April 30, 2014 — The following was released by the North Carolina Fisheries Association:
Once again, commercial fishermen find themselves in a dilemma due to successful rebuilding efforts of a saltwater resource.
At a meeting in New Bern on Monday, the Board of Directors of the North Carolina Fisheries Association voted unanimously, after hours of a very “spirited” debate, to request that the Division of Marine Fisheries close the large mesh gillnet fishery immediately to the use of large mesh anchored gill nets, gill nets with a mesh of four inches or greater, and that beginning on June 1st, allow the limited opening in a few selected areas with an allowed bycatch of (4) Red Drum per day.
This unprecedented action taken by the commercial fishing trade group came about from a proposal submitted by two of its affiliate fishermen groups: Ocracoke Working Watermen’s Association and the Carteret County Fishermen’s Association.
Due to exceeding the annual commercial harvest limit of 250,000 pounds of Red Drum last year, the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries issued a press release on April 14th of this year that does not allow fishermen to bring red drum to the dock and sell it. In many areas of North Carolina, the species is so abundant at the current time due to protection efforts over the years that it is impossible for fishermen to avoid catching red drum when fishing for other fish, mainly flounder. As a result of the proclamation that prohibits commercial fishermen to sell red drum, those fish caught incidentally while targeting flounder, must be thrown back in the water. At this time of year when the water temperature is cool, most of the drum are alive. However, as the waters warm, there is an ever increasing percentage of those fish that are thrown back dead.
Most fishermen abhor waste, especially when that waste is an excellent food source for the consumer, hence the well-deserved angst from the fishermen. In addition to that, they are very much aware of today’s political environment with the calls for gamefish, bans for gillnets and even talk of a total net ban. With all of those considerations on the table, the North Carolina Fisheries Association held an open discussion about the various options facing them. The meeting was held in New Bern and was open to all commercial fishermen.
It is legal to set a large mesh gillnet to catch flounder. Flounder is one of the favorite fish for restaurants and seafood markets. It is also legal to catch red drum incidental to the targeting of flounder, but with the current situation, those drum cannot be taken to the dock which results in waste of the resource. That waste also leads to a bad political situation for fishermen when there are threats looming in the state legislature about gamefish for red drum, striped bass and speckled trout and even threats of a ban on gillnets or a total net ban. (When a species is declared a “gamefish”, it is illegal for fishermen to sell those fish, meaning it is no longer available to the consumer at retail markets or restaurants.)
The fishermen were very vocal about their frustrations with the Division of Marine Fisheries with their lack of diligence over the monitoring of the commercial harvest. Adequate monitoring would have kept the
The request by the NCFA Board also insists that the Division of Marine Fisheries implement mandatory weekly dealer reporting of red drum catches to ensure proper red drum management.
The proposal by this proposal will be a severe blow to the income of many fishermen who have been affected by this and many other restrictions. But it will avoid the waste of the red drum resource and with some exceptions where Red Drum are not know to occur in such abundance, enable some fishermen to subsist until the fishery reopens.
Going forward, there must be some changes made in the red drum fishery management plan, and they need to be made soon.
Note: The North Carolina Fisheries Association is a 61 year old trade association representing the interests of commercial fishing families. It is governed by a Board of 17 Directors, including 5 affiliate groups.
The actual wording of our proposal is listed below. More detailed background information is available upon request.
Here is the actual wording of our proposal:
On Motion duly made and seconded, The Board of The North Carolina Fisheries Association voted unanimously to request the Director, of The Division of Marine Fisheries to issue a proclamation with the following provisions that shall apply to the use of large mesh anchored gill nets and bycatch of red drum;
1) Effective May 1, 2014 all internal coastal waters will be closed to the use of large mesh anchored gill nets, gill nets with a mesh length of four (4) inches or greater;
2) Beginning June 1, 2014 the following limited areas will open for the use of large mesh anchored gill nets with four (4) red drum per day allowed as bycatch, described below:
a) Albemarle Sound – West of the Intracoastal Waterway
b)Pamlico River – a line beginning at a point at 35˚ 24.5920’N – 76˚ 32.3810’W near Currituck Point; running southwesterly to a point at 35˚ 19.6960’N – 76˚ 36.5360’W near Fulford Point.
c) Bay River – a line beginning at a point 35˚ 11.0760’N – 76˚ 31.6200’W near Bay Point; running southerly to a point at 35˚ 08.9290’N – 76˚ 32.2680’W near Maw Point.
d) Neuse River – a line beginning at a point 35˚08.9290’N – 76˚ 32.2680’W near Maw Point; running southerly to a point at 34˚ 59.2940’N – 76˚ 34.8230’W on the east shore of the mouth of South River.
e) New River – north of the Highway 172 Bridge
1. Effective August 1, 2014 these restrictions will not apply and all areas opened to large mesh gill nets by proclamation M-15-2014 will reopen for large mesh anchored gill nets with seven (7) red drum per day allowed as bycatch;
2. A run around, strike or drop net that is used to surround a school of fish and then is immediately retrieved is exempted from the restrictions above set forth in paragraphs one and two;
3. Drift gill nets that are used to capture fish while being moved along by water currents are exempt from provisions of this proclamation provided the net is being actively fished and attended from deployment through retrieval;
4. That the division implement weekly dealer reporting of red drum catches to ensure proper red drum management.