Weekly Update for September 3, 2010

Friday, September 03, 2010
by Sean McKeon

WEEKLY UPDATE: 09/03/10
NORTH CAROLINA FISHERIES ASSOCIATION
"Serving the Commercial Fishing Families of North Carolina since 1952"
Phone: (252) 633-2288 www.ncfish.org

Dodged a Bullet Thank God From what we have heard there were no major problems with Hurricane Earl as it passed by the NC coast last night and into this morning; mostly we saw some heavy rain and winds with some parochial power outages. Originally predicted to hit the area around Cape Hatteras, the storm moved east and headed up the coast as it lost power. At this time Earl is a Category I hurricane and headed north toward the Cape Cod area.
Storms always highlight the precarious nature of our industry with respect to how closely tied to the weather the industry is; it would be nice if all those so concerned with natural disasters and their impact on our people would be equally concerned about man-made disasters such as the management of our industry by National Marine Fisheries; that's a Category 10 storm year in and year out.

ANNUAL MEETING NCFA will conduct its 59th annual meeting on Thursday September 9th at 2:00 p.m. at the NCFA office, located at 2606 Neuse Blvd in New Bern. The purpose of the annual meeting is to elect and or select the Board of Directors, officers, to approve any modifications to the bylaws, and to discuss the many issues facing our industry.
This meeting is open to all NCFA members, but only MEMBERS IN GOOD STANDING may vote.

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) met in Philadelphia, PA to approve the Omnibus Amendment for Secretarial submission; recommend 2011 management measures for summer flounder, scup, black sea bass, and bluefish; and, hold an election of officers. The Council and Board recommended a (total allowable catch) TAC of 33.95 million pounds for the 2011 summer flounder fishery. The total allowable landings (TAL) would be 29.48 million pounds, an increase of about 7 million pounds compared to the 2010 level. If approved by NMFS, 17.69 million pounds would be allocated to the commercial fishery as quota and 11.79 million pounds as a recreational harvest limit for the 2011 fishing year. Both the Council and Board recommended a TAC of 24.10 million pounds for scup. The associated TAL would be 20.00 million pounds, an increase of about 6 million pounds compared to the 2010 TAL. If approved, the scup commercial quota would be 15.60 million pounds and the recreational harvest limit would be 4.40 million pounds for 2011. In regard to the specifications for the 2011 black sea bass fishery, the Council and Board recommended that the TAC be set at 4.50 million pounds. The associated TAL would be 3.60 million pounds which would result in a commercial quota of 1.76 million pounds and a recreational harvest limit of 1.84 million pounds if approved.
The Council and Board recommended a TAC of 31.74 million pounds for the 2011 bluefish fishery. The corresponding TAL is 27.29 million pounds, which is about a 2 million pound decrease from the 2010 TAL of 29.26 million pounds. Under the bluefish FMP, a transfer of landings from the recreational to the commercial fishery is allowed if there are sufficient landings available in the TAL above the expected landings amount in the recreational fishery. Since this is the case for 2011, the Council recommended a transfer of 4.77 million pounds resulting in a commercial quota of 9.41 million pounds and a recreational harvest limit of 17.88 million pounds.

PROCLAMATIONS:
RE: PORBEAGLE SHARKS-COMMERCIAL FISHING OPERATIONS- ATLANTIC OCEAN
Effective at 11:30 P.M., Saturday, September 4, 2010 the following will apply to the harvest of sharks for commercial purposes in the Atlantic Ocean waters of North Carolina: I. SEASON CLOSURE it is unlawful to possess, sell or offer for sale porbeagle sharks taken with commercial fishing equipment or for commercial purposes in the Atlantic Ocean.
The remainder of the Pelagic category (shortfin mako, thresher, oceanic whitetip, and blue shark) are not affected by this closure. http://www.ncfisheries.net/procs/procs2k10/FF-67-2010.html

RE: LARGE MESH GILL NETS: CORE SOUND
Effective one hour after sunrise, Friday, September 3, 2010, the following provisions shall apply to the use of large mesh gill nets: I. AREA DESCRIPTION A. SOUTHERN CORE SOUND AND TRIBUTARIES - The area of southern Core Sound bound in the north by a line from the southern tip of the entrance to Drum Inlet on Core Banks at 34degrees 51.2330' N - 76degrees 19.5570' W; running northwesterly to a point at Steep Point near Atlantic at 34degrees 52.4290' N - 76degrees 20.8310' W; and bound in the south by a line beginning in Marshallberg at a point 34degrees 43.1500' N - 76degrees 31.2000' W; running southeasterly to Beacon "42A" off Marshallberg; running southeasterly to Beacon "10" off Browns Island; running southwesterly to Beacon "6"off Eastmouth Bay; running southwesterly to Beacon "35" at the entrance to Barden Inlet Channel; running southerly along Bardens Inlet Channel to Core Banks at a point 34degrees 38.1000' N - 76degrees 30.9000' W. B. NORTHERN CORE SOUND AND TRIBUTARIES - The area of Core Sound bound in the north by a line near Wainwright Island on Camp Point; running easterly to a point at 34degrees 58.7853' N - 76degrees 09.8922' W on Core Banks; and bound in the south by a line from the southern tip of the entrance to Drum Inlet on Core Banks running northwesterly to a point at Steep Point near Atlantic at 34degrees 58.7853' N - 76degrees 09.8922' W. II. GILL NET RESTRICTIONS AND EXEMPTION A. It is unlawful to use large mesh gill nets (defined as 4 inches to 6 1/2 inches stretched mesh, inclusive) in the area described in I.A. above effective one hour after sunrise Friday, September 3, 2010. B. Large mesh gill nets may be used in area I.B. above under the net restrictions required in Proclamation M-14-2010, dated August 13, 2010.
C. Run-around or strike nets and drop nets that are used to surround a school of fish and then are immediately retrieved are exempted from the restrictions in this proclamation. http://www.ncfisheries.net/procs/procs2k10/M-16-2010.html

The Joint Legislative Commission on Seafood and Aquaculture will meet at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, September 15, 2010, in the Soundside Hall meeting room at the North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores, 1 Roosevelt Blvd., Pine Knoll Shores, North Carolina.

Meetings

September 13-17
South Atlantic Fishery Management Council Charleston Marriot Hotel, 170 Lockwood Boulevard, Charleston, South Carolina. Phone: 1800/968‐3569 or 843/723‐3000 Fax:
843/266‐1479 For Agenda:
http://www.safmc.net/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=DwIBmoYJ5Uk%3d&tabid=139
September 30, 2010 at 6:00 p.m.
N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission Public Hearing of Proposed New Fishing Rules
Craven County Cooperative Extension Office, 300 Industrial Dr., New Bern, N.C.
Contact: Catherine Blum
Phone: 800-682-2632 or 252-808-8013
E-mail: Catherine.Blum@ncdenr.gov
Full text of proposed rules: http://www.oah.state.nc.us/rules/register/

For more information on any item in this update, contact the NCFA office (252) 633-2288.

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