NC DMF Sets Sheepshead Regs Effective June 1, 2015

North Carolina DMF Sets Sheepshead Regs Effective June 1, 2015

PROCLAMATION FF-28-2015

RE: SHEEPSHEAD – RECREATIONAL AND COMMERCIAL

      Dr. Louis B. Daniel III, Director, Division of Marine Fisheries, hereby announces that effective 12:01 A.M., Monday, June 1, 2015, the following will apply to sheepshead.

I.   MINIMUM SIZE LIMIT

            

It is unlawful to possess sheepshead less than 10 inches fork length.

II. HARVEST LIMITS

A. It is unlawful to possess more than 10 sheepshead per person per day or trip (if trip occurs over more than one calendar day) for recreational purposes.

B. It is unlawful for a commercial fishing operation to land or possess more than 300 pounds of sheepshead per trip except:

1.   Commercial gig and spear operations: it is unlawful to land or possess more than 10 sheepshead per person per day or per trip (if the trip occurs over more than one calendar day).

2.   Pound net operations are exempt from the commercial trip limit restrictions.

III.   GENERAL INFORMATION:

A.  This proclamation is issued under the authority of N.C.G.S. 113-170.4; 113-170.5; 113-182; 113-221.1; 143B 289.52 and N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission Rules 15A NCAC 03H .0103 and 03M .0521.

B.  It is unlawful to violate the provisions of any proclamation issued by the Fisheries Director under his delegated authority pursuant to N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission Rule 15A NCAC 03H .0103.

C.  All sheepshead that do not meet the 10 inch size limit shall be immediately returned to the waters where taken.

D.  In accordance with N.C. General Statute 113-221.1(c) all persons who may be affected by    proclamations issued by the Fisheries Director are under a duty to keep themselves informed of current proclamations.

E.  Contact the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries, P.O. Box 769, Morehead City, NC 28557, phone 252-726-7021 or 800-682-2632 for more information, or visit the division website at http://portal.ncdenr.org/web/mf/.

F.  This proclamation is being issued to implement size and harvest restrictions for the recreational and commercial sheepshead fishery.

                                                            

May 28, 2015

3:40 P.M.

FF-28-2015

/sab

SueAnn E. Bay

Processing Assistant IV

Divison of Marine Fisheries

P.O. Box 769

3441 Arendell Street

Morehead City, NC 28557

(252) 808-8076

SueAnn.Bay@ncdenr.gov

Till next time....

Tight lines!

Johnny

Flounder and Sheepshead Management Update

Pat McCrory, Governor                                            

Donald R. van der Vaart, Secretary

  

N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources

Release: Immediate                                                                                  Contact: Patricia Smith                              

Date: May 28, 2015                                                                                 Phone: 252-726-7021

                                                                                                 

Marine Fisheries Commission moves forward with southern flounder management

MOREHEAD CITY – The N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission moved forward with southern flounder and sheepshead management at its meeting last week.

The commission chose six potential management proposals to include in a draft supplement to the Southern Flounder Fishery Management Plan that the commission will put out for public review.

The six options range in impacts to different fisheries and gears. They can be found on the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries website at http://portal.ncdenr.org/web/mf/may-2015-briefing-book.

The commission decided to hold a public comment period from June 10 to July 10 and include a public meeting as well. Details of the comment period, with the location, date and times of the meeting, will be announced later.

The commission also chose the following management measures for sheepshead:

10-inch fork length minimum size limit (all commercial and recreational fisheries)

10-fish bag limit (recreational)

10-fish per person per day limit or per trip limit if multi-day trip (commercial spears and gigs)

300-pound trip limit (all other commercial gears, except pound nets)

Sheepshead is a highly sought recreational fish and is caught in a variety of commercial fisheries. Until 2012, sheepshead was managed under the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council Snapper-Grouper Fishery Management Plan, and was included in a 20-fish snapper-grouper recreational bag limit aggregate. When sheepshead was removed from the South Atlantic plan, management of the fishery was left up to the state.

The new sheepshead regulations will be implemented by a proclamation later this week, and be effective June 1.

  

In other business, the commission voted to:

Review the N.C. Spotted Seatrout Fishery Management Plan in 2017 instead of this year, aligning the review with a statutorily required five-year review schedule. The decision followed a presentation on the latest stock assessment that showed that the stock is not overfished and overfishing is not occurring.

