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    • Fishing Terms Glossary

Number of overfished stocks in US on the decline

May 21, 2021 — The number of US fisheries deemed “overfished” declined in 2019, with 22 stocks subject to overfishing versus 2018’s status of 26 stocks — a sign some rebuilding efforts are showing results.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Report to Congress on the Status of US Fisheries, released Thursday, surveys fisheries in US territorial waters annually to determine the status of stocks deemed troubled under NOAA’s management guidelines.

In its report, NOAA designates fisheries under excessive pressure as either “overfished” or subject to “overfishing.”

Read the full story at IntraFish

NC to limit flounder seasons again, leaving fishermen in disbelief

May 21, 2021 — North Carolina is trying to slow down flounder fishing on the coast, but leaders of the effort say some fishermen still aren’t doing their part.

To protect the population, the state’s planning on tightening the net on flounder fishing even further.

“There’s definitely been an impact, that’s for sure,” Sound-N-Sea Morehead charter captain Matt Paylor said. “It’s got some people in a whirlwind.”

In fall 2019, North Carolina’s Division of Marine Fisheries said flounder were being over fished, and that anglers needed to be allowed to catch only about a quarter the amount of fish they were catching to get the population back to a healthy size.

Read the full story at WRAL

NORTH CAROLINA: Legislative Update-Representative Billy Richardson Files Net-Ban Bill (H-513)/NCFA Position on H-513/Commercial Bluefish Proclamation

April 1, 2021 — The following was released by the North Carolina Fisheries Association:

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE for 4/16/2021: NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY:

Note that due to the length of this update, the list of bills will be abbreviated so only the two new bills will be listed. The previous bills had no action this week.

The most significant issue related to the General Assembly this week was the introduction of a net ban bill by Representative Billy Richardson from Cumberland County. He did something similar in 1994. Back then his bill called for a “non-binding referendum put to the voters statewide. If it would have passed, it still would have needed action by the General Assembly to be put in place. That bill was killed in the Rules Committee without any discussion. I’ll go into more detail about that history later.

H-513 is Rep. Richardson’s net ban bill. The name listed for the bill is PEOPLES’ CHOICE FOR MARINE SOURCES. That is probably a typo for the title and should be RESOURCES, but that certainly isn’t the only problem with the bill. When filed, the only other sponsor was Representative Marvin Lucas, also from Cumberland County. Larry Yarborough added his name later. The bill was referred to House Rules.

The other bill introduced this week is H-518 by Representative Ed Goodwin. All of the sponsors are listed below. The title is TEMPORARILY WAIVE COMMERCIAL FISHING FEES. The bill would waive Standard Commercial Fishing Licenses, Retired SCFL, Shellfish licenses and Commercial fishing vessel registration for the period of April 1, 2021 through June 29, 2022. Any fees paid already would be subject to a refund upon request. NCFA supports the measure with the following modifications:

1.) Provisions must be made for the Division of Marine Fisheries to recoup some of the revenue lost as a result of the measure. A portion of the money DMF derives from these license sales is used to support programs essential to the commercial fishing industry.

2.) A request to consider including for-hire licenses in the exemption as well.
The bill has been referred to the Marine Resources Committee.

H-513 PEOPLES’ CHOICE FOR MARINE SOURCES

Sponsored by Richardson, Lucas, Yarborough

Currently in House Rules; https://www.ncleg.gov/Sessions/2021/Bills/House/PDF/H513v1.pdf

H-518 TEMPORARILY WAIVE COMMERCIAL FISHING FEES

Sponsored by Goodwin, Hanig, Wray, Richardson, Autry, Brisson, Carney, Carter, Fisher, Harrison, Hunter, Iler, Insko, Lucas, McNeely, Moss, Shepard

Currently in House Marine Resources; if favorable to Finance, then Rules. https://www.ncleg.gov/Sessions/2021/Bills/House/PDF/H518v1.pdf

God bless,
Jerry

NCFA POSITION ON H-513; PEOPLES’ CHOICE FOR MARINE SOURCES; (NET BAN BILL):

It goes without saying that the North Carolina Fisheries Association is opposed to H.B. 513, PEOPLES’ CHOICE FOR MARINE SOURCES, or the Net Ban Referendum Bill.

