Saving Seafood

North Carolina Fisheries Association Update for August 10, 2015

August 11, 2015 — The following was released by the North Carolina Fisheries Association:

MFC BRIEFING BOOK AVAILABLE ONLINE

The briefing book is now available for the MFC Aug. 19-21 business meeting at the DoubleTree by Hilton Raleigh Brownstone University Hotel, 1707 Hillsborough St., Raleigh. The commission is scheduled to:

  • Select and approve management measures for the southern flounder supplement
  • Receive the 2015 Stock Status Report presentation
  • Hear an update on the adaptive management measures for the blue crab fishery
  • Vote on posting information updates for the Interjursidictional and Kingfish fishery management plans online for public review
  • Approve a five-year fishery management plan schedule

NOTE: The commission will deliberate on southern flounder issue 8:30 a.m. Friday.  Please plan to attend if at all possible.

GOVERNOR MCRORY SIGNS S-374

The legislation repeals the logbook requirement for the for-hire fishing industry and prohibits the Department of Environment and Natural Resources from entering into a joint enforcement agreement with NFMS.

FACT SHEET: 2016 SUMMER FLOUNDER CATCH AND LANDINGS LIMITS

NMFS ANNOUNCES 2015 ACL FOR ATLANTIC BLUEFISH 

Annual catch limits for the 2015 bluefish fishery:

  • 2015 commercial quota: 5.241 million lb. This is a 35 percent decrease from 2014.
  • 2015 recreational harvest limit: 12.951 million lb. This is a 4.3 percent decrease.

Together, the total allowable landings for 2015 is 18.19 million lb. This is a 13.7 percent decrease from the 2014 total allowable landings.  Although the bluefish stock is not overfished, and overfishing is not occurring, the most recent stock assessment update indicates the size of the stock has declined, which triggered the reductions. In recent years, states’ landings of bluefish have been below their allocated quota, and the quota reductions may be partially mitigated by the states’ ability to transfer quota.  Read the final rule and get more information from the permit holder bulletin. 

RECREATIONAL SECTOR EXCEEDS 2015 FOR GOLDEN TILEFISH, NMFS CLOSES FISHERY

Recreational harvest of golden tilefish in South Atlantic federal waters will close 12:01 a.m. on Aug. 11, 2015. Recreational harvest in federal waters will reopen at 12:01 a.m. on Jan. 1, 2016. The recreational annual catch limit for golden tilefish is 3,019 fish. Reports indicate that landings have exceeded the 2015 annual catch limit for the recreational sector for golden tilefish.

AGENCIES SEEKING PUBLIC INPUT ON RESTORING THE CAPE FEAR RIVER NEAR WILMINGTON

State and federal agencies are seeking public participation to identify opportunities to restore natural resources damaged due to decades of contamination from a former wood treatment operation near Wilmington.  The agencies will host a public meeting at 6 p.m. Aug. 18 at the Navassa Community Center, 338 Main St., Navassa, N.C., to describe their efforts and solicit restoration ideas from the public. Comments on the restoration scoping document will be accepted through Sept. 4, 2015.

TRADEWINDS

Last week’s email link to Maureen was incorrect.  If you’re interested in advertising for the upcoming Sept./Oct. issue – which will be distributed to thousands at Fishermen’s Village and the State Fair – you can contact her at editor@nctradewinds.com.

STATE FAIR/FISH VILLAGE

Fishermen’s Village at the N.C. Seafood Festival and the State Fair will be here before you know it.  Fishermen, we need you to come out for both events to tell your story.  No one can do it better than you.  Fishermen’s Village is Oct. 3 and the State Fair begins mid-October.  If you cannot attend, please consider donating seafood.  We will be providing samples again this year in Raleigh.  It’s a big hit and great way to show people why it’s “Got to be NC.”

REGULATION AND RULE CHANGES:

–Coral Amendment 8 in the South Atlantic Effective Aug. 17

-USCG Mandatory Dockside Inspections Required Effective Oct. 15

DEADLINES:

Aug. 26 – Green Sea Turtles ESA Uplisting Comments

Sept. 1 – SAFMC Snapper-Grouper Draft Vision Blueprint Comments

Sept. 4 – Cape Fear River Restoration Scoping Document Comments

Sept. 10 – NMFS Updated Draft Acoustic Guidelines Comments

Sept. 14 – NMFS Generic Amendment to Snapper-Grouper, Golden Crab and Dolphin-Wahoo FMPs Comments

Sept 21 at 5 p.m. – 2016-2018 Atlantic Herring Research Set Aside Applications

Oct. 2 – MFC Proposed Rules Comments

MEETINGS:

If you are aware of ANY meetings that should be of interest to commercial fishing that is not on this list, please contact us so we can include it here.