Fund up to $10,000 from the Marine Fisheries Commission Conservation Fund for the James Francesconi Memorial Artificial Reef project

Begin the rulemaking process this summer to adopt an amendment to the N.C. Striped Mullet Fishery Management Plan later this year.

Proceed with a review of the N.C. Kingfish Fishery Management Plan as an information update, which means no management changes are proposed.

Audio of the meeting can be found online at http://portal.ncdenr.org/web/mf/may-2015-briefing-book. For more information, contact Nancy Fish in the Marine Fisheries Commission Office at 252-808-8021 or Nancy.Fish@ncdenr.gov.

Patricia Smith

Public Information Officer

N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries

3441 Arendell St.

Morehead City, N.C. 28557

(252) 808-8025 (Office)

(252) 342-0642 (Mobile)

Tricia.Smith@ncdenr.gov

http://portal.ncdenr.org/web/mf/

Till next time....

Tight lines!

Johnny

DENR.DMF.NewsRelease 2014 Harvest Reports

North Carolina DENR DMF News Release:



Commercial fishing harvest
increases, recreational harvest decreases in 2014

MOREHEAD CITY – North Carolina’s commercial fishing harvest
increased by 23 percent in 2014, boosted by higher landings of blue crabs,
spiny dogfish and summer flounder.

Commercial fishermen sold 61.7 million pounds of fish and
shellfish to North Carolina fish dealers last year, according the N.C. Division
of Marine Fisheries’ Commercial Trip Ticket Program. It was the first year
commercial fisheries landings rose since 2010, an upward tick in a long
declining trend since the late 1990s.

The estimated dockside value of the commercial harvest
climbed 19 percent in 2014 to $93.8 million, continuing an increasing trend
since 2011.

Recreational fishermen harvested approximately 9.6 million
fish, weighing about 9 million pounds in 2014, a 25 percent decrease in pounds
from 2013, according to the division’s Coastal Angling Program. It is 29
percent lower than the average of recreational landings from 2010 to 2013.

Commercial

As usual, hard blue crabs topped the state’s commercial
harvest in 2014, followed by spiny dogfish, shrimp, summer flounder and
Atlantic croaker.

Commercial fishermen sold 2.9 million pounds of summer
flounder to North Carolina dealers in 2014 – five times more than in 2013. The
increase was a direct result of a more restrictive state policy on allowing
boats to land their harvest in Virginia and other states. In previous years,
the state allowed more boats to do this because of shallow waters in Oregon
Inlet. It required North Carolina to transfer much of its summer flounder quota
to other states, causing federal quota allocation concerns.

Hard blue crab harvests increased by 18 percent from 2013,
as the number of fishing trips with crab pots rose by 5 percent and the average
catch of hard blue crabs in the pot fishery increased by 42 pounds per trip.
The estimated dockside value of blue crabs in North Carolina rose by 13
percent, as well.

Spiny dogfish landings rose by 88 percent to 5.7 million
pounds due to an increase in the state’s allotted quota.

Shrimp harvests decreased by 4 percent from 2013 to 4.7
million pounds in 2014.

Atlantic croaker landings increased 36 percent to 2.6
million pounds.

Overall, commercial finfish harvests increased by 34 percent
to 29.4 million pounds in 2014. Shellfish and crustacean harvests increased by
15 percent to 32 million pounds.

  

Recreational

The top recreationally harvested fish (in pounds) in 2014
were dolphin, bluefish, yellowfin tuna, spot and red drum.

Recreational dolphin landings decreased by 14 percent to 1.3
million pounds, bluefish landings decreased by 3 percent to 961,222 pounds,
yellowfin tuna landings decreased by 37 percent to 913,785 pounds.

Red drum harvests decreased by 12 percent to 598,166 pounds,
after the highest landings on record in 2013.

Spot, however, returned to the top five after an absence
since 2007. Recreational spot harvests increased by 53 percent in 2014 to
704,445 pounds.

While the number of private boat and for-hire fishing trips
dropped by 18.7 percent and 8 percent, respectively, the number of beach and
bank fishing trips increased by 37.3 percent.

For a full landings report, click on the 2014 Annual
Fisheries Bulletin link at
http://portal.ncdenr.org/web/mf/marine-fisheries-catch-statistics.

For more information, contact division License and
Statistics Section Chief Don Hesselman

 at 252-808-8099 or
Don.Hesselman@ncdenr.gov.

