THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, June 21, 1995 TAG: 9506210530
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY BETTY MITCHELL GRAY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 86 lines
In an effort to restore the dwindling stock of weakfish along the Atlantic Coast, federal fisheries regulators are proposing a plan to prohibit catching of the popular species.
Watermen and state fisheries officials, however, worry that such an action would leave a significant number of Hatteras commercial fishermen scrambling for something else to do this winter.
Weakfish, also known as gray trout, is the second most valuable finfish caught by North Carolina's commercial fishermen.
The plan, proposed by the National Marine Fisheries Service, would prohibit the catch and possession of weakfish by recreational and commercial fishermen in the Atlantic Coast Exclusive Economic Zone. The EEZ is a federally controlled offshore area that extends from 3 miles to 200 miles off the entire East Coast.
The proposal also would bar fishermen from possessing weakfish that were caught accidentally while fishing for other species in EEZ waters.
No effective date was given for the closure. But National Marine Fisheries Service official William T. Hogarth, who works in the recreational and interstate fisheries division based in Silver Spring, Md., said that if the plan passes, federal regulators hope to shut down the weakfish industry before the fall season - possibly as early as September.
The National Marine Fisheries Service will seek public comment on the plan at a series of nine public hearings along the Atlantic Coast next month. Hearings are tentatively scheduled for July 10 and 11 in Manteo and Morehead City, respectively.
``I know an awful lot of commercial fishermen are pretty scared about this one,'' said Louis Daniel, fisheries biologist supervisor with the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries in Morehead City.
``North Carolina is by far the biggest player in the commercial weakfish fishery,'' Daniel said. ``There are a lot of questions that are involved in this whole thing.''
Most commercial fishermen and fisheries managers said Monday they want to know more about the federal plan before commenting on it.
``This could be very emotional. It would cause a major upheaval in a number of fisheries,'' said Hatteras Island commercial fisherman William A. Foster, vice chairman of the North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission. ``I would really like to see what information I can get and have some input in it.''
Federal fisheries regulators say the proposed closure offers the best possible conservation measure for weakfish. They say it is easy to understand and enforce and is in the best long-term economic interests of commercial and recreational fishermen.
``The best alternative to really be meaningful to all fishermen would be to close the EEZ,'' Hogarth said Monday. ``If we do this, we can help rebuild the stocks in two to five years.''
The 1977 Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Conservation and Management Act, known as the Magnuson Act, gave the National Marine Fisheries Service authority to regulate fishing in a conservation zone between three and 200 nautical miles off the nation's coasts.
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. They are most abundant from North Carolina to Delaware. The fish spawn near the inlets and in the sounds from March through September and migrate out of the estuaries into the ocean when water temperatures drop in the fall.
Weakfish landings by commercial and recreational fishermen along the Atlantic Coast have declined steadily in the past 30 years, from 80 million pounds landed in 1980 to 19.9 million pounds in 1990 and 8 million pounds in 1993 - about a 90 percent decrease over 13 years, according to the state and federal statistics.
From 1991 to 1993, about 64 percent of the weakfish population was harvested each year - almost three times the rate that is needed to protect and rebuild the stocks. An estimated 4 percent of the population reaching spawning age was caught during that period, according to federal statistics.
At the same time, the number of older weakfish has declined. About 99 percent of the 1993 commercial catch consisted of 3-year-old or younger fish - a sign that the species is overfished and under stress, according to federal data.
As the coastal weakfish stock has declined, the sports fishery in northern waters, especially from Delaware Bay to southern New England, has virtually disappeared.
North Carolina's weakfish management plan bans flynet fishing south of Cape Hatteras, limits recreational fishermen to a 14-fish catch and a 14-inch size limit and closes the gill net fishery on Saturdays. by CNB