While the stated purpose of H.B. 513 is “to protect saltwater finfish, shellfish, and other marine animals from unnecessary killing, overfishing, and waste “the true purpose, as with all gear ban or gamefish bills, is to reallocate the resource from one user group to another.

Did you know that no commercial fishing gear ban has ever been implemented by a state or federal agency tasked with managing coastal fisheries? Why is legislation always used to ban commercial gears rather than the fisheries management process?

The answer is quite simple: gear bans are not necessary and not supported by science unless, of course, you include the political sciences. Fisheries Managers regulate the use of gears, rather than prohibit them, to achieve sustainable harvest and have done so in NC. Gill nets are the most highly regulated gear in North Carolina mostly due to perception and not reality.

Rhetoric from groups like the Coastal Conservation Association (CCA) and the North Carolina Wildlife Federation (NCWF) have painted nets as an unregulated, indiscriminate, and destructive gear but the data tells a different story. Dead discards or “waste“ from gill nets have been greatly reduced for many species of finfish like Red Drum, Southern Flounder and Striped Bass simply by regulating the construction and \ or use of the gear. Waste from gill nets now makes up a very small percentage of the total removals for these species while waste in the recreational fisheries has become a significant portion of the total removals. For example, between 2008 and 2017 the recreational sector removed 3,895,597 Red Drum from the stock, 1,568,177 of which were dead discards or waste. These 1,568,177 fish wasted recreationally, over this ten- year period, alone exceeds the total commercial removals, harvest and dead discards combined, for the 29 – year period from 1989 to 2017 of 1,550,130 red drum. If waste in our fisheries is a concern you need to look at all gears for both sectors and determine the level of waste and how or even if it is impacting overall abundance, not single out a gear for prohibition based simply on personal perception.

Since 1994 the number of gillnet trips has decreased by more than 50% as have the number of vessels and fishermen participating in the gill net fisheries. The pounds of fish harvested by gill nets has also been reduced by more than 50% which is interesting, considering the many gear restrictions implemented in this time period. One would assume harvest would have dropped significantly more than effort did. During this same time period the number and pounds of fish harvested recreationally has changed very little but the numbers of fish released and subsequent dead discards or waste has increased dramatically, nearly tripling. This shows that overall, recreational opportunity to catch fish has increased despite what you may have heard to the contrary.

I’m not sure what the bill sponsors mean by “unnecessary killing “but as we interpret it, unnecessary means something that is not a necessity or non-essential. One of the most important lessons gleaned from the covid-19 pandemic has been that domestic food production is essential to national stability. While some states chose to prohibit recreational fishing, commercial fishermen across this country were deemed essential workers in the food production industry and allowed to operate. As meat processing facilities across the country struggled, many Americans turned to their local seafood market for the protein they needed. Nets are an essential gear for many, small scale, North Carolina fishermen and without this gear seafood production will certainly be reduced, as it has with every gill net regulation implemented since the mid 90’s. Commercial fishermen and their gears are necessary and essential to the millions of citizens who are unable to access our fisheries resources for themselves.

Commercial gear bans have been adopted in many coastal states as you may have heard many times. What you probably have not heard is that fisheries managers in those states cannot tell if the predicted benefits from the net bans have been realized. While recreational fishermen often claim success, as they are now catching fish previously harvested by commercial gears (reallocation), managers will tell you the net bans have not prevented overfishing or resulted in overall increases in abundance for many species. In fact, recreational size limits have increased and creel limits have decreased for many highly valued recreational species like Red Drum, Speckled Trout, and Southern Flounder despite the commercial gear bans and \ or gamefish status. While there is some anecdotal evidence of increases for a couple of species, changes to recreational regulations and fish stocking programs make it impossible to determine if the net ban was responsible. The only quantifiable impact of the gear bans has been the negative impacts to commercial fishing families and their communities.

