State's Poor River Herring Stock Topic for Fisheries Commission
Posted on: Tuesday, 30 August 2005, 00:00 CDT
Aug. 29--ATLANTIC BEACH -- State fisheries officials will debate this week whether to enact a moratorium on all river herring fishing in the state.
The N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission will decide whether it needs to take action for the fishery before the completion of the River Herring Fishery Management Plan and a statewide moratorium will likely be a proposal in the plan, said Preston Pate, director of the Division of Marine Fisheries.
"The stock assessment is indicating that the stock is so bad that we may have no choice under the law," Pate said.
The plan is not scheduled for completion until well into next spring, which would essentially be after the herring run is over, Pate said. The MFC has authority to put interim management measures into place, he said.
While most river herring harvests have traditionally occurred in the Albemarle Sound area, some harvests occur statewide, Pate said. And there is a growing recreational fishery for using river herring as bait for striped bass, he said.
Additionally, the commission will again discuss a proposal to require night attendance of recreational flounder nets. The commission in June voted against adopting the regulation, a move that left it out of compliance with its Southern Flounder Fishery Management Plan.
Also on the agenda is a draft Shrimp Fishery Management Plan. The commission will choose which management measures to forward to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Joint Legislation Commission on Seafood and Aquaculture for review.
The commission meeting begins at 9 a.m. Tuesday and 8:30 a.m. Wednesday at the Sheraton Oceanfront Hotel in Atlantic Beach. A public meeting will be held prior to the meeting at 7 p.m. Monday night for anyone to address the commission on state fisheries issues.
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Source: The Daily News
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