THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 17, 1995 TAG: 9509170051
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY BETTY MITCHELL GRAY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WILMINGTON LENGTH: Medium: 81 lines
Commercial flounder fishermen who ply the Atlantic Ocean for their catch could face new restrictions this fall after action by the state Marine Fisheries Commission last week.
And unlike some proposed regulations, the restrictions are supported by most North Carolina seafood dealers and commercial flounder fishermen as a necessary step to protect the state's fishermen from out-of-state competition.
They said that without limits on the amount of fish each vessel can land or the number of boats that can be used, the remaining commercial flounder quota of about 700,000 pounds would be depleted in a few days - and much of it by out-of-state fishermen.
``Unfortunately we've got to do that right now to ensure that our fishermen are able to fish this fall,'' said Wanchese seafood dealer Joey Daniels, a member of the Marine Fisheries Commission. ``It's a shame it's come to this. But it has.''
The Marine Fisheries Commission, the 17-member panel that oversees the state's coastal fishing industry, is expected to approve rules that could limit the number of fishermen who can land flounder at state ports this fall and limit the amount of their catch.
If approved, flounder restrictions would result in one of the state's first forays into a management system known as ``limited entry'' for an active fishing industry, state fisheries officials have said.
Commission Chairman Robert V. Lucas on Friday said the restrictions could be harbingers of change in fisheries management in North Carolina.
``It shows a sign of the future,'' he said.
``And secondly, and more importantly, (the new rules are) coming from the fishermen themselves.''
Lucas and other commission members will decide this week how to implement new statutes, approved by the General Assembly in July, that let fisheries regulators limit licenses and landings.
The new statutes will enable the commission to limit entry into flounder fishery to only those vessels that have participated in the fishery two of the past three years and have landed a minimum amount of flounder at state ports.
The statutes also give the commission the authority to establish the maximum flounder catch per boat that can be landed at North Carolina ports, a provision known as a ``trip limits.''
And while the panel's initial actions this week will pertain only to flounder, the statutes open the door to limited entry for other species of fish, Lucas said.
``I don't anticipate that today or next week but I anticipate some shape or form of this in the future for other fisheries,'' he said. ``I do see it coming.''
Atlantic Coast states from Maine to North Carolina, the southern range of the summer flounder, are in the fourth year of a 10-year recovery plan for the fish.
The plan sets annual commercial and sports fishing quotas for Atlantic Coast states within the flounder's migratory range.
The 1995 commercial quota is 14,690,407 pounds, with North Carolina's quota accounting for 4,031,905 pounds, or about 27 percent of the total.
In the past, North Carolina had a surplus of its flounder quota, but that situation changed this year as greater numbers of fishermen - closed out of traditional fishing grounds and industries to the north - have come to North Carolina to land their founder catch.
This spring, fisheries Director Bruce L. Freeman halted the landing at North Carolina ports of all flounder caught in the Atlantic Ocean by commercial gear to preserve a fall season.
One issue for the commission to address this week is whether to impose a trip limit this fall on commercial flounder fishermen in the Atlantic Ocean.
Most commercial fishermen would probably support a 12,000-pound limit on the amount of flounder they could land per trip, if a trip limit is needed, Daniels said.
Daniels said that trip limits may not be needed if restrictions on the number of boats participating in the ocean flounder catch this fall lead to a sufficient reduction in their numbers. by CNB