 

Aug. 11-13 – Mid-Atlantic Fisheries Management Council Meeting

Aug. 12 – Correction – SAFMC Snapper-Grouper Regulatory Amendment 16 Public Hearing, Jacksonville, NC

Aug. 13 – Correction – SAFMC Snapper-Grouper Amendment 36 Public Hearing, Morehead City

Aug. 18  at 6 p.m.– Cape Fear River Restoration Public Meeting, Navassa Community Center, 338 Main St., Navassa

Aug. 19 at 1:30 p.m. – MAFMC Spiny Dogfish Advisory Panel Meeting via webinar

 

Aug. 19-21 – Marine Fisheries Commission Meeting, Raleigh

Aug. 31-Sept.1 – ASMFC Menhaden Ecosystem Management Workshop

Sept. 9 at 6 p.m. – MFC Rules Public Hearing, DMF Central District Office, 5285 Hwy 70 W, Morehead City

PROCLAMATIONS: 

SNAPPER-GROUPER COMPLEX – RECREATIONAL PURPOSES

View a PDF of the release here

 

Whirling disease found in North Carolina tributary of Watauga Lake

August 7, 2015 — FOSCOE, N.C. — In the event Northeast Tennessee anglers haven’t had enough troublesome news to tide them over, we’ve got more.

The presence of whirling disease — a dreaded neurological parasite that cripples rainbow trout — has been discovered in the Watauga River near Foscoe, N.C.

The infestation was confirmed by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission late last month

The infected area is part of the upstream tributary that feeds Watauga Lake. That alone is disconcerting. The way whirling disease works, however, it can take all kinds of shortcuts into Northeast Tennessee trout streams.

“All it takes is for one fisherman to bring it over clinging on their boots,” said Huck Huckaba at Eastern Fly Outfitters in Piney Flats.

“So far, nothing has been reported in Tennessee, but everyone needs to be aware. In the very least, make sure you clean and dry your boots before changing watersheds,” he said.

Read the full story at Times News

 

Reef protections aim to grow fish stocks

July 28, 2015 — Fishing practices that disturb the sea floor will soon be banned in a 38,000-square mile swath of the Atlantic Ocean in an effort to protect fragile East Coast coral reefs.

While the new rules will mean fishermen are catching less in coral zones, officials say the effort could grow fish populations, keeping customers from having to pay more for seafood.

In mid-June, the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council voted to establish “deep sea coral zones” from waters off the northern North Carolina border through New York. Trawls, dredges, bottom long lines and traps would be prohibited in the protected area, which starts at about the 450-feet depth point and extends 200 miles out to sea.

The rule still needs to be approved by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce, but it would complement protections passed in 2010 by sister organization the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council to safeguard coral zones from Southeastern North Carolina through Florida.

Read the full story at Star News Online

Bluefish mercury levels are declining off the US coastline

July 21, 2015 — It’s been a good summer for bluefish. Coinciding with the New York Times‘ recent fetish for the fish, scientists are announcing that it’s safer to eat than it has been in four decades.

Mercury levels in adult bluefish off the North Carolina coast have dropped 43% since 1972, according to a new study in Environmental Science & Technology. This is, as Scientific American notes, not just good news for the bluefish, but “for the entire predator fish population in the Mid-Atlantic.” (Other predatory fish in the region include favorites like tuna and swordfish.)

And of course, it’s great news for seafood lovers, too.

Read the full story at Quartz

 

Atlantic Fishermen Frustrated by New Regulations

July 20, 2015 — The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council is collecting feedback from dozens of fishing areas from Florida up to North Carolina about the snapper-grouper fishery.

At a public hearing at the Murrells Inlet Community Center Monday night, local fishermen spoke out against the proposed regulations.

A number of local commercial and some recreational fishermen said this council’s proposals are like Big Brother on the fishing industry.

