Sam Whitefoot
04-29-2005, 12:43 PM
Striped Bass Limited-Entry Proposal Gets Fisheries Officials' Attention
Source: The Daily News
Publication date: 2005-04-25
Apr. 25--MOREHEAD CITY -- State fisheries officials are talking about starting a license system that would reduce by nearly two-thirds the number of commercial fishermen allowed to target striped bass. The proposal would mostly impact Dare County but it could potentially hit some fishermen working the central coast, said state fisheries director Preston Pate.
"There has been a fishery here, it's mostly gill net," Pate said. Authorities are still analyzing how many fishermen from what counties would qualify for a license under the division's proposed criteria.
Statewide, it would be about 38 percent of the number of fishermen who have landed striped bass in the past three years, Pate said.
The division is proposing limiting eligibility for a license to those who cumulatively landed at least 1,000 pounds of striped bass in two years out of the 2002, 2003 and 2004 fishing seasons and to those who landed striped bass in all three years (with no minimum harvest limit).
Pate brought the matter before the Marine Fisheries Commission last week. The North Carolina Fisheries Association, a commercial fishing lobbying group which normally opposes any move toward limited entry commercial fishing systems, has not yet taken a position on the proposal, said organization President Jerry Schill.
There may be some opposition to it, Schill said. But that opposition will be tempered by the knowledge of the problems the division has faced in managing the fishery, he added.
"It's just been a nightmare," Schill said.
The state has managed its commercial striped bass fishery for several years by splitting an Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission-imposed quota between the three types of gears historically used: beach seines, gill nets and ocean trawls. Within those fisheries, there are daily limits on the number of fish that can be harvested.
As the stocks recovered and the annual quota went up, the number of fishermen participating in the fishery doubled. With the increased effort have come several management issues. "The problems really started a few years ago when the beach seine fishery changed from its historical characteristic," Pate said.
It had always been a very labor-intensive fishery using certain types of nets that were set and hauled to the beach with tractors just like the mullet blow fishery on Bogue Banks, Pate said. More recently, newcomers to the fishery have used different types of nets that were set in a manner more like gill nets, Pate said. And officials have noticed that many fishermen go back and forth, benefiting from the quota in both fisheries, he said.
Additionally, with more and bigger fish available, the amount of regulatory discards became a concern, Pate said. Some criticized the division saying that by regulating daily harvests by the number of fish caught rather by pounds it encouraged what's called "high-grading," throwing back less valuable fish.
Trying to alleviate this problem, the division began allowing fishermen who caught more than their daily limit of fish to transfer the additional catch to another commercial fisherman's boat, Pate said. The idea was if they inadvertently caught too many fish in their nets, they could land them and have them count against the quota rather than throw them back, he said.
"What has happened over the past few years is that it has involved a lot of abuse by people who purposely target more than the allowed catch," Pate said.
That causes the quota to get caught up quickly and disadvantage other fishermen, he said.
"I've seen such an increase of fishermen selling fish that are not catching fish, it's crazy," said Hatteras fisherman Rick Scarborough. "It's gotten to where now you've got people who just sit by the phone and wait for a call," said Dare County fisherman Kelly Schoolcraft. The last straw came this past year when one trawler, working under a 50-fish-per-day limit, caught 2,200 fish and called a bunch of other boats out to bring them in, Pate said.
"It made me realize that we needed to do something different to get control of that fishery," he said.
Marine Fisheries Commission member Bryan Gillikin expressed concern for those fishermen who are new to the striped bass fishery because they have moved from some other fishery that may not be doing as well right now. "These may be people who have fished for years and years and years," Gillikin said.
Particularly, the striped bass fishery has grown in Carteret County over the past few years since the population has increased and begun to migrate farther south to Cape Lookout.
Pate said that will be the downside of limited entry -- some fishermen will get shut out.
"I'm hopeful that the ones that have been fishing will qualify," Pate said.
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To see more of The Daily News, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.jacksonvilledailynews.com.
