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September 21, 2009
Dare watermen ask MFC to postpone southern flounder review
By SUSAN WEST
Dare
County commercial fishermen hope the state will accept their offer to
work with fisheries biologists to improve what is known about southern
flounder.
The offer is part of a resolution unanimously passed by the Dare County Commission for Working Watermen last week.
The resolution asks the state Marine Fisheries Commission (MFC) to
postpone a review of southern flounder fishing regulations until
September, 2010, so that data from this year can be used in determining
the health of the flounder population.
Based on an assessment using data collected through 2007, the Division
of Marine Fisheries has recommended flounder gear closures. Flounder
gill nets would be prohibited from July 1 to Aug. 31, and pound nets
would be prohibited from Sept. 1 to Sept. 30, starting in 2010.
While the health of the flounder stock has improved since
implementation of fishing rules approved in 2005, the assessment found
that the stock is still not producing enough new fish to sustain a
healthy population size.
The assessment warned that positive biological indicators could
disappear because commercial and recreational fishermen catch many fish
that are 1 or 2 years old, the age when female fish begin to sexually
mature.
“The concern is that scientists are saying that if this trend
continues, overfishing will continue and the entire fishery might have
to be closed altogether later on,” explained Mike Johnson, member
of the Dare County Board of Commissioners and chairman of the county
working watermen commission.
But flounder gill net and pound net fishermen at the meeting said a
robust population of juvenile fish in Pamlico Sound and other estuaries
this year was not factored into the assessment.
Watermen said the state relies too heavily on information from
population sampling tests run in the same locations and on information
from recreational fishing surveys.
They said sampling pound net catches would provide a more accurate
picture of the number of juvenile fish and volunteered to work with
scientists in collecting that information.
The Dare County Commission for Working Watermen sent the resolution
requesting additional study of flounder stock abundance to the Dare
County Board of Commissioners for further action.
The MFC is scheduled to consider the gear closure recommendations
Thursday morning at a meeting at the Clam Digger Inn in Pine Knoll
Shores.
A public comment period will be held when the meeting begins at 9 a.m., and also at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the same location.
The Dare County Commission for Working Watermen also approved a
resolution requesting designated seats for charter-boat and headboat
industry representatives on the MFC and the Joint Legislative
Commission on Seafood and Aquaculture. The resolution originated
with North Carolina Watermen United, an advocacy group, and was sent to
the county board.
Other issues discussed last week by the county working watermen
commission included opening federal waters to striped bass fishing,
eligibility criteria for for-hire permits, and management measures for
smooth dogfish, sea bass, and Spanish and king mackerel.
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