They said fishermen should just be left alone to fish.

“We want some controversial items that are opposed by nearly all fishermen removed, like catch shares, which is an effort to privatize the fishery, electronic monitoring of a vessel, and more closed fishing areas,” said Tom Swatzel, a council member with Sustainable Fishing.  “We just don’t need those at this time.”

The Vision Project which was initially launched last year by SAFMC was blasted by local fishermen Monday night.

 

Read the full story at WPDE.com

 

Oak Island, North Carolina’s shark attack spate linked to summer heatwave, scientists say

July 18, 2015 — NORTH CAROLINA — Australians have long been accustomed to shark attacks – already this year, there have been 13 recorded across the nation.

But one US state is facing an unprecedented shark threat and scientists believe unseasonably warm weather may be playing a part.

North Carolina has experienced eight attacks since the start of June.

Two of the most serious attacks occurred within 90 minutes of each other in shallow water in the town of Oak Island.

A 12-year-old girl had her arm and part of her leg bitten off.

The other victim, 16-year-old Hunter Treschl, had his arm amputated.

Oak Island’s town manager Tim Holloman said the two attacks were the first recorded in the area since 1853.

“We have had several calls concerned about people who are fishing for sharks from the surf or the piers,” he said.

But the attacks appear to have done little to deter the tourists, who swell Oak Island’s population from 7,500 to about 40,000 a year.

Read the full story at Australian Broadcasting Corporation

 

 

JERRY SCHILL: Lessons from Menhaden & More

WASHINGTON (Saving Seafood) — July 16, 2015 — The following op-ed appeared this week in The News & Observer in Raleigh, North Carolina. Its author, Jerry Schill, is President of the North Carolina Fisheries Association, a member of the Menhaden Fisheries Coalition.

In 2012 North Carolina’s General Assembly banned the purse-seining of menhaden off our coast, in part, due to a stock assessment that was less than ideal. Three years later, we find that the stock assessment was incorrect and menhaden are not overfished and overfishing is not occurring.

A 2009 stock assessment claimed speckled trout had been overfished for the past 18 years leading to drastic restrictions. In 2014 we found the assessment was incorrect and speckled trout had never been overfished and overfishing had never occurred, moving the fish from the bottom category of “depleted” to the best category of “viable” in this year’s stock status report.

Twice in the last few years through the actions or recommendations by the Marine Fisheries Commission, (MFC), we banned one type of commercial fishing and restricted the other based upon bad information.

Now comes southern flounder, the most economically important commercial finfish fishery in our state. Since 1979, 28 conservation measures have been put in place in that fishery, including increased size limits and numerous gear changes and closures. Yet, the commercial landings have remained steady. Two of the three peer reviewers for the most recent flounder assessment stated it could not be used for management purposes. What in the world is going on?

After menhaden and speckled trout, is it any wonder that North Carolina Fisheries Association, (NCFA), questions the efforts of the MFC to rush into draconian measures……again?

Our position has been consistent: we believe the MFC should be working on an amendment to the fishery management plan for southern flounder. A supplement is too quick and too easy to once again make a major mistake at the expense of commercial fishing families and consumers. The supplement process avoids the public participation and the regulatory oversight that comes with an amendment. The MFC is using the supplement in an effort to avoid that oversight and push an agenda that includes a ban on large mesh gillnets. They are circumventing the process established by the General Assembly; so we have suggested that legislators apply the brakes!

It’s been suggested by some very credible sources that the MFC has violated the Open Meetings Law in this process. The process now is so skewed that Allyn Powell, a retired fisheries biologist with 30 years at the National Marine Fishereries Service Beaufort Lab, resigned from the science seat on the MFC because he felt the decisions being made were agenda-based that usurped science!

Mr. Sneed of the CCA cited the 2014 Stock Status Report that classified 15 of the 29 species of finfish managed by the state as either “of concern” or “depleted”. However, the 2015 report shows improvement with 12 of those categories, and more importantly, those listed in the top category as “viable”, went from nine to 13!

There is a segment of commercial fishermen who claim nothing is wrong with southern flounder and nothing should be done. Likewise, there are those recreational fishermen who espouse banning the nets, regardless of the data. Both are wrong. The southern flounder plan should be amended, and had the MFC made that decision back in February, they would be well along in that process.