Copyright (c) 2005, The Daily News, Jacksonville, N.C.
Source: The Daily News
Publication date: 2005-04-25
Apr. 25--MOREHEAD CITY -- State fisheries officials are talking about starting a license system that would reduce by nearly two-thirds the number of commercial fishermen allowed to target striped bass. The proposal would mostly impact Dare County but it could potentially hit some fishermen working the central coast, said state fisheries director Preston Pate.
"There has been a fishery here, it's mostly gill net," Pate said. Authorities are still analyzing how many fishermen from what counties would qualify for a license under the division's proposed criteria.
Statewide, it would be about 38 percent of the number of fishermen who have landed striped bass in the past three years, Pate said.
The division is proposing limiting eligibility for a license to those who cumulatively landed at least 1,000 pounds of striped bass in two years out of the 2002, 2003 and 2004 fishing seasons and to those who landed striped bass in all three years (with no minimum harvest limit).
Pate brought the matter before the Marine Fisheries Commission last week. The North Carolina Fisheries Association, a commercial fishing lobbying group which normally opposes any move toward limited entry commercial fishing systems, has not yet taken a position on the proposal, said organization President Jerry Schill.
There may be some opposition to it, Schill said. But that opposition will be tempered by the knowledge of the problems the division has faced in managing the fishery, he added.
"It's just been a nightmare," Schill said.
The state has managed its commercial striped bass fishery for several years by splitting an Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission-imposed quota between the three types of gears historically used: beach seines, gill nets and ocean trawls. Within those fisheries, there are daily limits on the number of fish that can be harvested.
As the stocks recovered and the annual quota went up, the number of fishermen participating in the fishery doubled. With the increased effort have come several management issues. "The problems really started a few years ago when the beach seine fishery changed from its historical characteristic," Pate said.
It had always been a very labor-intensive fishery using certain types of nets that were set and hauled to the beach with tractors just like the mullet blow fishery on Bogue Banks, Pate said. More recently, newcomers to the fishery have used different types of nets that were set in a manner more like gill nets, Pate said. And officials have noticed that many fishermen go back and forth, benefiting from the quota in both fisheries, he said.
Additionally, with more and bigger fish available, the amount of regulatory discards became a concern, Pate said. Some criticized the division saying that by regulating daily harvests by the number of fish caught rather by pounds it encouraged what's called "high-grading," throwing back less valuable fish.
Trying to alleviate this problem, the division began allowing fishermen who caught more than their daily limit of fish to transfer the additional catch to another commercial fisherman's boat, Pate said. The idea was if they inadvertently caught too many fish in their nets, they could land them and have them count against the quota rather than throw them back, he said.
"What has happened over the past few years is that it has involved a lot of abuse by people who purposely target more than the allowed catch," Pate said.
That causes the quota to get caught up quickly and disadvantage other fishermen, he said.
"I've seen such an increase of fishermen selling fish that are not catching fish, it's crazy," said Hatteras fisherman Rick Scarborough. "It's gotten to where now you've got people who just sit by the phone and wait for a call," said Dare County fisherman Kelly Schoolcraft. The last straw came this past year when one trawler, working under a 50-fish-per-day limit, caught 2,200 fish and called a bunch of other boats out to bring them in, Pate said.
"It made me realize that we needed to do something different to get control of that fishery," he said.
Marine Fisheries Commission member Bryan Gillikin expressed concern for those fishermen who are new to the striped bass fishery because they have moved from some other fishery that may not be doing as well right now. "These may be people who have fished for years and years and years," Gillikin said.
Particularly, the striped bass fishery has grown in Carteret County over the past few years since the population has increased and begun to migrate farther south to Cape Lookout.
Pate said that will be the downside of limited entry -- some fishermen will get shut out.
"I'm hopeful that the ones that have been fishing will qualify," Pate said.
-----
To see more of The Daily News, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.jacksonvilledailynews.com.
Copyright (c) 2005, The Daily News, Jacksonville, N.C.