May 21, 2012 – North Carolina will soon ban industrial-scale purse seine fishing for menhaden, a species long at the center of conflict between marine conservation interests and producers of a valued dietary supplement.
Citing large by-catch kills, the North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission has agreed to prohibit the practice of deploying smaller boats with purse seines from mother ships within the three-mile state limit.
The boats encircle schools of menhaden with the nets, and once the fish are ensnared, they are sucked through pipes into the larger ships.
Mother ships have sometimes been seen almost to the breakers along the Outer Banks in pursuit of the fish. Slicks of oil are usually left behind.
Planes are also deployed to spot the schools from above.
“This is a conservation measure we think needs to be put in place,” commission Chairman Rob Bizzell said in a statement.
Read the full story at the Outer Banks Voice.