales pulled and were also weighed.
Read the full story from the North Carolina Sportsman