###

Patricia Smith

Public Information Officer

N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries

3441 Arendell St.

Morehead City, N.C. 28557

(252) 808-8025 (Office)

(252) 342-0642 (Mobile)

Tricia.Smith@ncdenr.gov

http://portal.ncdenr.org/web/mf/

Till next time....

Tight lines!

Johnny

'via Blog this'

DENR.DMF.Polluted.Area.Proclamations PA-42-2015

Polluted Area Proclamations:

PA-42-2014    PA-42-2015
 SHELLFISH POLLUTED AREAS

Dr. Louis B. Daniel III, Director, Division of Marine Fisheries, upon the recommendation of Robin Cummings, M.D., Acting State Health Director, Department of Health and Human Services, hereby announces that the following shellfish area temporary closures will take effect immediately:

No person shall take or attempt to take any oysters, clams or mussels or possess, sell or offer for sale any oysters, clams or mussels taken from the following polluted areas:

Click link
http://portal.ncdenr.org/web/mf/proclamations-polluted-areas


Till next time....
Tight lines!
Johnny

The Crystal Coast Surf Fishing Challenge

Announcing The Crystal Coast Surf Fishing Challenge, a brand-new event Fisherman's Post is bringing to the beachfront from Fort Macon to Bogue Inlet on the weekend of May 15-17. 

You can pre-register anytime leading up to the official Registration on Friday, May 15, and then fish round-the-clock all weekend and celebrate at the Awards Dinner & Ceremony on Sunday, May 17.

  

For more information, contact Max Gaspeny at (910) 409-8379 or surf@fishermanspost.com.

May 15 - 17, 2015

Emerald Isle - Salter Path 

Pine Knoll Shores - Atlantic Beach 

CRYSTAL COAST SURF QUICK FACTS Four Divisions: Bluefish, Flounder, Black Drum, and Sea Mullet Entry Fee: $55 per angler before May 4; $65 per angler after May 4 (one entry fee gets you in all four divisions except Red Drum Calcutta) Red Drum Calcutta: $25 per angler (Red Drum Calcutta is optional-it is offered as another way for tournament participants to win money) Over $8,000 in cash and prizes (based on 200 entries) BOUNDARIES Must fish from a Crystal Coast beach. No boats - No sound or pier fishing. THREE WEIGH-IN LOCATIONS Reel Outdoors, Chasin' Tails Outdoors, and Freeman's Bait & Tackle

CRYSTAL COAST SURF SCHEDULE OF EVENTS     PRE-REGISTRATION  Pay in person at Reel Outdoors, Freeman's Bait and Tackle, and Chasin' Tails Outdoors         Pay over the phone: (910) 409-8379         Pay by mail: Fisherman's Post, 1320 Audubon Blvd.,    Wilmington, NC 28403         Pay online using PayPal at www.FishermansPost.com, (Click on "Tournaments" and then "Crystal Coast Surf Fishing Challenge") REGISTRATION  Friday, May 15, from 2:00 pm - 11:00 pm FISHING TIME STARTS Friday, May 15, 12:00 midnight FISHING TIME ENDS Sunday, May 17, 12:00 noon  AWARDS DINNER Sunday, May 17, 12:00 - 2:00 pm under the big tent at Reel Outdoors  AWARDS CEREMONY   Sunday, May 17, 2:00 pm under the big tent at Reel Outdoors CRYSTAL COAST SURF RAFFLE   immediately following Awards Ceremony

CRYSTAL COAST SURF PAYOUTS (based on 200 entries)         Till next time, Tight lines! Johnny

Standard Commercial Fishing License Eligibility Board to meet

For anyone that may be interested ............

=========================================================================

Standard Commercial Fishing License Eligibility Board to meet

N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources

Release: Immediate                                                                                  Contact: Patricia Smith                               

Date: May 1, 2015                                                                                   Phone: 252-726-7021

MOREHEAD CITY – The Standard Commercial Fishing License Eligibility Board to the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries will meet at 10 a.m. May 12 at the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries’ Central District Office, 5285 Highway 70 West, Morehead City.

The board will consider applications postponed from the previous meeting and other applications deemed complete for the meeting.

The board meets two to three times per year to consider license applications. For directions on applying for a commercial fishing license, go to http://portal.ncdenr.org/web/mf/commercial-fishing-license-information and click on the link to Eligibility Pool Application.



NCDENR - Commercial Fishing License Information



Till next time....

Tight lines!

Johnny