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October 7, 2009
Fisheries regulators considering harvest ban on weakfish
By SUSAN WEST
With weakfish stocks in dire shape, East Coast fisheries regulators are considering a harvest ban.
The harvest moratorium is one option in a packet of proposed management changes approved by interstate managers last week.
A public hearing to discuss management options will be held at 7 p.m.
on Wednesday, Oct. 14, at Roanoke Island Festival Park in Manteo.
Robert Beale, head of the Interstate Fisheries Management Program at
the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, called the current
condition of weakfish “grim.”
The most recent stock assessment indicates the stock has hit an
all-time low of 2.9 million pounds, far below the 22.4 million pounds
scientists would like to see in a healthy population.
Commercial landings in North Carolina have plummeted since 1995 when
fishermen landed more than 4 million pounds of weakfish, also called
gray trout.
In 2008, commercial fishermen in the state landed just 170,394 pounds.
Regulators caution that the stock is unlikely to rebuild quickly even
under a harvest ban because fishing has not played a significant role
in depletion of the stock.
A substantial rise in natural mortality that has occurred since 1995 is thought to be the culprit.
The stock produces a healthy number of young fish, but many juvenile
fish never reach maturity, and scientists think predation by more
abundant fish known to be voracious feeders, such as spiny dogfish and
striped bass, is a factor.
The Atlantic States commission could take emergency action to implement new fishing restrictions in November.
In addition to the harvest moratorium, other options under
consideration include reducing the number of fish recreational anglers
can keep to one or two per day, down from the six fish limit currently
allowed in North Carolina.
Commercial fishing bycatch limits of 50, 100, or 150 pounds are also under review.
But Louis Daniel, director of North Carolina Division of Marine
Fisheries and member of the ASMFC weakfish board, said he expects to
hear strong support for a harvest moratorium when the ASMFC meets in
November.
“Just about every fishery we have in North Carolina interacts
with weakfish, and dealing with unavoidable bycatch could present a
problem,” he said.
A public hearing on striped bass rules will start at 6 p.m.,
immediately before the weakfish hearing. The ASMFC is considering
allowing unused commercial quotas for the ocean fishery in one year to
be added to the quota for the next year.
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