Hello from Surf City! Regrettably, the Red Drum Advisory Committee voted to increase the commercial take of red drum by 43%. Recreational bag limit will stay the same. This decision is not set in stone, and CCA is working against this measure.
The complete press release is attached.
In a stunning vote against conservation on July 17, the Red Drum Advisory Committee voted in favor of increasing the daily commercial trip limit 43% while keeping the recreational bag limit the same. While this vote does not in and of itself raise the commercial trip limit, the NC Marine Fisheries Commission must approve such a regulation, it is a significant step in the wrong direction.
Red drum have been under management for over twenty years, but due to liberal regulations in the past that did not curb harvest, the desired management goals were never achieved. The last Red Drum Fishery Management Plan, implemented in 1999, reduced the recreational bag limit by 80% (from 5 fish to1 fish/day), which the recreational folks supported in order to recover the species. The commercial “cap” was set at 250,000 pounds, a number only exceeded 4 times previously and well above the annual average. An initial 100-pound daily trip limit was also implemented for commercial fishermen. The commercial fishery was to be a “bycatch” fishery and not designed to target red drum. The 250,000-pound cap was promptly exceeded substantially in 1999 and 2000. Thus a 7 fish trip limit was established for the 2001 season and a netter must have equal poundage of other fish in order to possess the 7 red drum. This regulation, crafted and supported by the NC Division of Marine Fisheries staff, prevented commercial gill netters from targeting red drum, but allowed them to keep a few caught incidentally.
Not surprisingly, the stringent regulations have worked. Escapement has increased and is approaching the target of 40%, thus the red drum population is on the road to recovery. It is not recovered, as escapement simply means we are allowing 40% of the juvenile population to “escape” to spawning age. They will have to escape for years to re-establish the historic age structure and spawning stock required by red drum as this species lives in excess of 30 years.
On Tuesday July 17, at a meeting of the Red Drum Advisory Committee, an advisory committee to the NC Division of Marine Fisheries, the netters played their hand – despite the conservation regulations that clearly worked, they want more red drum, right now. They want to increase the trip limit to 10, against the professional advice of the Division of Marine Fisheries biologists, who recommended keeping the regulations the same (since they are working) and allowing red drum to fully recover.
“This makes no sense,” said Bill Mandulak President of the Coastal Conservation Association North Carolina. “Red drum are recovering from years of abuse and right when we get them on the right track the netters want to cut into those gains.”
“This is a conservation issue all recreational fishermen should support,” Bill said. “For once we have a fish on the right path to recovery; we need to be certain our regulations keep us on that path. After all, if we keep the current regulations our only risk is that we have more and bigger fish in the future. That’s what we all want.”
The stated purpose of the Coastal Conservation Association North Carolina is to advise and educate the public on conservation of marine resources. The objective of CCA is to conserve, promote and enhance the present and future availability of these coastal resources for the benefit and enjoyment of the general public.
Contact CCA NC at www.ccanc.org.
Till next time....
Tight lines!
Johnny "FishinTopsail"
http://fishintopsailpics.blogspot.com/
http://nascardailynews.blogspot.com
Everyone has to be somewhere ..... I'll be fishing!
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