Gill nets certainly interact with “other marine animals “as do other commercial and recreational gears. North Carolinas anchored gill net fisheries currently operate under two Federal Incidental Take Permits ( ITP’s ) meant to reduce interactions with endangered sea turtles and sturgeon. These ITP’s are required for any fishery to legally interact with endangered species. The recreational sector is known to illegally capture endangered sea turtles but the state has taken no action to either reduce or prevent these interactions from occurring. Simply put , the law has not been evenly applied to all citizens making commercial fishermen feel like second class citizens. A quick google search will show that recreational anglers catch turtles, birds, and dolphins but no one has ever drafted a bill proposing a ban on hook and line gear. Again, conservation is not the goal of gear bans so those proposing the ban only point out the issues with the gear they no longer wish to compete with.

As mentioned above reallocation is and always has been the true goal and result of net bans. I recently had the opportunity to provide feedback on a paper, written by a scientist at UNC, for the NC Marine and Estuary Foundation. The paper compared North Carolinas fishery management structure and strategies to the 23 other coastal states and gear bans were part of that comparison. In this paper gear bans were listed under the heading “Resource Allocation “as that is the driving force behind net bans.

Net bans and gamefish bills are not management strategies. They are political strategies utilized by groups who want to reduce the ability of those they view as competition to harvest fish. Nothing more!
By proposing a public referendum, the bill sponsors are hoping to give these groups the opportunity to win over NC voters who are largely uneducated when it comes to coastal fisheries issues. If this bill were passed these groups will ramp their efforts to misinform the public, as they have done in other states, knowing that the group that controls messaging controls the vote.

Members of the NC General Assembly have a responsibility to educate themselves on an issue before taking action. Likewise, NCFA members should be aware of the issues above when speaking or writing about the issue. Unlike the “other side”, let’s use facts and not rhetoric when corresponding or talking to elected officials. And consider this: even if you have all the facts but are disrespectful to those you are conversing with, you lose! And if you lose, WE lose!

If you have any questions or concerns regarding this issue before corresponding with your elected officials, contact us.

Glenn Skinner
NCFA-Executive Director

PROCLAMATION: RE: BLUEFISH – COMMERCIAL PURPOSES – POSSESSION LIMIT

This proclamation supersedes proclamation FF-6-2021, dated December 11, 2020. It establishes the possession limit for the commercial bluefish fishery. The fishery will close by proclamation once the commercial quota is projected to be reached or December 31, 2021, whichever occurs first.

John G. Batherson, Acting Director, Division of Marine Fisheries, hereby announces that effective at 12:01 A.M., April 16, 2021, the following restrictions will apply to the commercial bluefish fishery in Coastal Fishing Waters:

I. HARVEST LIMIT AND PERIOD

  • It is unlawful for an individual or commercial fishing operation, regardless of the number of persons, license holders, or vessels involved, to possess, sell, or offer for sale more than 800 pounds of bluefish per day or per trip, whichever is more restrictive.
  • The fishery will close by proclamation once the commercial quota is projected to be reached or December 31, 2021, whichever occurs first.

SEE PROCLAMATION LINK BELOW FOR MORE INFO.

http://portal.ncdenr.org/c/document_library/get_file?uuid=31cde6f3-7d56-4d1c-91b4-337da86bf20e&groupId=38337

Marine Fisheries Commission amends sector allocations for southern flounder plan amendment

April 7, 2021 — The North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission voted to amend the previously adopted sector allocations for Amendment 3 to the Southern Flounder Fishery Management Plan to gradually equalize allocations between the commercial and recreational fisheries.

