November 11, 2015 — NAGS HEAD, N.C. — State fishery managers are scheduled to take action on a controversial southern flounder management supplement next week.
The N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission, the state’s marine fisheries rulemaking body, will hold its regular meeting Wednesday through Friday, Nov. 18-20, at Jennette’s Pier. According to a release from the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries, the state agency that enforces marine fisheries rules and conducts fisheries research, the MFC is scheduled to select and approve management measures for supplement A to the southern flounder fishery management plan (FMP) Amendment 1.
The proposed supplement, and the MFC’s use of the supplement process, has drawn both support and opposition. A recent release from the N.C. Fisheries Association, a nonprofit supporting the seafood industry, criticizes the proposed supplement.
The current supplement draft includes management options to reduce southern flounder catch (both harvested flounder and dead discards) by 25-60 percent. The supplement has six management options, which include measures such as trip limits, size limits, closures and prohibiting large mesh gill nets from internal state waters.
These proposals, particularly the net ban, have been part of the reason for debate among fisheries managers, fishermen, environmentalists and legislators.
According to the NCFA release, the General Assembly has stated in law that the MFC has the duty to provide fair regulation of fishing groups in the interest of the public.
The association said the DMF is the state agency that is charged to offer scientific support to the commission and carry out the regulations adopted by the commission. The total economic impact of the southern flounder fishery averages $17 million per year to North Carolina, just for those fish caught commercially.
According to the NCFA, since the commission started the process of debating the issue of southern flounder management over nine months ago, the DMF has not offered any recommended actions to reduce the catch of southern flounder.
“Currently, only one of the nine MFC members has a scientific background in fisheries, and even that experience is not based on saltwater fisheries,” the association said. “Yet, the DMF, who has the expertise on staff that could assist the commissioners, has not made any formal recommendations on the options being considered by the commission or offered any options of their own.”
Brent Fulcher, NCFA chairman and owner of Beaufort Inlet Seafood, said the association wonders “why the division exists, if not to offer assistance and make recommendations to the members of the Marine Fisheries Commission in carrying out their conservation responsibilities.”