March 7, 2016 — The following was released by the North Carolina Fisheries Association:
INFO NEEDED!
Thanks to the efforts of Aundrea O’Neal at Beaufort Inlet Seafood, NCFA now has the information needed to plug into our database for vital information for those fishermen who pack at that facility. Our biologist, David Bush, needs that information to quantify how regulations may impact fishermen. For example, our new database will include the fishermen’s name, address, phone, email if any, gear type used, areas fished and targeted species.
Whether it’s to assess potential regulations or to fight what we perceive as overzealous regulations by state and/or federal regulators, we need this data to make it easier for David to compile it.
We appeal to you to make this information available, so if you need more information, please contact Aundrea at Beaufort Inlet Seafood and she’ll tell you how it’s done. Her contact info is: Beaufort Inlet Seafood: (252) 504-2036 Cell: (252) 503-8302
MONKFISH & REGULATIONS:
Monkfish, or the “poor man’s lobster” is really good! For those that appreciate monkfish but can’t find it at your favorite fish market, consider this:
Last week I was in Dare County and one of the meetings I attended was the monkfish meeting on Thursday evening at the DMF office in Manteo. There were a total of 4 at the meeting: 3 DMF employees and me. One might wonder why fishermen aren’t taking the time to attend an information meeting about monkfish. Consider this: by law, they can only fish for about 4 weeks in March/April. They can only fish between 2 & 3 miles in the ocean. It’s illegal to fish for monkfish in federal waters, which begins at the 3 mile mark. They can only fish if the water temps are under 52 degrees.
Rationale? Not so much for monkfish, but “other issues”, such as sea turtles. If the temps are above 52 degrees, there is a better possibility of interaction with sea turtles, so the fishery closes. Inside of 2 miles there is a possibility of interaction with marine mammals.
Point being this: with the restrictions outlined above, there is not much of an incentive for a fishermen to target monkfish. As a result, the landings will be minimal in North Carolina, not because there aren’t any monkfish, but because there is not an adequate economic incentive to fish for them. Those who are always proclaiming that the sky is falling will then cite the declining landings and allege that commercial fishermen are catching them all! It’s a vicious cycle that is not unique to monkfish!
Meanwhile, a rash of letters to the editor recently allege that commercial fishermen in North Carolina have few regulations!
SOUTHERN FLOUNDER:
Thanks to those of you who have contributed to our Southern Flounder Fund. Those funds will be used exclusively for issues related to southern flounder, either legally or other avenues to address the situation.
If you have not yet contributed, please do so ASAP!
Send your donations to:
NCFA
2807 Neuse Blvd; Suite 11
New Bern, NC 28562
Please make your check out to NCFA/Southern Flounder Fund or to the NC Fisheries Association and be sure to put Southern Flounder Fund in the memo.
God bless, Jerry
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CALENDAR
Mar 7-11 SAFMC meeting in Jekyll Island, GA
Mar 17; 4:00pm; MFC Sea Turtle Advisors; DEQ office; Washington, NC
Apr 12-14; MAFMC meeting in Montauk, NY