The commission voted to change the allocation to 70% commercial and 30% recreational in 2021 and 2022, 60% commercial and 40% recreational in 2023 and 50% commercial and 50% recreational in 2024, states a media release from Division of Marine Fisheries.

In February, the commission had selected sector harvest allocations of 70% commercial and 30% recreational for the duration of Amendment 3. That allocation was similar to the harvest landed by each sector in 2017, the terminal year of the stock assessment on which draft management measures in Amendment 3 are based.

Read the full story at The Coastland Times

NORTH CAROLINA: Commercial, recreational fishermen at odds over proposed limits to southern flounder catch

March 29, 2021 — The North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission is making plans to protect and preserve the southern flounder population off North Carolina’s coast, but its decision on how it will allocate the supply between recreational and commercial fishermen is causing people to get upset.

“The stock is in trouble, big trouble,” said the chair of the commission, Rob Bizzell, “And we’re looking at an overall 72 percent reduction in the take, which is significant. Some people are scared that the stock is going to collapse, and when the stock collapses, there’s no hope for recovery. We’re trying to avoid that.”

The commission is working on limiting the amount of the catch in a single season to around 500,000 fish. A recent vote by the commission to give the commercial industry approximately 70 percent of that supply and the recreational fishermen 30 percent of that supply is upsetting some.

“I got almost 900 letters of concern about the 30/70 allocation,” Bizzell said. “And, you know, for every one letter you get, good gracious, probably 20 or 30 individuals who feel the same way, but just don’t take the effort to speak up.”

Read the full story at WRAL

LSU study finds Southern flounder are disappearing throughout their habitat, including Louisiana

March 29, 2021 — When LSU researchers recently set out to gather data on southern flounder, they ran into a problem: they could hardly find any in Louisiana.

It has been well-documented that their population has dropped steeply in recent years, but they were first to report the problem extended beyond the state’s waters. A study they published this month reported that the declines in the flat, football-shaped fish’s population were happening throughout their range, which spans from the Carolina to Texas.

“To see similar declines happening throughout their range was surprising and a concerning aspect,” said Kenneth Erickson, the first author on the LSU-led study. He added that it could be a potential warning sign for other aquatic life similar to southern flounder.

In recent years, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries has logged some of the lowest numbers of adult female flounder in the past four decades.

Read the full story at The Advocate

North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission to meet by web conference March 31

March 25, 2021 — The N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission will meet by web conference on March 31 beginning at 1 p.m.

The public may listen to the meeting by phone or listen and view presentations online.

For to the link and phone number to join the meeting go to the Marine Fisheries Commission Meeting webpage.

Members of the public may submit written comments to the commission in two ways:

  1. Online Comments – Public comments will be accepted until noon on Monday, March 29, through an online form available here.
  2. Mailed Comments – Written comments may be mailed to March 31, 2021 Marine Fisheries Commission Meeting Comments, P.O Box 769, Morehead City, N.C. 28557. Comments must be received by the division by noon on Monday, March 29.

Public comment will not be accepted during the meeting or through email.

Following the meeting, an audio recording will be posted online.

Read the full story at the Island Free Press

MAFMC: Register for Summer Flounder Management Strategy Evaluation (MSE) Virtual Workshops

March 23, 2021 — The following was released by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

As a reminder, the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council has scheduled three virtual regional public workshops to solicit input on future management of the recreational summer flounder fishery. The dates and times of the workshops are listed below. You are encouraged to participate in the workshop for your region; however, all workshops are open to all individuals. Registration is required, and participants are encouraged to register at least 24 hours prior to a scheduled workshop.

  1. Massachusetts through Connecticut: Monday, March 29, 2021; 5:30 P.M. – 8:00 P.M. Register for the MA-CT Workshop
  2. New York through Delaware: Wednesday, March 31, 2021; 5:30 P.M. – 8:00 P.M. Register for the NY-DE Workshop
  3. Maryland through North Carolina: Monday, April 5, 2021; 5:30 P.M. – 8:00 P.M. Register for the MD-NC Workshop

Workshops will be held via Webex, which can be accessed using a computer, tablet, or smartphone. Participants can also join and participate in the workshop with a phone-only connection; however, you will not be able to see any presentations or other materials shared on the webinar. Once registered, you will receive an email from Webex with the webinar information including the webinar link, telephone number and access code, and a calendar invite.

