Saving Seafood

Flounder fishery dispute grows as August meeting approaches

August 15, 2024 — The flounder conflict continues into next week’s North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission (MFC) meeting, which will be held in Raleigh from Aug. 21-23. The bone of contention is between the MFC and the North Carolina Wildlife Resource Commission (WRC) about this year’s recreational flounder season.

The only agenda items for the meeting mention flounder, including a report from the state’s Division of Marine Fisheries staff on the Southern Flounder Stock Assessment Update and the 2023 Southern Flounder landings. According to Island Free Press, the report is expected to be the basis for deciding how much quota is available for a commercial season in the sounds and coastal rivers that has previously taken place in September and October.

The MFC chairman, Rob Bizzell, insists that his panel will not open the flounder fishery to recreational anglers this year. However, a vote last month by the NC WRC would allow recreational fishing, which would be a hook-and-line season for Sept. 1, 2, 7, and 8 with a daily limit of one fish per angler and a minimum size of 15 inches within the waters that fall under their jurisdiction. The areas would include joint waters that the MFC also oversees, creating controversy over whether or not to open the recreational season.

WRC chair Monty Crump has been trading letters with Bizzell to hold an emergency meeting to reconsider how southern flounder is allocated between commercial and recreational sectors to allow the recreational season in all waters. Bizzell said in letters, “MFC will be sticking to its plan adopted this spring to not allow a recreational season for flounder this year.” He also stated that fishermen who try to keep flounder caught in or transported through both coastal and joint waters will be subject to enforcement efforts of the NC Marine Patrol.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

NORTH CAROLINA: Local rep, fishermen call on state to improve fishery management after flounder season cancellation

August 12, 2024 — Recreational fishermen have been barred from catching the state’s most valued finifish, the Southern flounder, this year because they exceeded last year’s quota. But anglers say this season’s cancellation reflects a larger management issue at the state level.

The Division of Marine Fisheries, part of North Carolina’s Department of Environmental Quality, announced the cancellation of the season, set for two weeks in September, on May 23.

Calculations from the 2023 season indicate the recreational catch of Southern flounder exceeded the quota allowed under the stock rebuilding plan set by the state in 2022.

Over two decades ago, state researchers determined Southern flounder were overfished and overfishing was occurring. The two terms carry different meanings: overfished is when a population is below a level needed to sustain itself, and overfishing means they are actively being caught at an unsustainable rate.

Limits were put on recreational and commercial anglers with the goal of rebuilding the flounder population. Per the current management plan, commercial fishermen are allocated 70% of the stock while recreational anglers get 30%, based on the proportion of flounder historically caught by commercial and recreational fishermen. However, the goal is for the groups to reach parity in 2026.

Read the full article at NJ Spotlight News

NORTH CAROLINA: Dominion Energy to acquire offshore wind lease in $160M deal near Kitty Hawk, N.C.

July 10, 2024 — Dominion Energy is set to acquire an offshore wind lease from Avangrid, Inc., near Kitty Hawk, N.C., for approximately $160 million providing another potential option to meet the growing demand for electric use.

Virginia Electric and Power Company, a subsidiary of Dominion, announced the agreement this week.

If approved by regulators and constructed, the offshore facility would have a capacity of 800 MW, enough capacity to serve 200,000 homes and businesses, and the project would connect to the company’s transmission grid.

Read the full article at Augusta Free Press

North Carolina Wildlife Federation Calls for Inshore Shrimp Trawling Ban

June 13, 2024 — N.C. Wildlife Federation (NCWF) CEO Tim Gestwicki called on state legislators Tuesday to “put a stop to inshore shrimp trawling as soon as possible.”

In a news release, Gestwicki said the call is in response to the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries (NCDMF) canceling the recreational southern flounder season for 2024.

“This is the first time that decision has had to be made, but the writing has been on the wall for a long time,” Gestwicki said. “Southern flounder and other important fisheries in North Carolina are in dire condition, and strong action is needed now to save them. While there are many reasons why southern flounder and other fisheries fall under overfished and overfishing status, one of the most significant contributing factors is bycatch from inshore shrimp trawling. That’s why allowing this practice in our sounds must stop now and shrimp trawling should only take place in coastal ocean waters.

“Bycatch is the unintended part of a catch taken because of the non-selectivity of the fishing gear used, in this case, shrimp trawls,” he continued. “The most reliable bycatch study done to date shows that for every pound of shrimp harvested in North Carolina’s waters (most of which are caught by trawls), over four pounds of non-target catch, including juvenile finfish, such as southern flounder, are discarded.”

