THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 19, 1994 TAG: 9406190040
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B4 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY BETTY MITCHELL GRAY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: 940619 LENGTH: Medium
Fisheries Director William T. Hogarth said Friday that he will try to issue a series of proclamations this week designed to restrict the state's catch of weakfish, also known as gray trout.
{REST} The options comprise a state plan to restore the dwindling stock of weakfish that was approved earlier last week by a committee of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, a compact of 15 Atlantic Coast states which regulates fish that migrate along the coast.
``I feel comfortable with it, very comfortable,'' Hogarth said. ``The bottom line was we all knew we wouldn't have much choice.''
The ASMFC ruled that once the plan is implemented, it will be in effect for two years, Hogarth said.
``The feeling was that at the end of two years, we will really have something to measure,'' he said.
Weakfish, so named because their mouths are fragile and easily torn when hooked, range along the East Coast from southern Florida to the Gulf of Maine but are most abundant from North Carolina to Delaware.
Weakfish landings by both commercial and recreational fishermen along the Atlantic Coast have declined by about 76 percent in the past 30 years, from 80 million pounds landed in 1980 to 19.9 million pounds in 1990, according to the state Division of Marine Fisheries.
Currently, ASMFC plans call for each state within the compact to reduce its weakfish catch by 25 percent using a combination of measures such as fishing quotas, season closures and the like, institute a 12 inch size limit or equivalent conservation measures for commercial fishing and establish a minimum size and catch limit for sports fishermen by July 31. Added regulations may also be required by 1995.
But some anglers question whether the plan will actually restore the fish to the state's coastal waters.
``I still haven't had the question asked to my satisfaction as to whether this will bring back the larger fish,'' said Richen Brame, executive director of the Atlantic Coast Conservation Association, a sports fishing group based in Wilmington.
``But we're willing to do our part because we've been calling for more conservation.''
North Carolina's plan most directly affects the state's flynet fishery.
``We were looking at the gear that takes the most weakfish and taking the action that would be most helpful to the resource,'' Hogarth said.
The option favored by fisheries regulators is a ban on fly net fishing south of Cape Hatteras, where juvenile fish of all species are common, but Hogarth could select a combination of seasonal closures for the area lasting from 86 to 99 days in the winter.
Other options that will be considered include a Saturday prohibition on gill nets in the Atlantic Ocean during the winter and restrictions on the amount of net and the size of net mesh that can be used by commercial fishermen.
Hogarth will also consider a series of options aimed at restricting the recreational catch. The ASMFC approved options that would impose either a 12-inch minimum size and a limit of four fish per day, a 13-inch minimum size and a limit of six fish per day or a 14 inch minimum size and a limit of 14 fish per day.
Sports fishermen generally prefer that Hogarth establish the largest minimum size and allow anglers to catch more fish, Brame said. by CNB