Background

These workshops are part of the Council’s development of a management strategy evaluation (MSE) which will evaluate different management strategies designed to minimize discards in the recreational summer flounder fishery. Input provided during the workshops will build on the 800+ comments and suggestions that were submitted through a public comment form earlier this year. More information about this project can be found on the Summer Flounder Management Strategy Evaluation page.

During the workshops, participants will listen to a series of short background presentations and then provide input and feedback regarding summer flounder discard concerns, potential management objectives to address these concerns, and performance metrics and strategies to achieve these objectives. An agenda and additional briefing materials are available on the workshop web page.

Questions? Contact Brandon Muffley, bmuffley@mafmc.org, (302) 526-5260

MAFMC to Hold Virtual Summer Flounder Management Strategy Evaluation (MSE) Workshops

March 10, 2021 — The following was released by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council will hold three virtual regional public workshops to solicit input on future management of the recreational summer flounder fishery. These workshops are part of the Council’s development of a management strategy evaluation (MSE) which will evaluate different management strategies designed to minimize discards in the recreational summer flounder fishery. Input provided during the workshops will build on the 800+ comments and suggestions that were submitted through a public comment form earlier this year. More information about this project can be found on the Summer Flounder Management Strategy Evaluation page.

During the workshops, participants will listen to a series of short background presentations and then provide input and feedback regarding summer flounder discard concerns, potential management objectives to address these concerns, and performance metrics and strategies to achieve these objectives.

The dates and times of the three virtual workshops are listed below. Individuals are encouraged to participate in the workshop for their region; however, all workshops are open to all individuals. Participants will first need to register for the workshop(s) in which they plan to attend. To help plan and organize the workshops, interested participants are encouraged to register at least 24 hours prior to a scheduled workshop.

  1. Massachusetts through Connecticut: Monday, March 29, 2021; 5:30 P.M. – 8:00 P.M. Register for the MA-CT Workshop
  2. New York through Delaware: Wednesday, March 31, 2021; 5:30 P.M. – 8:00 P.M. Register for the NY-DE Workshop
  3. Maryland through North Carolina: Monday, April 5, 2021; 5:30 P.M. – 8:00 P.M. Register for the MD-NC Workshop

Workshops will be held via Webex, which can be accessed using a computer, tablet, or smartphone. Participants can also join and participate in the workshop with a phone-only connection; however, you will not be able to see any presentations or other materials shared on the webinar. Once registered, you will receive an email from Webex with the webinar information including the webinar link, telephone number and access code, and a calendar invite.

Questions? Contact Brandon Muffley, bmuffley@mafmc.org, (302) 526-5260

Lawmakers differ over best plan to restore flounder

March 5, 2021 — Two local lawmakers are taking different approaches, but they share the common goal of restoring the state’s troubled flounder fishery. And they have both rejected a call by the state wildlife agency to impose a season on the popular species.

A bill by state Rep. Lee Hewitt that would reduce the catch limit from 10 to five flounder and increase the size limit from 15 to 16 inches was approved by a House subcommittee this week. The bill now moves to the Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs committee.

The bill also allows anglers to keep only one flounder larger than 20 inches. A female that size can lay a million eggs.

“That would help the fishery come back quicker,” Hewitt said. “I’m trying to get more eggs in the system.”

State Sen. Stephen Goldfinch plans to take a different approach in a bill he intends to file.

“My bill is going to end up increasing the cost of a fishing stamp by a few bucks,” he said. The money, which he estimated at $1.2 million annually, will be used to create a flounder fish hatchery.

Read the full story at The Coastal Observer

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