Pay Attention - Supplement A to amendment 1 of the Striped Mullet Fishery Management Plan, and the goal and objectives for the Spotted Seatrout Fishery Management Plan Amendment 1.

 Commission to vote on rule change to help protect shellfish

05/15/2023 by Staff Report

North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission members are scheduled to vote on suspending a rule that would help protect shellfish and on amendments to striped mullet and spotted seatrout fishery management plans during an in-person meeting later this month in Beaufort.

The meeting at the Beaufort Hotel, 2440 Lennoxville Road, is set to begin at 6 p.m. May 24, and at 9 a.m. both May 25 and May 26. The meeting will be livestreamed on YouTube. A link will be posted on the Marine Fisheries Commission webpage and a recording will be available after the meeting.

The North Carolina coast is spectacular. When you purchase a North Carolina Coastal Federation license plate, you help keep our coast healthy and beautiful. Learn more! 

The Division of Marine Fisheries recently put in place a shellfish relocation permit. The proclamation SF-5-2023 signed May 4 requires a permit to relocate shellfish found in areas closed to harvest where shellfish would be destroyed due to dredging, construction or other development to designated relocation sites.

Commission members are being asked to vote on suspending indefinitely their rule that a person applying for the shellfish relocation permit must have a valid standard or retired standard commercial fishing license with a shellfish endorsement or a shellfish license.

Suspending subsection (4) of section (e) in procedures and requirements to obtain permits will allow for the “new Shellfish Relocation Permit established by Proclamation SF-5-2023 to be fully utilized,” according to the division.

Additionally, members are to consider adopting supplement A to amendment 1 of the Striped Mullet Fishery Management Plan, and the goal and objectives for the Spotted Seatrout Fishery Management Plan Amendment 1.

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Also on the agenda is a vote on a notice of text for proposed rules related to data collection and harassment prevention for the conservation of marine and estuarine resources, oyster sanctuary rule changes, and conforming rule changes for shellfish relay program and shellfish leases and franchises.

The proposed rules then go out for public hearing.

The commission is scheduled to hear updates on false albacore data and the estuarine striped bass stock assessment, presentations on allocation use as a fisheries management tool, and blue crab fisheries management plan amendment 3 adaptive management revision.

Public comment

The commission will hold in-person public comment sessions at 6 p.m. May 24, and near the beginning of the meeting May 25. The public can sign up at the hotel before either comment period. Bring at least 12 copies of any handouts for commission members. To accommodate as many speakers as possible, the chair will limit each speaker to three minutes.

To submit written comments online, use the form on the Marine Fisheries Commission Meetings webpage. To send comments by mail, address the envelope to May 2023 Marine Fisheries Commission Meeting Comments, P.O Box 769, Morehead City, NC 28557, or drop the comments off at the Division of Marine Fisheries’ Morehead City headquarters office at 3441 Arendell St., Morehead City.

The deadline to submit written comments for this meeting is 4 p.m. Monday, May 22.

https://coastalreview.org/2023/05/commission-to-vote-on-rule-change-to-help-protect-shellfish/

Reelin’ for Research Organization Raises $1 Million

 Reelin’ for Research Organization Raises $1 million in funds for cancer research during 15th annual fishing tournament

KAITLYN HARDY NEWS TIMES May 8, 2023 

Children pose with the $1 million check highlighting the money raised for UNC Children’s Hospital in cancer research (Richard Montana, Founder of R4F photo)

MOREHEAD CITY – Richard Montana, chairman and founder of charity organization Reelin’ for Research, watched $1 million come in from the organization’s 15th annual fishing tournament for cancer research this past weekend at Jack’s Waterfront Grill and Bar in Morehead City.

Every year since 2009, along Jack’s Waterfront, Reelin’ for Research, one of the biggest charity organizations along the East Coast, holds a one-day offshore and inshore fishing tournament, where all proceeds and annual funds go toward North Carolina’s Children’s Hospital for Pediatric and Cancer research. The group has been able to raise more than $6.2 million over the last 15 years.

Montana grew up fishing in Greensboro with his dad, uncle and college buddies and would hold fishing tournaments for fun for him and his friends during the summers.

https://www.carolinacoastonline.com/news_times/article_98a4e7ce-edca-11ed-b54c-776a746208d2.html

May 12 and May 13 Marine Fisheries to share informational clinics at Jennette’s Pier

 

Jennette’s Pier

Swing by Jennette’s Pier to visit with North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries staff and marine patrol officers.

They will be available to discuss fishing regulations, ethical angling and the N.C. Saltwater Fishing Tournament Friday, May 12 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday, May 13 from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m.. Demonstrations throughout the days will cover topics such as rigging, fish handling, otolith (ear bone) extraction and cover the basics of scientific data collection.

Everyone is welcome and we look forward to seeing you there!

Join NC Coastal Conservation Association

 CCA NC is a community of conservationists and recreational anglers working to promote sound management of public trust marine and estuarine resources to protect those resources for the enjoyment of current and future generations.

Coastal Conservation Association (CCA) is a non-profit organization comprised of 17 coastal state chapters spanning the Gulf of Mexico, Pacific, and Atlantic seaboards. CCA’s strength is drawn from the tens of thousands of recreational saltwater anglers who make up its membership. From Puget Sound to South Texas to the upper reaches of Maine, CCA’s grassroots influence is felt through state capitals, U.S. Congress and, most importantly, in the conservation and restoration of our coastal marine resources.

Join https://ccanc.org/join-ccanc/

Shameful NC Fisheries Managment - wonder why commercial fishers get such biased help?

Is anybody officially investigating this???

Preliminary estimates for 2022 indicate that the harvest of 143,000 lbs of southern flounder by the recreational sector will keep them under the harvest quota. However, the estimated releases of 2,500,000 fish will translate to roughly 250,000 dead discards, which will count against the rec sector. The only question now is what mass will the Division assign for these fish? At 2 lbs/fish, 500,000 lbs of dead discards shuts the public out for ~3 years. At 0.5lbs/fish, 125,000 lbs of discards would give the public a VERY SHORT season in 2023.

So, let's see if we still have this story straight - Southern flounder have been overfished for decades, with commercial harvest accounting for over 70% of the total harvest historically. (During the 20-year time frame, 1981-2001, the commercial harvest of Southern flounder accounted for 80-100% of the total harvest in the years leading up to the first Southern flounder stock assessment that indicated for the first time that the stock was overfished.) So, with only 30% of the Southern flounder quota, the fishing public exceeded its allowable catch in 2022, which means a shortened season this year (likely two weeks) due to the rebuilding plan, and no access to ocean flounder species. But commercial harvest will continue on Southern flounder this fall, and they can catch almost 3 million pounds of summer flounder in the ocean. But none for the fishing public.

Recently, DMF Director Rawls approved a pound net request in which 8 of 11 proposed sets for flounder in West Bay were granted. According to her office, they were approved because she had no legal means to deny them. That's curious because as Director, she has pretty wide ranging proclamation authority. Either way, how does it make sense to expand the commercial fishery for southern flounder while it is depleted and being rebuilt?

Welcome to North Carolina.