We believe that organizations like ours should strive to assure the process is served as the General Assembly intended. We shouldn’t be using the end to justify the means. Shame on the CCA and the North Carolina Wildlife Federation, who not only are very open about their wish to ban large mesh gillnets, but who have members sitting on the MFC who do their bidding.

As one who sat through hundreds of hours of meetings during the deliberations of the Moratorium Steering Committee deliberations in the 90s and attended the signing of the Fisheries Reform Act by Governor Jim Hunt in 1997, I know the legislators’ intent with the passage of that law. It was to establish a very deliberative process with extensive public input and regulatory oversight. The proposed supplement for southern flounder avoids much of that, and the MFC obviously needs some assistance in understanding its role in the process.

Read this op-ed online at The News & Observer

 

North Carolina Researcher Aims To Bolster Black Sea Bass Fishery

July 14, 2015 — Black sea bass are making a comeback in North Carolina after the species was overfished a decade ago.  We visit the Institute of Marine Sciences in Morehead City where they’re using ear bones from hundreds of black sea bass to learn which habitats along our coast best support the fishery.

The commercial fishing industry is an economic engine for the state. $369 million of economic impact was generated by commercial fishing in 2013, according to the Department of Marine Fisheries.  One of the many species caught off the coast is black sea bass.  You may have had it at a fancy restaurant coated in herb butter and served with a wedge of lemon.  Also known as blackfish or old humpback, black sea bass grow to 24 inches and 6 pounds, and they can be found in inshore and offshore waters.  At the University of North Carolina’s Institute of Marine Sciences in Morehead City, graduate student Ian Kroll is involved in research with black sea bass and what types of habitat are best suited for the fish.

“If we can find out what habitats produce the best quality fish and maybe the quickest amount of time, there kind of leads to that impetus to conserve these habitats.”

The black sea bass fishery was identified as overfished in 2005.  But in the last decade, their numbers have bounced back, due to more stringent regulatory standards.

“In 2014, commercially, there was over 500,000 lbs of black sea bass, and that equals about $1.4 million going to the economy.  And, just looking at it on the South Atlantic scale, that’s over half the black sea bass caught in the South Atlantic comes from North Carolina.”

Read the full story at Public Radio East

 

JERRY SCHILL: Facts about North Carolina fish stocks

July 13, 2015 — Regarding the June 27 Point of View “The dark side to North Carolina’s fishing heritage”: In 2012, the General Assembly banned the purse-seining of menhaden off our coast, in part due to a stock assessment that was less than ideal. Three years later, we find that the stock assessment was incorrect, and menhaden are not overfished. A 2009 stock assessment claimed speckled trout had been overfished, leading to drastic restrictions. In 2014, we found the assessment was incorrect, moving the fish from the bottom category of “depleted” to the best category of “viable” in this year’s stock status report.

Twice in the past few years through the recommendations of the Marine Fisheries Commission, we banned one type of commercial fishing and restricted the other based upon bad information. Now comes Southern flounder, the most economically important commercial finfish fishery in our state. Since 1979, 28 conservation measures have been put in place in that fishery, including increased size limits and numerous gear changes and closures. Yet the commercial landings have remained steady. Two of the three peer reviewers for the most recent flounder assessment stated it could not be used for management purposes. What is going on? After menhaden and speckled trout, is it any wonder that we question the efforts of the MFC to rush into draconian measures again?

Read the full opinion piece at The News & Observer 

 

NORTH CAROLINA: Second Crystal Coast town enacts fishing restrictions because of shark attacks

July 10, 2015 — A second town along the Crystal Coast is enacting restrictions on fishing in light of recent shark attacks, while the state is giving them the green light.

Pine Knoll Shores says it will ban all fishing with 200 yards of 10 popular beach access locations in the town, effective Monday.

This comes after Emerald Isle put a temporary ban on shark fishing and “chumming” within the town limits until September 15th.

Experts have said that shark fishing can entice the sharks closer to the shore. Since June 11th, eight people in the state have been bitten by sharks.

The locations in Pine Knoll Shores are: Ocean Park, Iron Steam public beach access, Memorial Park public beach access, Hammer Park access, two public accesses at Beacons Reach, the Knollwood public beach access, as well as the lodges at The Atlantis, The Seahawk, and The Windjammer.

Read the full story and watch the video at WITN