Gestwicki said North Carolina is the only state on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts that still allows large-scale shrimp trawling in its estuaries.

Read the full article at Seafoodnews.com

NORTH CAROLINA: Five whales have died along NC’s coast this year. Here’s what researchers know so far

May 1, 2024 — Whales found stranded along the North Carolina coast in recent years have died from parasites, infectious disease and – too many times, marine experts say – as a result of human interactions.

At least five whales have been stranded on or near the shore this year, dead or unable to be saved. They include a humpback whale, a minke whale and three dwarf sperm whales.

Dr. Craig Harms, director of the marine health program at N.C. State University’s Center for Marine Sciences and Technology in Morehead City, said the degraded condition of whale carcasses by the time they reach shore means researchers can determine a cause of death in fewer than half the recorded cases.

Read the full article at The News & Observer 

NORTH CAROLINA: Scientist, legislators voice opposition to fisheries procedures

April 30, 2024 — A scientist and two legislators joined the state commercial fishing lobby in protesting the procedure planned by the N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission for possible changes in regulation of the summer flounder harvest.

The fishery, which brought $4.8 million in dockside value to N.C. fishermen last year, is the top commercial fin fish in the state.

The North Carolina Fisheries Association held a Monday morning press conference at Union Point Park in New Bern to challenge the use of a supplement approach to the management plan for the flounder.

Six management plan proposals were quickly assembled since February, with a public hearing Wednesday in New Bern and a possible vote by the Marine Fisheries Commission at its August meeting in Raleigh.

The 1 p.m. public hearing at the New Bern Riverfront Convention Center is set for four hours in anticipation of a large turnout ranging from fishermen and seafood dealers, to related industries such as restaurant owners and consumers.

One main threat from the current proposals is a possible ban on anchored large-mesh gill nets in the state’s internal waters.

The Fisheries Association, headed by President Jerry Schill, favors an amendment process to assess flounder stocks, a process that allows detailed scientific input, public input and advisory panels. It was implemented with the Fisheries Reform Act of 1997.

He said an amendment is used to address a concern and a supplement to address an emergency, such as stocks threatened by environmental factors, including hurricanes and freezes.

Read the full article at The Daily News

A timeline of the whales that have died off Virginia, NC coast this year

April 17, 2024 — In under two months, eight whales have died in and around the Virginia and North Carolina coasts.

This tragic trend may be the result of human impact, according to experts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

However, some activists argue that offshore wind farms are to blame.

Whatever the cause, here is a timeline of whales that have died off the Virginia and North Carolina coasts this year:

March 3: Two dead whales are spotted in Virginia Beach, and were later determined to have entanglement scars

Read the full article at WTKR

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NORTH CAROLINA: Can endangered right whales and charter fishing boats co-exist off the NC coast?

April 11, 2024 — The 2024 hurricane season doesn’t officially start for more than a month.

Yet a storm is already raging off the North Carolina coast, and this one involves the future of two of the most iconic symbols of the state’s coastal areas − whales and fishing.

But to save one, whether one of the most highly endangered animals in the world or an industry that supports thousands of jobs and is worth millions to coastal communities, must the other go?

“We’re not against species protection at all,” said Frank Hugelmeyer, president and CEO of the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA). “But we don’t think you solve one existential problem by creating another one.”

Read the full article at USA Today

NORTH CAROLINA: Thousands of pieces of fishing gear removed from coastal NC waters over past decade

April 1, 2024 — Protecting our state’s coastal waters is an ongoing effort, and one nonprofit recently hit a major milestone in that endeavor.

The North Carolina Coastal Federation marked 10 years of working with commercial fishing crews to find and remove thousands of pieces of lost fishing gear from the water.

Matt Littleton and Carson Whetherington spend their mornings in Swansboro searching for bouys — but these crab pots aren’t providing their next meal; they’re looking to pull lost and forgotten gear from the water.

“The areas we’re working, continuously we’re seeing lost pots or leftover or one that might have gotten moved around from a storm. In this area we’re running up on just pots that are derelict, debris that’s been discarded somewhere or it’s been hit by a boat or hit by a prop because it’s been in the water for so long,” says Littleton, with Friendly City Fishing Charters.

For years Littleton, who’s a charter boat captain in Swansboro, worked alongside his father as part of the North Carolina Coastal Federation’s lost fishing gear recovery project- but now he continues that effort with his own team.

Read the full article at WRAL